Bidita shows off a creation from Sabyasachi’s LFW grand finale line. Picture by Rashbehari Das

The Fashion Week Spring-Summer 2007 is all set to kick off in a couple of days at the NCPA in Mumbai. And while the fashion week in its second season boasts just a fistful of big names — Narendra Kumar, Priyadarshini Rao, Wendell Rodricks, Vikram Phadnis, Surily Goel and little more — the finale promises to make up for it.

The Lakme statement this winter will be interpreted on November 4 by Calcutta’s star designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee. He had rocked the ramp at LFW Fall-Winter 2006-07 in April with his Snail collection, a feat that won him a ticket to the Olympus Fashion Week in New York last month.

For the Saturday night grand finale, Sabyasachi has lined up a collection that interprets cosmetic major Lakme’s winter statement — Free Spirit.

“She’s a woman who does not conform to social pressures. She’s well-travelled and educated. She’s equally at ease at a small coffee shop in India or a big art gallery in New York. She’s a modernist and a classicist at the same time. She’s a study in contradiction,” is how Sabyasachi describes the “global Indian woman” whose spirit finds expression through his creations. “I would describe the woman as an urban gypsy. She’s somewhat like Sharon Stone,” adds Sabyasachi.

The look is either stark in its simplicity or outrageously flamboyant. The collection combines regional influences from all over the world, resulting in a mix and match of silhouettes and craft forms.

“She is not a head-to-toe dresser; she transcends forecasts and creates her own look. She’s not a fashion victim and is not swayed by trends,” salutes Sabya.