Confused couture

A fashion show that begins on time is obviously out of fashion. So last week's fashion parade organised by the National Institute of Fash...

A fashion show that begins on time is obviously out of fashion. So last week8217;s fashion parade organised by the National Institute of Fashion Design NIFD, to launch their Hauz Khas branch was no exception to the tardy trend. A press conference preceding the show resulted in a two-hour wait for leading cine star8217; Sonali Bendre and equally well-known TV anchor8217; Ruby Bhatia. The delay was explained away with the cliched excuse, that they were 8220;stuck in a traffic jam.8221;

Though when Ruby arrived in a glassy silver number with hair tied up in a co-ordinated silver rubber-band, she expressed her ignorance about the traffic in Delhi. The organisers had obviously forgotten to warn her about the story they had spun on her behalf. She8217;d spent the morning at the Army base camp dispensing goodwill and cheer to the injured, and giggled to the press on how brave our Army is, even with amputated arms and legs.

When Sonali Bendre made her grand entrance 20 minutes later, she made a brief statement how her personal fashion designer Ashley Riberio has been lamenting the lack of good fashion assistants, and how institutes like NIFD will benefit the fashion industry. On behalf of NIFD, Sonali Bendre also launched a Kargil Education Fund to provide free education at the institute for the kith and kin of the martyrs in Kargil. The co-compere of the evening Pallab Bose requesting a minute8217;s silence for the martyrs in Kargil 8212; though he could be heard whispering heatedly over the mike throughout. The by-now mandatory Kargil sequence came next with the models waving around Indian flags dressed in saffron, green and white, holding aloft mashals, swearing undying love and devotion to the country.

The show was slightly mixed up geographically, with the models dressed in jute and sashaying down the ramp to Spanish music for the Mexican sequence. The Scottish round began with a male model dressed in an outfit that resembled that of a band-master who leads the baraat. The colours on the gowns from the European sequence clashed horribly 8212; purple gowns with yellow roses, and a turquoise and white gown with red roses and green ribbons. The Indian round, however, had gorgeous lehenga-cholis in vivid colours and ghadcholas with intricate dabka embroidery. The Egyptian sequence too, was exquisitely done with the models in single coloured kaftans and faces covered with a variety of veils.

The show was well-choreographed, but made one wish for a remote control to turn down the volume, which probably had everyone8217;s ears ringing for hours after the show. And Pallab Bose didn8217;t forget to remind us repeatedly that NIFD now has 8220;75 air-conditioned centres from Chandigarh to Guwahati.8221; The models for the show included resident ribbon-cutter of NIFD, Madhu Sapre, along with Shefali Talwar, Mehr Bhasin, Ayesha Prem, Shweta Menon and Rakshanda Khan.

After the show, Ruby Bhatia made another appearance on stage 8212; now out of the silver dress and into a jawan8217;s uniform 8212; lamenting 8220;mere baal kharab ho gaye.8221; She then proceeded to hold an impromptu and very inane interview with Sonali Bendre on the lines of what were a few of her favourite things. Ruby tried to liven up the wait for one-song wonder Jasbir Jassi by reciting some tired jokes, but the audience nearly booed her away. Jassi wrapped up the evening with an assortment of songs, including the chart-topping number Dil le gayi kudi Gujarat ki. A predictable end to a predictable evening.