Clotheshorse Stakes

A typical Fish Fry (his prét label) creation has a palette that marries Van Gogh with Andy Warhol. On his racks sartorial experiments like embroidered rexine coexist with traditional booti or mokaish work, and paisleys share the seams with funky motifs that can be anything from smiling fish to calendar images of Hindu gods.

His collection for last year’s Lakme India Fashion Week had every imaginable hue in it, the reason perhaps he got an invitation to participate in the London Fashion Week. His rainbow palette was a hit with the colour-starved Londoners and he was invited back to LFW last month.

His February collection, which reflects a varied range of influences, from snowflakes to Red Riding Hood, from the city of Benares to the festival of Christmas, was an attention-grabber. Lisa Armstrong, fashion editor of the London Times, compared Manish to Matthew Williamson, the hot British designer who too has a penchant for neon colours and Rajasthani embroiderers and who dresses up divas like Madonna, Nicole Kidman and Jade Jagger. Armstrong declared Manish’s collection "the most exuberant of the LFW".

Manish’s colour-mania spills over beyond his work. His house is a migraine-inducing riot of hues and has been covered in the latest issue of UK’s Elle Decor. His flagship store in Delhi has ceilings covered with pictures of retro screen divas like Parveen Babi and Zeenat Aman taken from old issues of Cine Blitz. The tiles in one of the trial rooms carry images of every god worshipped by mankind.

The Second: Ashish N. Soni

Ironically, in his early days as a designer, the media was put off by his outrageous design sensibility and branded his clothes unwearable. For example, in 2003, Outlook carried one of his creations on its cover, with the tagline: Who wears this? Today, the answer to that probably is: everybody. After his LFW showing, Manish booked orders with top fashion stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue and Bloomingdales in New York, Harrods in London and Bon Marche in Paris. Last year, Reebok approached him to design a select line of shoes. The outcome was ‘Fish Fry for Reebok’—zany sneakers that can light up those dreary gyms with their neon laces and glitter.

Even in his first show, in his final year at NIFT in 1994, Manish displayed his customary whackiness. "I had created a line that was a spoof on 16th century British costumes," he recalls. It won him the ‘most creative student’ award. He warns that his current obsession with colour may just be a passing phase: "I might switch to doing just black and white later...who knows?"

Manish unplugged:

• One of the first Indian designers to produce graffiti T-shirts with lines like ‘Jack and Jill had sex’, ‘Jab Hum Jawan Honge’.
  
• He has always driven an Ambassador.
  
• A tattoo on his left arm reads Ladies’ Tailor.
  
• In 1995 he was awarded "the most original collection" award at the Young Asian Designer’s competition in Jakarta, following which he was offered a job as a stylist by the editor of French Vogue. Manish declined.
  
• He was part of the Kitsch Kitsch Hota Hai art show in Delhi in ’01. This work was exhibited at the London department store, Selfridges ’02.
  
• Manish will soon be out with his men’s line, called Get Laid.

The Thirds

Tarun Tahiliani , Abraham & Thakore, Rohit Bal

Rajesh P. Singh, Ranna Gill, Sabyasachi