Varun Babji’s collection

The leather design graduates from NIFT’s class of 2008 kept their institute’s banner flying high. Twenty-four graduates put up a good show on completion of their four-year course offered by NIFT’s fashion apparel department. And if Thursday evening’s show can be taken as a serious indicator, it is safe to say that ‘it’ bags will continue to rule the city for another couple of years at least.

The show preceded NIFT’s fashion design show and opened on time — and quite well. Varun Babji’s Pirates filled the catwalk. Not Johnny Depp exactly, but full marks to him for effort and styling. Worn-out looking leather apart, his garments (mostly patchworked trousers, waistcoats and jackets) were high on detail and drama. There were many more good collections to follow and most bags were far from boring. Mridula Basak’s collection combined two themes, titled Fossil and Shahi Darbar. Her stuff screamed quality. One particular man bag — made in white shiny leather, it had a sepia-tone picture of what seemed like an old Calcutta house — was beautiful. Moulin Rouge isn’t exactly associated with leather but Sadaf Haseen merged the two. Lots of leather skirts, jackets and shorts were seen, the Moulin touch coming from red detailing and also a touch of scarlet lace and net. The idea seemed fine but the collection not quite.

Nitin Chawla was the fifth student to show. His boys with bags looked sexy and stylish. Lots of oversized bags appeared. Important accents came in the form of contrast zippers, stitch detailing and also funky but commercial shapes. Chitralekha Tulal carried on the good show with a line of quirky bags — both slouchy and structured. Her fuchsia collection and patent black ones belonged to the rock-star category! The showstopper had a black-and-white painting on paper sitting pretty on its patent body — quite a showstopper for any party too!

A Nitin Chawla creation. Pictures by Amit Datta

More garments followed — some typical biking gear, trench coats and boleros. And many more bags. Quilting, zippers, studs, inlays and piping details were some trends that were spotted.

Some pieces of Vrinda Patodia’s collection looked too inspired by Marc Jacobs. Simran Gujral’s line reflected a great eye for styling and she has potential waiting to be explored. Some students like Amal Kiran Jana and Abhishek used the current high street craze, snakeskin (faux, of course!). Monica Belwal’s bags also looked quite with it. Sudeep Shyamal presented a glam collection, high on shine and big on bling.

The leather design graduation show ended with a bright bang. Arijit Ganguly showcased a cool and creative collection. Happy oranges and reds, his leather garments had an edge to them.

But what was really disturbing is the dilution of the show. Why was NIFT director Shantmanu’s young son singing Bollywood songs on the runway? He had opened the knitwear graduation show last week and then again between the leather and fashion design shows on Thursday.

• Best graduating design project: Nitin Chawla
• Most innovative use of material: Varun Babji
• Best academic performance: Simran Gujral