Day 1 at Lakme India Fashion Week: the collections...

1 pm: Rocky S

Not as kewl as collections weve seen from Rocky S in the past. Barring some interesting skirts and gorgeous Swarovksi crystal embellished denims, we didnt spot anything we havent seen before on Rockys ramp. PS: Did like the bags and the styling though. Pic: Santosh Harhare. 3 pm: Aki Narula

The clothes were over the top, but very skillfully executed. Attitude came in droves and everyone
audience included seemed to love the high-energy on the ramp (if not all the outfits). Pic: Santosh Harhare. 5 pm: Cue (Rohit Gandhi & Rahul Khanna)

With the exception of one or two oddball unwearables, this was a show that made you want to go running back to the Cue stall instantly. Prt at a high. Pic: Santosh Harhare. 7 pm: Ashish & Smita soni

Ashish Soni sent out an austere white, black and red line that was not high on new shapes but will score points with the buyers for prt racks. There were many wearable knits and nice simplistic menswear teamed with funky footwear.
Pic: Vijayanand Gupta. 9 pm: Shantanu & Nikhil

This collection had stripes, asymmetrical hemlines and sportswear indulgences, and is best described as structured yet feminine. The highlight of this line, however, is Shantanu & Nikhils newly developed signature print, with an abstract design in seven colours. Pic: Vijayanand Gupta.

... and an eye on the coveted front row

Rockys front row wasnt packed with Bollywoods A-list this time, as Rocky wanted the focus to stay on the ramp. Spotted: Diya Mirza and Suman Ranganathan. Pic: Santosh Harhare. Though the front row was sidelined, we spotted Dov Segev Steinberg, Umang Hutheesingh, Queenie Dhondy, Aarti Surendranath, Haseena Jethmalini and Gautam Singhania. Pic: Santosh Harhare. Delhi socialites turned up in full support of the boys. Front row faithfuls included Wendell Rodericks, Deepak (or is it Dino?) Montelli, Lubna Adams and Sabeena Chopra. Pic: Santosh Harhare Apart from Poonam Dhillon and Shania NC, front row perennials Sheetal Mafatlal and Anju Taraporewala were also spotted. Pic: Vijayanand Gupta.

Touch me up: Vipul Bhagat adds some
shine to Rakhshandha Khan at Rain.
Pic: Pradeep Dhivar

Slinky black gowns were the dress code at Rain on Thursday night as Seagrams Blenders Pride kicked off India Fashion Week with a rocking party. The venue was done up to look like backstage at a fashion show and that explained why there were so many mannequins strategically placed all over the venue.

And if that was not enough, there was also a makeup kiosk manned by makeup artist Vipul Bhagat who kept pulling beautiful women (and some men too) out of the crowd and touching up their maquillage.

As for the aforementioned black gowns, Rajlaxmi Roy wore a really sexy one, which revealed a lot of leg and back. Tejaswini Kolhapure and Rakhshandha Khan also wore similar outfits. Expectedly, there were a lot of fashion folk networking like crazy. Designer Anita Dongre came in past midnight, Niharika Khan chilled out with brother Arjun Bhasin and his friends, while shutterbug Ashok Salian seemed very happy to have leggy Australian model Annalisse drapped over his arm.

Katrina Kaif and Rocky SHigh tide

For any society watcher or wannabe, the FDCI (Fashion Designers Council Of India) party at Velocity last night was the place to be. In fact, a sea of Mumbai and Delhis A-list celebrities let their hair down after a hard days work on the first day of fashion week. Bina Ramani held court among the Delhi crowd, which included designers like Bobby and Manju Grover, Ashish Soni, Shantanu and Nikhil Mehra and Aki Narula.

The Mumbai contingent were better represented by model Diandra Soares (still with dramatic fashion show makeup), fellow catwalker Uma Chiplunkar, designers Sanjeev Mulchandani, Umesh Jivnani and Priyadarshini Rao, Rahul Bose, Gautam Singhania and Suresh and Devika Bhojwani. This party had no signs of letting up even when it was almost time for the sun to rise but Velocity co-owner Waseem Khan didnt seem to mind at all.

On rocky ground

First day first show of the India Fashion Week was Rocky S. And so, naturally, first night first party should also belong to the famed designer. He said it at Athena last night, telling you to cut loose. He looked cool in white, others looked hot in black. Like models Fleur Xavier and Megha Kawale and film producer Samir Sheth with wife Palak. Then there was Katrina Kaif looking hot as usual and Candice Pinto who did not seem tired after three shows on the ramp at Jamshed Bhabha Auditorium.

Also, Rajlaxmi Roy, Achla Sachdev who did not have a drink since she prefers vodka and there was just Scotch, white rum and beer. Also spotted in the intimate setting of part of the restaurant and the vodka bar (but minus the vodka) were Yash Birla in his flamboyant best, and a pretty young lady with the word Precious on the back of her jeans. Those were precious moments to cherish.