New Delhi: Bring the colors out. The brighter the better, going by the colors that reigned at the Lakme India Fashion Week (LIFW) here last week.

Featuring prêt (ready-to-wear) collections of 33 well-known and upcoming designers, LIFW saw a bright mix of deep red, electric blue, yellow and others on the ramp.

The week, from August 17-23, attracted a large number of retailers, buyers, manufacturers and exporters, some of the prominent international buying houses included Printemps and Galleries Lafayette, Paris, De Bijenkorf, Denmark, and May & Company, US, as well as retailers from Dubai, London and Singapore.

In going boldly bright, the LIFW has kept pace with the world. The spring/summer look for 2000 in the hottest fashion capitals is vivid and vivacious. Designers like Nicole Farhi and Donatella Versace have used tones of green, pink, deep yellow and electric white to jazz up their stuff.

The color story apart, most of the clothes displayed at the LIFW were wearable and good enough to be seen on the streets a few months down the line. Here are some designers who gave a new direction to designer ready-to-wear in India:

The Collections:

Ranna Gill: Raspberry, tangerine, electric blue and yellow were Ranna Gill's colors, which kicked off the LIFW. Gill consciously kept the international fall/winter look in mind. "I travel a lot every season and see what's in vogue. Internationally the bright look is in and I was aware of that," the designer told India Abroad News Service. Delicately embroidered flyaway capes, short sheer 'kurtas', teamed with narrow pants, nose rings and bright red turbans were the highlights of her collection.

Monisha Jaising: She opened the weeklong event with Ranna in a collection that had a very Western and sexy look meant for a bikini friendly figure. Jaising used pastels as well, but the dominant colors were red, black and beige. Her rhinestone-studded shirts with quarter sleeves are sure to have a mass appeal among the young and hip crowd. The low-waisted pants, cut away right below the waist and held in place by a tiny band of mirrors will, however, not suit every frame.

Ritu Beri: Hot pants are back in the international runaways and made fleeting appearances in collections like Ritu Beri's. The designer also teamed up short tops in bright multi-colored stripes with regular denims for her prêt line and in keeping with the reigning 1980's look, dominant throughout LIFW, presented sleeveless gowns and flowing pants in bright and bold prints. Her collection was an eclectic mix of batiks with bold prints, crochet tops and multi-hued embroidered skirts.

Ritu Kumar: An extremely sensible prêt line, her 'Summer 2001 - Winter 2000' collection was very Indian and wearable. The working woman who wants to look chic and Indian will find a lot to choose from here. Kumar deviated from the bright colors and stuck to the blacks, beiges and whites for her summer collection while silk and leather in rust dominated her winter one. The collection included her trademark paisley printed scarves, short kurtas teamed with capri pants and 'salwar kameezes' in 'ikat' style prints, developed by Kumar.

Anuradha Vakil: "I see myself more as a revivalist of textile crafts than a fashion designer," says Ahmedabad-based Vakil. True to her words, she showcased a collection based on the traditional 'bandhini' and 'kalamkari' work, using vegetable dyes. Her bandhini saris in beige, green, black and aubergine colors, sprayed with small mirrors looked attractive but what looked really prêt friendly were her hand- painted 'odhnis' with lotus and Tree of Life motifs.

Rohit Bal: He dared to be different in an all white, all male collection despite international men's wear being very bright this season. His all male show had the girls in the audience ecstatic and the boys on the ramp happy. "For once, a lot of attention was paid to the male models, unlike most other shows, which are focused on women," said model Dino Morea, a crowd favorite. Internationally a la mode it might not have been but Bal's electric white quilted jackets were quite a favorite with the guys around.

Rina Dhaka: She deviated from the usual "dare bare" look with a transparent blue top as the only exception. If you ignore the transparent touch, Dhaka's collection with simple shirts and well-fitted pants were an ideal prêt collection for the girl on the run. She also brought back hats of all shapes and sizes on the ramp.

Manoviraj Khosla: The Bangalore-based designer kept the international mantra for men's wear on mind. His range of sportswear in red, navy and yellow was meant to make you jump out of your skin! What caught everyone's attention were the casual, almost see-through shirts for men in yellow, rust, orange and green checks teamed with white trousers.

Ashish Soni: One of the best prêt collections in the Western wear segment, it was high on comfort and wearability and low on drama with the use of grey and neutral colors Aimed at the younger market with drawstring 'pyjamas', straight skirts, sleeveless and strappy tops, Soni kept his pricing under Rs 3,500.

Rajesh Pratap: Like Soni's, Pratap's was one of the most interesting and wearable prêt collections, although with a brighter look. Clean silhouettes and an impeccable fit and finish are Pratap's hallmark and this time too, he did not disappoint. The show's highlights were the use of red sequined polka dots asymmetrically placed on white minis and narrow pants, leather trench coats in red, tan, green and black and a faux-fur tube top!

