The Year's Trends

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was it the long or short of it in length? Did curves create chaos on the fashion scene or did the little ingenue make a comeback? Try and gauge Indian trends and the fashion world gets into a stylish knot. That's right. Fashion trends in India are as difficult to predict as the onset of the monsoon. And yet, as each year ends the trade attempts to take stock of what can be described as the look of the year that was. Subtle fashion changes in the past year reflect the slight shift in trends that may stay on in 2002.

WHOSE SARI NOW: Tradition leaves this favourite Indian garment as it moves into a more contemporary mould. Let a lacy petticoat peep from under an ankle-high sari, says Ritu Beri. The more avant-garde created embroidered petticoats under sheer saris. Go for mix and match with lace and satin, advises Azeem Khan. Forget the conventional choli and replace it with a skimpy bikini top, sultry halter or just bustiers, direct Niki Mahajan and Malini Ramani. Clinch the pallav at the shoulder with a ring, says Anamika Khanna. Be daring and add a ruffle to the sari edges, announces Suneet Varma. Drape yourself in net, lace, satin, georgette, chiffon or crepe and splash the fabric with all the embroidery you can dream of. Go really avant-garde in a bondage sari with the blouse worn over the pallav a la Wendell Rodricks. This six-yard wonder had Indian designers turning it into a contemporary garment for the entire world.

INDIAN FASHION

HALL OF FAME Most celebrated fusionista: Monisha Jaising for brocade pants and tops cut out of Kanjeevarams. Tallest order: Rocky S designing for the Indian cricket team. 2001 ramp rages: Model Yana Gupta (above) and the dare-to-bare Jesse Randhawa. Wildest designs: Aki Narula's ruffled sari with a vinyl jacket and cockroach laced jock-guards over hotpants. Quietest global foray: Abraham & Thakore in hi-end foreign stores. Biggest comeback: Broad belts worn with cigarette pants, even saris and lehengas. Biggest hope: An India Fashion Week in London in 2002. Biggest Break: Ritu Beri (below) at the Automne-Hiver 2001-2002 in Paris.

ETHNICITY IN READY TO WEAR: Indian ethnic wear came of age in 2001. The kurta/churidar mantra revolved around short figure-hugging cap-sleeved kurtis teamed with leggings, trousers or churidars with soft manageable dupattas. But only the young shapely Indian woman, who could boast of a figure to die for, chanted this prayer. The average Indian miss was still encased in the "A-line" or linear calf-length kameez teamed with a sedate salwar and the safe 3.5 m dupatta. The churidar, however, competed with hand-painted embroidered stretch leggings-at times very unflattering to heavy legs. As designers geared up for the festive and bridal season, the lehngas, ghaghras, chaniyas and shararas were favourites.

FUSE THE WEST: Naughty but nice, elegant and sophisticated, western wear and its country cousin, the fusion alternative, came of age in 2001. Rebels of the Indian couture world ripped, tore and slashed their creations to make defiant fashion statements-don't conform, they commanded. Cropped tops, hipster, and bootleg pants, capris and palazzos (at times slit to great heights) jostled on the trend charts for attention. "When you are wrong you are very right," announced Aki Narula, Anshu Arora Sen and others of the brat pack as they shattered fashion norms with their "we are the world" fashion statements.

MANSTYLE-EAST TURNS WEST: For men the rule is simple: wear a shirt, trouser and jacket or kurta with churidar and sherwani and all will be well. In other words be safe, not sorry. But in came the fashion marauders. Rocky S put his men in cutaway sleeves bundies and harem pants in fluorescent colours. Ashish Soni gently guided them into floor-length kurtas with cropped trousers. Tarun Tahiliani turned his attention to menswear, dressing up the male like Indian royalty, or officers and gentlemen. Lalit Jalan gave a firm nod to organza shirts.

SAFE NOT SORRY: Rohit Bal stuck to classic cuts like capris in 2001

Rebels of Indian couture made defiant fashion statements. Don't conform, they commanded.nx.

Shirts, shirts and more shirts came in a myriad fabrics teamed with crotch-hugging flat-front trousers. Yet Shahab Durazi gave them classic couture that could rival the offerings by Valentino or Armani and his capital colleague Ravi Bajaj included a dash of embroidery in the garment. J.J. Valaya added drama and had his men swathed in turbans and sherwanis with ornate embroidery ready for the seven pheras. Abhishek Gupta gave jacket alternatives in unconventional fabrics and forms. Krishna gave leheriya kurtas while others presented belted tunic shirts and short-cropped jackets that made fashion news.

TEXTURES AND HUES: Colour returned to fashion in 2001, as bright and pastel fluorescents for both sexes hit the charts with gold and silver heading the list. Offbeat colour mixes made music together, while muted hues like brown and greige (gray plus beige) were popular. Textures moved from techno fabrics to tencel, micro fibres, acetate, lycra and denim in a deconstructed avatar. Designers like Puja Nayyar, Monapali and Ritu Kumar experimented with fabric weaves. Favourite fabrics like chiffon, georgette, blends, silk, linen, khadi, dupion and matka stayed firm on the fashion ladder.