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Fashion flurry?

As the countdown for the country's annual fashion jamboree begins, T. Krithika reddy talks to designers about seams, silhouettes and soft sell

The spotlight will soon be turned on the catwalk. It will be a fortnight of hype about the hip. As the great Indian fashion jamboree is all set to open at Mumbai (Lakme Fashion Week on March 28) and New Delhi (Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week on April 5), designers are frenetically giving finishing touches to their looks for Fall/Winter 2006, while we are still preparing for our summer wardrobes! But that's what fashion weeks are about - fashion forwardness.

Will the hemline rise? Will the neckline plunge deeper? Will Empire waistlines rule? Will skirts continue to swirl? Is feminine fashionable? Is volume out? This being the first time that two Weeks are being held, will it be a logistic nightmare from the trade point of view? Will it leave the buyers confused? Are the designers well distributed to attract a fair number of buyers to both the shows? Do shows translate into sales?

Says Rocky S, celebrity designer, "Two fashion weeks, in my opinion, isn't the best thing to have happened to our industry. First, because it confuses the international buyers to some extent. Second, the fashion industry is fast growing, but still not completely established." For designer Namratha Joshipura, "Two shows mean opportunity for more designers to showcase their creativity."

Business apart, coming to the inspiration, the fashion weeks will see designers spurred by anything from the Pushkar Mela (Niki Mahajan) and Lovely Lolitas (Rocky) to Cosmic Romance (Sonam Dubal). Most designers seem to agree that soft, feminine silhouettes are hot.

Says Ashish, "The key word this year is feminine clothing. It's more on the European style of dressing. There will be more dresses of varied lengths."

Rocky too agrees, "Yes, feminine with a bold edge to it."

T. KRITHIKA REDDY

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