Mumbai Fashion Week preview: Fabs, fakes, faux pas and family

Hit wicketCricket can wait thats what former West Indian cricket star Sir Vivian Richards may have felt as he opted to skip the India versus South Africa match to spend an afternoon at a fashion week Daughter Masaba was showcasing her collection Yes this time around not just mommy dearest Neena Gupta was in the front row but also the great Richards Vive La Richards what fashion maaaanPaint the town red They have designs on you and are unafraid to show them as this one provesButton upOnce we remember that Raageshwari Loombas belly button caught the eye of Pooja Bedi who was heard gushing about it Raageshwari sang We Are The World at Pallavi Goenkas show looking like an ethnic rockstar Pal la va Loomba like the song Boomba goesPolo panacheA refreshing change from Bollywood babes Bollywood big boys and TV stars as showstoppers surfeit of them frankly was the presence of polo players some time ago Three polo players Angad Kalan Kamran Ahmed and Shrinivas Bobade were there walking for another polo player and horse lover designer Rina Shah who was showcasing her polo chic collection Heres to the polo palsThe walk the talk the gawk All the worlds a ramp isnt itHip hop and happeningYou could call them showhoppers Were talking about the models particularly Deepa Chari and Rachel Bayros who were seen hopping on the dance floor at China House at an afterparty hosted by Anil Chopra and N Rajaram And they danced to the trancelike house music There was no disputing the energy of these models who continued some nifty legwork post catwalk Also hitting the dance floor were designers Narendra Kumar Nachiket Barve and Swapnil Shinde And the action continued till three in the morning You could call it a page three spree till three Tee hee heeBoom in the roomLoud and clear good golly it is Dolly Who could miss that voice from Dolly Bindra which had nearly drowned out the music played in the lounge Dolly had to speak on her friend Sabah Khans show that she had just witnessed It was a funky town kind of show with catchy music and a collection inspired by the autorickshaw or tuktuk Of course Dolly broke the sound barrier tuktuk tukHush the shows on Fashion designer Rohit Bal centre Different strokesWelcome Kelly Dorji as an artist The man was there in the preshow area showing off his paintings on his mobile to sculptor Arzan Khambatta and wife Khushnuma Word has it that Kelly has been painting seriously in his hometown Bhutan We learnt that he began as a photographer and then started translating some of the pictures into paintings A Kelly on your wall are the gals saying we want the painter not the paintingShe can danceWe all know that Babita Malkani is a designer But you also discovered that the lady can dance as her jig proved on the catwalk at the end of her showWho knows what about fashion Style it is hereSong sung trueTheres nothing like live music to set up the tempo Singer Shaan sang the theme from Love Story at Troy Costas show titled Helen of Troy or HOT in short with sultry and sexy fullon glam evening gowns cocktail dresses chic tailored suits and curvaceous kneelength dresses Talking about singers there was Manasi Scott singing with passion Defying Gravity from the Hollywood musical Wicked at Neeta Lullas show with shining showstopper Sridevi in a silver willpower fishtail gown O Sri gillpower and willpower We know you have it Hawa Hawaaaeeee galMouse in the houseBesides some in the audience cartoon characters do make their presence felt Like Minnie Mouse doing her little thing on the catwalk at the Disney Couture presentation with Little Shilpa and Nitin Chauhan at the show inspired by Mickey and Minnie with a view of polka dots stars and hearts and headgear neckpieces stylish shoes and bags Go grouse about this mouseHeight is might A model gets ready for Lakme Fashion Weeks press conference held earlier PicPradeep DhivarJaggered edgeYou can always expect the unexpected when designer Narendra Kumar is concerned In his Moves like Jagger with music by Maroon and Christina Aguilera he was seen in a Mick Jagger wig in the DJs console in one corner In fact all the male models on the ramp also sported Jagger wigs as their hairstyle statement as they danced and pranced on the ramp The female models on the other hand did not wear wigs but had what you call a good hair day or good hair nightSo sweetSome shows not only look good but also smell good The path was lined with sweetsmelling mogras at Rohit Bals grand finale show in the outdoor openair garden of the hotel hosting the fashion week Adding to the impact were the hundreds of flickering candles all proving that mogras or candles for Bal baby the flame of fashion and the scent of style it all seems to add upEye of the tigerThe catwalk was a cat walk literally at the Save Our Tiger show styled by Aki Narula and featuring as many as 41 garments inspired by the tiger Neha Dhupia was also there on the catwalk And there was a jury who declared Arjun Khanna Sougat Paul and Vaishali Shadangule as the winners Roooooaaaaar of approvalSashay Way Models walk the ramp last yearMovie magicThe magic of the movies came alive at the Cinemascope show by everyones favourite Bollywood designer Manish Malhotra who was there to celebrate 100 years of Indian cinema with top directors Karan Johar Dibakar Banerjee Zoya Akhtar Anurag Kashyap and stars Varun Dhawan and Siddarth Malhotra with the show ending with Priyanka Chopra Also on the ramp were Bhanu Athaiya Hema Malini and Asha Bhosle with an impromptu ramp walk by Karisma Kapoor and Kajol Paiso vasool as some would say in Hindi movie terms And yet others think that the Bollywood intrusion in fashion is complete From selling us TVs becoming brand ambassadors for banks and health causes to book launches they seem to be everywhere raking in the crores And yes when they get time off they act in movies tooFamily packFamily fashion fare was what it in one day with designer duos related to each other There were sisters Jinali Sutariya and Heena Suranik the motherdaughter team of Pragya and Megha Samor Sonam and Paras Modi Rahul and Shikha Like they say its all in the familyTwice as niceYou felt that perhaps you had one too many at the hospitality lounge in between shows when you spotted identical twins Tapur and Tupur Chatterji on the catwalk Sometimes they crossed one another like a mirror image unfolding before your eyes Of course now the twins are not seen on the ramp But you can have a view of another set of identical twins designers Riddhii and Siddhi Mapxencar who take the final and double bowChic change Journalists have no choice but to wear the same clothes on all shows on a single day But some people are quickchange artistes who are always dressed in chic creative and quirky outfits They all are of the ilk of onetime party perennial Kishin Mulchandani who changed in his cars while he partyhopped from one party to the nextThe writer is a journalist who propped his Etro framed glasses on his nose crossed his Jimmy Choo shod feet adjusted his Calvin Klein tie complimenting his Armani suit as he sat in the front row of fashion shows for more than 14 years After that he attended the afterparties Hey A mans got to work after all