Kangana Ranaut for Narendra Kumar

Day Three saw the tempo rise and fall and then rise again. A tripping toddler became the talking point for the first half of the evening, a lull followed, and then two good shows (and glamorous audiences) back to back by Nandita Mahtani and Narendra Kumar or Nari brought the buzz back on.

Nari closed the day’s proceedings with his women’s-wear line inspired by Jaipur, the pink city. The colour palette of the show was, well, pink! The ramp saw lots of it, some baby, some rani, others salmon or strawberry. Strong as usual on technique and craftsmanship, each garment — whether it was a bustier dress, a corset or a quilted jacket — was made with precision. The collection was luxurious and very ornate with fabrics like duchesse silk, matka, suede, taffeta and georgette lending a rich look, with intricate ethnic embroideries for company. Dresses, georgette and satin tops and slim pants in silk were the main silhouettes of his line.

Leggy lass Kangana Ranaut (her legs covered this time in a corset and fishtail lehnga) was the showstopper and that explains the presence of director Madhur Bhandarkar in the front row. It’s sad that Kangana has still not learnt to walk the ramp even after a chunk of the shooting schedule for Fashion is over! Simi Garewal, Riteish Deshmukh, Rahul Bose (with a moustache), Milind Soman and Madhu Sapre also dotted the front row.

The other major show of the day was by Nandita Mahtani for Samsonite that again attracted Mumbai’s glitterati. Avanti Birla, Kalyani Chawla, Haseena Jaithmalani, Suchitra Pillai, Queenie Dhody, Rahul Bose and Riteish Deshmukh turned up. Nandita’s collection definitely lived up to its high-profile watchers. She presented a chic line, very high street. Simple silhouettes and catchy colours were the highlights of her uncluttered designs. Black, white and red dominated the first half while indigo and khaki were introduced eventually. Her “favourite silhouette”, the kaftan, opened the show, followed by asymmetric beachy kurtis, corsets, togas, racer back tees, skirts, sarong-style draped pants, suits for the men (teamed with casual shaded tees) and lots of LBD (little and long black dresses). The only detailing was tie-and-dye and more ombre with occasional eyelets and studs on belts. Most of the backs were bare and thankfully her sponsor Samsonite didn’t make an overwhelming presence seen or felt.

Abhishek Dutta

Earlier in the day, city boy Abhishek Dutta’s Third Wave took the ramp. His 14-month-old son Aaryansh opened the show amidst great cheer and claps — even International Herald Tribune’s Suzy Menkes fished out her camera immediately from her tote to capture the toddler. After posing happily for all the cameras, he slipped from the model’s grip and landed straight on the floor near the ramp. That aside, Abhishek showed his line for fall-winter 2008-09. His menswear collection was fresh — quilted waistcoats, a quirky orange angarakha, structured jackets, oversized shirts styled as kurtas and relaxed khaki trousers. The women’s line comprised saris and tunics. The designer maintained his signature busy look with a touch of metallic crochet here and there. Other features of the line were draping and deconstruction and also some digital prints, a brighter version of what we saw in WIFW from Anamika Khanna.

Nandita Mahtani

Abhishek shared the show with Nikasha Tawadey who presented A Bioscope Adventure, an ethnic line, very kitsch and boho but with “modern consciousness”. Nikasha didn’t seem to care (or pretend to care) about trends. Her line opened with a sari and showed kurtas and tunics teamed with varied bottoms. There were leheriya churidars, patialas, dhotis, lurex salwars, shararas, gararas and ghagras. Kutchi mirror work, thread embroidery, traditional motifs and multi-coloured borders accentuated the garments. Rani Mukerji would have loved the cross between her Babli look and the first half of Laaga Chunari Mein Daag!

Day Three also saw neat creations by Nachiket Barve. The three-season-old designer with a PG degree from NID (Ahmedabad) showed a line titled Zoom In/Zoom Out. Floral cutwork, graphic applique, occasional pleating and lots of ombre marked his line. The silhouettes, mostly dresses, looked uncluttered and international. His colour palette was eclectic — from bright fuschias to pared-down ebony and sage. Anupama Dayal, who is slated to show in Sydney for Australia Fashion Week spring-summer 2008, unveiled a fruity coloured line that was breezy and relaxed with a marigold motif print used liberally. Organza, chiffon, muslin and crepe were the main fabrics used in this summer collection. Beads and gemstones added the resort feel to her collection.