Trendy Take

Silk handcrafted mannequins and candles that can burn up to 50 hours, adorn her boutique. This bit on Ayesha Deepala's boutique might paint a better picture of her aesthetic sensibilities. Other than the frills, she has dresses, bustiers and separates in silk, chiffon, gabardine and crepe gurgling with colour under the label I-Sha.

Available at Ayesha Depala Boutique, Ambawata Centre, 2nd Floor, Mehrauli, 1091/1, Delhi.

Passion For Beautification

Jaipur might not be a metro, but it still is a big fashion hub. From ingenious designers to brands and even export houses, all have made it their workstation. Pallavi joins the lot by going the same route. She retails from multi-designer stores in select cities and her flagship store. You can shop for spaghetti tops, short and long skirts, embroidered short kurti sets and trousers from her store.

Available at Pallavi Design Studio, 4, Mysore, House, Civil Lines, Jaipur. Tel: 141-2221511/2509.

Artwork

She calls them 'portraits of a princess'- Sonia Jetleey, does tunics, drainpipe pants, skirts and bustiers in myriad fabrics sprinkled with intricate motifs in candy colours. Check out her stuff at Ogaan and Sonia's Studio in Defence Colony, New Delhi.

Cross-Border

Hemlines rise and necklines mould sexily - Prashantt Ghosh's line follows this trend. Check out little halter dresses, skirts and tube tops in traditional fabrics from Assam. He's also the founder of Assam Art & Designing Institute and the creator of costumes for several celebs and even north-eastern films.

Prashantt's stuff is available at AADI, Near Meghdoot Cinema Hall, Paltan Bazar, Guwahati, Assam. Tel: 637815.

The New Pack

Strips of fabric, a medley of textures, embellished surfaces and coloured shapes were the stars at the fashion store Ishna (Purple Porcupine sister-hop). The store has added six names to its list of more than 40 designers. Just when you thought that leather couldn't be traditional, Abhishek Dutta proves you wrong with his sporty-cum-traditional take. He has tissue appliqué with leather, audiotapes inserted in weaves and even zari crochet! Meanwhile, Delna Poonawala has a collection with parts of garments held together with contrasting embroidery. Ribbon-finish, patchwork and threadwork define Gauri Bajoria's work. Nahid Merchant revamped kaftans and kurtas, while Sonam (Oriental) Dubal did his usual yet stunning number with Chanderi-silk, crepe and ikat in multi-toned stripes and in black, beige, lime and pink.

Available at Ishna, 14, Sagar Fortune, Waterfield Road, Bandra (W), Mumbai.

All In The Jeans

You don't have to struggle to get an illegible-doodle effect on jeans anymore - Ragz Genes does it for you this season. You could have broken prints, scribbles and details on washed denims that are priced between Rs 995 and Rs 1,495. Street wear with heaps of smartness is in. After all, it's all in the genes and Ragz with 46 chromosomes might help you get smart.

Available at retail outlets across the country and multi-brand stores.

Chino Charm

Here's a light tale by Oxemberg - the brand that offers formals, casuals and denims, now has lightweight cotton pants called Float Chinos in neutral colours like beige, navy, black, crème and grey. Priced between Rs 699 and Rs 899, these chinos can be teamed with most of your shirts in the wardrobe.

Vivid!

If traditional stuff lures you, the ready-to-wear line from Vividh might suit your sensibilities. Designed by Usha Kumar, the collections have Indo-western, fusion and ethnic wear with fun-filled elements and elegant embellishments. The USP of the brand is good quality at reasonable prices. Daughter-in-law Shushma Kumar's couture line is equally eye catchy but a tad more pricey!

Available at: Chetana Craft Center, Globus and KBN in Mumbai; Libas in Surat and Propancha in Vishakhapatnam. Also at multi-brand retail outlets across the country.

Neo Factor

Mumbaikars can now get a new taste of style at the multi-designer store 7 Best Marg. It had fresh lines by Kavita Bhartiya (the brain behind Ogaan), Ranna Gill and Rohit Gandhi & Rahul Khanna (Cue & H2O). Models sashayed across the floor of the store in colourful designs. The racks along the wall overflowed with the creations. They contained some new shapes and also a few interesting silhouettes by the designers from the India Fashion Week '04. The straight, paneled and flared skirts by Kavita were the showstoppers. And the coin-embedded collection by Rohit and Rahul had a lot of spice too. Not to miss were the duo's petrol blue-with-sand grey combos, guaranteed head-turners. Ranna, of course, stuck to her cultural mish-mash of Morocco, Egypt and Mediterranean - poncho blouses, bustle skirts and drapes on molten gold micro minis. Ranna herself, slipped into one of her poncho blouses, gathered at the waist, over a pair of white pants. On her it was stunning!