Realm Of Regalia

• Relaxed, billowing silhouettes
  
• Drapes and subtle texturing in sequins or applique work
  
• Colours: Ivory, grey, navy blue, black, grey, blossom-coloured pastels like salmon pink, pale yellow, peach, simmering tangerine, subdued fuchsia
  
• Jumpsuits, hotpants, mid-thigh hemlines to match with the plummeting Sensex

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• Zubair Kirmani: simple handlooms; seductive, minimalist forms; fresh combinations of primary colours
  
• Sanchita Ajjampur: irresistibly wearable international style, spiced up with sequinned natural motifs and textured patterns
  
• Nitin Bal Chauhan: witty concepts combining folk and urban angst; Himachali crafts and edgy western silhouettes

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Meanwhile, those thronging the FDCI's Pragati Maidan venue didn't have to wait for Manish Arora's sumptuous circus-themed grand finale to see an over-the-top spectacle unfold before their eyes. Wafting about to music that sounds like a shimmery soundtrack to the good life are bronzed ladies in little white dresses and vertiginous heels, disappearing into the VIP lounges for their bracing hourly dose of champagne.

Edgily attired buyers strut about like fantastically caparisoned clothes horses, with silky coats and ribbons in their hair. Sequestered in the serpentine queue to the bathroom, they're attacked with lavish compliments from lantern-jawed ladies-who-lunch in ill-advised clingy pantsuits, whose lanterns swing briefly lower when they get no approval in return. Has-been actors look around wildly, hoping they're still worthy of a second glance, and reward the hapless few that grant them one with wet, grateful kisses.

Spectres from Page 3 party pictures—as familiar as old friends—acquire a fleshly dimension for the first time: the pouty pulchritude of socialite Ayesha Thapar, the distinctive low-growling voice of Manish, model Carole Gracias' perpetual look of seductive dismay. And, since fashion is nothing if not the playing out of hierarchies, its arbiters—imperious, queenly dandies—treat the unworthy masses to a pitiless, and then pitying once-over. As one of them deigns to explain to this member of the shabby-hoofed hoi polloi, "We need to be around people who choose aesthetics over comfort, who would die for fashion, or at least be very uncomfortable for it!"

However, talk of recession is the most discomfiting, an unwelcomed guest at this glamorous business-to-business event, presided over by the ecstatically beaming FDCI president Sunil Sethi. "Our designers will bring bloom to the gloom of the economic crisis!" he declares with a rapturous grin that's instantly replaced with a scowl when an allusion is made to the 'Other Fashion Week'. "Don't talk to me about that! Here, we have Madhur Bhandarkar launching a book, Deepika Padukone looking for models, Rahul Dev and Milind Soman promoting their gym, celebrities walking the ramp for breast cancer awareness. ... Every show is a sell-out; I'm having problems keeping people away, and they have to fill seats with fashion school kids!"

Sure enough, despite the star power of its roster—Tarun Tahiliani, Rohit Bal, Meera and Muzaffar Ali, Anamika Khanna, and the sheer talent of its newer crop of designers like Gaurav Gupta, Atsu Sekhose and Varun Sardana, the Other Week just could not compete with the buzz and scale of WIFW. Particularly when it's up against 75 designers and 160 registered buyers, including Vittorio Radich from Italian fashion retail La Rinascente, Liberty of London, Anthropologie and Harvey Nichols. Eventually, its designers—a pale, hatted Rohit Bal, a weakly grinning Hemant Sagar—are spied sheepishly trooping in and gazing at all they're missing out on.

Certainly some great entertainment, thanks to gimmicky Bollywood infusions. Onlookers at Anita Dongre's show forgave her unremarkable designs for a rollicking showstopper featuring the cast of Sorry Bhai, including the stately Shabana Azmi, the ravishing Chitrangada Singh and an effervescent Boman Irani who toppled off the ramp and bounded back on. Shruti Haasan's band, The Extramentals, struck up an energetic beat to Rehane's colourful clothes.

As some younger designers observed with cool disdain, others didn't need anything more than their clothes to do the talking. Namrata Joshipura's sophisticated take on the '80s—all racy hotpants and sequinned pantsuits—was reliably excellent, while Rajesh Pratap Singh had the audiences swooning at his fine fabric and exquisite detailing. But it was Manish's circus-themed finale that stunned the crowds like a high-decibel trumpet blast. Choreographed to a rousing soundtrack of filmi tunes, the collection showcased his exuberant mastery of glammed-up kitsch that's the essence of his brand name. A fitting three-ring end to a five-day circus.