B'wood lures designers

NIFD?s graduating class of 2004 reveals why Bollywood is increasingly defining the fashion scene in India.

NIFD graduate in fashion design Abhishek Dongre aspires to be like Manish Malhotra, now that he has completed his two-year diploma. “Manish always has something new to offer as a Bollywood designer, be it in Kal Ho Naa Ho or Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. I admire the way he makes his heroines look real yet glamorous,” he says.

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Abhishek, who showcased his graduating collection, Mysterious Girl, at NIFD’s Sukriti 2004 on Saturday at The Ashok, is not the only one who is an avid Manish Malhotra fan. Pawan Kumar’s line, Naughty Angels, also reflected the spunk you see in Manish’s creations. “Manish adds fun to designing. But I also like Kolkata-based Sabyasachi Mukerjee, a master at layering. His collections are dramatic in styling and presentation,” he says.

Huma Khan and Jasveen Kaur who showcased their line, Tribute To Princess Diana, believe that it’s how Sabyasachi and Manish style even a simple silhouette is what makes them ‘different’.

“Bollywood defines the future of fashion and designing for movies is a lucrative avenue that’s opening up. With Sabyasachi designing Rani Mukerji’s clothes in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Black, Hindi movies are now dominating what the market desires,” says Huma. She liked the Preity Zinta look in Kal Ho Naa Ho that Manish executed with long overcoats: “Manish was portraying a working woman in New York and he did it with panache.”

The NIFD show that was choreographed by Kaushik Ghosh and compered by Shefali Talwar saw the most innovative collection prize going to Mayuri Burman’s collection, Rebirth. The most trendsetting line was Amit Kumar’s Colour Of The Soul. And the best collection was Urban Bottanica by Anshuma Gupta. “I tried a fusion of Indian and western wear. So I used Indian embroideries on western cuts like Manish Malhotra does,” says Anshuma. Need we say more!