Fashion and tradition walked hand-in-hand on the runway. Here's what happened at the Femina Young Designers' Contest with the Khadi & Village Industries Commission.

Designers are like wine. They get better with time. But lets accept the fact that new designers have a latent flavour. And Femina has always had a knack of enhancing that 'mind-smacking' flavour through contests and events. The Femina Young Designers' Contest 2004 with the Khadi & Village Industries was one such event that acted as a catalyst in the search for young talent.

The Grand Intercontinental, Sahar, Mumbai witnessed more than just a forked ramp and thundering applause, it saw hope in the eyes of 22 budding trendsetters. The theme was 'Teasers' with the compulsory use of the fabric khadi in the designs. Some worked on pure prêt, while others added hints of drama with headgears, make-up and lots of colour. It was a tough task for the judges - Haresh Shah (Designer and Consultant to Khadi & Village Industries),Dr Rupa Patel from British Council, Vinod Kaul, Chairperson, Fashion Design Council Of India (FDCI) and Sathya Saran, Editor, Femina.

Kaleidoscopic backdrops and a white ramp offset the 66 garments. After more than 60 minutes of excitement, the winner was announced - it was Priya Chabbria, who worked on 'unraveling the mystery of a knot'. She bagged a 15-day training in London, sponsored by British Council and also a chance to showcase her designs in Femina.

Pooja Kapoor grabbed the second position, while Nitin Bal Chauhan and Shubra shared the third place. All the winners got a membership with the FDCI. The design features were myriad, Priya had incense-burnt holes on black embellished with neon mirror and threadwork. Pooja had corsets,trousers and billowing skirts in upholstery fabric. Shubra worked on fabric textures that were painstakingly created by her, while Nitin worked on Chamba tribe-inspired line.

The other themes that attracted thunderclaps were the Rajasthan-inspired pristine white skirts with coloured stripes teamed with multi-coloured cholis by Dhwani and the batwa-inspired range of Meghna. Mythology topped the innovation charts in Vinay's collection.

From Yashpal's reinvented saris to the description of Bhaskar's love life through clothes, everything was experimental! Overall, it was a moment of glory for the contestants, and truth prevails - with or without awards, they all won!