Anamika Khanna and Malini Ramani: Khanna retails from some of the best fashion houses in India like Ogaan in Delhi, Ffolio and Ensemble. Her 'Winter 2000' collection at the LIFW was a burst of colors like aquamarine, chestnut, orange and mahogany. The clothes were a free fall of fabrics, embellished with beads, sequins and embroidered waistbands.

Ramani's debut show had a very international look to it, with smoked batik prints in pink and white and the heavy use of sequins. Not an ideal prêt-a-porter collection for the Indian market, though the die-hard fashion victim will go for it.

Aparna Chandra, Anshu Arora Sen, Rohit Gandhi and Rahul Khanna: Aparna Chandra's show was a deviation from the usual choreography and like her clothes, had an element of fun. Chiffon mini dresses in yellows, polka dots in black and white, more polka dots in red combined with blue, made hers a perfect collection for that funky yet feminine look.

Anshu Arora Sen, went in for stripes, throwing in sequins, cloth bags, floor length skirts and giving it all, a very happy, gypsy look.

Khanna and Gandhi of Cue gave in to the international rage, with short dresses in lilac, green, white and blue, studded with rhinestones and polka dots. All four are designers you can invest in to add a touch of fun and color to your night outs.

Puja Nayyar and Aki Narula: It was good to see that a lot of designers had paid attention to stitching details. Notable among them were Puja Nayyar and Aki Narula. Pin tucks, quilts, pleats and patches were visible in the individual collections of these two. Narula's collection with pleated and knotted fabrics in what else, but, pink and black, was fun to watch though not too wearable. Nayyar displayed skills in quilting and pin tucking but stuck to a sober look in greys and charcoals with a flash of pink in the form of a patch or body bag.

J.J. Valaya and Gitanjali Kashyap: The master of Indian haute couture showed minimalist embroidered embellishments on his short sleeveless kurtas and narrow fitted pants that didn't quite gel together. Ditto with Kashyap's black and white stripes coordinated with red and purple jackets and scarves. Some more excitement was expected from these two.

Manish Arora: Designer Arora's prêt collection brought what can be termed as a modern version of the Indian 'lungi' (men's wraparound) on the ramp. Now, could you get more 'desi' than that?

Tarun Tahiliani, Wendell Rodricks and Raghavendra Rathore: The Indian style gurus took the final bow at the LIFW with their signature collections. Each of them presented their interpretation of styles in the coming months. Rodricks went in for a breezy, beach inspired look, while Rathore blended the East and West to a stunning effect, with Western jackets and Indian skirts. Tahiliani celebrated the magic of the Indian drape with his collection, highlighted by turbans and vibrant colors like red and blue.

Emerging Trends:

The LIFW lived up to the international fashion trends with bold and bright colors and sequins. Besides the sparks, Indian designers also came up with some trends of their own. Here are some:

Black: Fashion's eternal favorite black ruled the ramp. Designers used reds, pinks and yellows but could not do without black.

Nostalgia: The 1980s are back big time, with sequins, beads and glitters that found a place everywhere, from saris to cropped denim pants. Bouffant hairdos, dreadlocks, long leather boots, stripes, bold prints and an excess of shine were eye catchers on the LIFW ramp.

Make up took the rewind route as well; with London-based make-up expert Ginni Bogado predicting a comeback of the "gold and metallic" 80s look. Eye make-up was the key on the LIFW ramp with an emphasis on two-tone metallic colors like greens and blues.

The blouse: Short tops with trousers, capris and narrow low-waisted pants were more than rampant. 'Cholis' (short blouses) and cropped tops seem to be back big time and in every form as bustiers, halters and tubes. Go ahead and team them up with anything from saris to skirts.

Flip-flops: Want that happy go lucky look? Chuck your heels and go in for flats, beach sandals and flip-flops.

Batik: The magic of this age-old technique was highlighted beautifully by mixing it with diverse prints and colors Designers brought out the best of traditional Indian crafts with the use of kalamkari and bandhini works.

The Affordability:

The brief given to most designers at LIFW was to create 75 per cent prêt collections and 25 per cent couture. The pricing too had to be kept between Rs 800 and Rs 10,000. To give them credit, most designers did just that.

According to designer Ashish Soni, most of the prices remained between Rs 4,000 and Rs 6,000 for the ensembles and Rs 1,500 and Rs 2,500 for the separates. The pricing is quite justified, said Soni, if you keep in mind that people are ready to shell out such amounts for unbranded stuff.

What was commendable was that most designers made an extra effort to ensure affordability. Designers like Shobhana and Vijay Arora of Anant cut-down on embellishments without compromising on the quality of their clothes. Designer Pranavi Kapur recycled silk fabrics for her salwar kurta range priced at Rs 800.

Ritu Kumar admitted that she exceeded the Rs 10,000 mark in some outfits. At the same time, she also had moderately priced scarves at Rs 500 and salwar kameezes that started Rs 1,500 upwards. Designers Ashima and Leena Singh also kept the pricing of their ensembles in the range of Rs 4,000 to Rs 5,000. Innovation was the key here. "We cut down on the embroidery a bit, and treated the fabrics to give a different effect," Leena Singh said.

India Abroad News Service