Glimpses from A Walk on the Promenade, a show previewing the collection at 85 Lansdowne at the ITC Sonar Bangla on Saturday evening. Pictures by Pabitra Das

If 85 Lansdowne, the first-of-its-kind shop-in-shop design destination in Calcutta, is a landmark venture in the city’s fashion retail scene, the show on the eve of the launch just raised the bar of ramp affairs in town. Full marks to Shalini Nopany and Pooja Goenka ? the brains behind the venture ? for presentment.

A Walk on the Promenade, as the Saturday evening show was titled, provided glimpses of the collections of 13 designers of Team 85 Lansdowne. The ramp at the Pala at ITC Sonar Bangla Sheraton and Towers was done up beautifully with three white hand-pulled rickshaws forming the backdrop. Conceptualised by photographer Asha Kochhar and choreographer Vidyun Singh, the 25-minute show was crisp and businesslike, rare qualities on the Calcutta ramp.

The show started off with models strolling to the tune of Purano sei diner kotha, flaunting creations by local hero Sabyasachi Mukherjee. A few saris from The Snail collection that Sabyasachi showed at the Lakme Fashion Week (LFW) recently, rubbed shoulders with gherdaar kurtas and churidars. A show-stealer was the ivory-and-black outfit made famous by Rani Mukherjee at LFW. Off-whites, beiges, black and moss green defined the palette.

Up next was a pristine white line of ethnic wear by Kiran Uttam Ghosh. Saris and long kurtas paired with churidars in flowing fabrics bore minimal metallic embellishments and tonal prints. The snowy whites were touched up with glimpses of red in some.

The subdued mood continued with Shantanu Goenka’s LFW collection titled The Elizabeth Times. Long, layered gowns and skirts, paired with shrugs and jackets in dull hues of moss green and burgundy defined the vintage look and shouted out the 16th century feel.

The signature Rajesh Pratap Singh look took the ramp next, as the designer presented snatches from his India Fashion Week 2005 collection Back to School, along with a few garments from the line showcased at the Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week (WLIFW) earlier this month. The trademark straight-line silhouettes ? short dresses, long jackets, a balloon dress and a long layered gown ? formed the sequence. Basic black was the dominant hue, with dashes of white.

The first bright colours of the evening crept in with Anuradha Vakil’s line of saris in pink, mustard, purple, orange, red and black. The plain saris with touches of embroidery were high on wearability.

Back to whites, designer Anju Modi presented structured uppers with a variety of skirts ? knee-length, balloon, asymmetrical and more. Dashes of prints and polkas decorated the garments.

A sexy line of dresses, knee-length pleated skirt, pencil trousers with plated empire-line top and more were showcased by Namrata Joshipura. The colours were brown, purple, grey and neutrals with metallic ornamentation.

A line of kantha-worked saris by Shamlu Dudeja was up next. The hues were bright reds, blacks and whites. Pooja Nayyar followed, with a simple line comprising a few churidar kurtas, a long skirt with corset and an embroidered red sari. The ethnic mood continued with a glittery line of saris by Nisha Beri. Worked upon with mukaish work and embroidery, the saris came in shades of red, yellow and whites.

Happening designer Varun Bahl, who created quite a stir at the WLIFW, showed some lightly embroidered saris, starting with neutral hues and skin tones and moving on to lime green, pink and more. The saris were marked by metallic surface ornamentation.

Manish Arora followed with his trademark drama ? loud colours like turquoise, magenta, purple and yellow, the signature appliques and typical silhouettes. Knee-length layered skirts teamed with a variety of tops with interesting sleeves presented the structured Manish look.

An out-and-out western collection formed the finale by designers Rahul Khanna and Rohit Gandhi’s label Cue. Lots of browns, digital prints, crochet and laces, structured short skirts and sexy dresses made up the international look.

The show ended innovatively with a recap of the 13 collections. Till long after the show ended, the Saturday night party mood was kept alive by lounge band Solid Colors.