Manish redefines the classic Indian evening wear ~ Life Stylzz

The swelling crowd of spectators, the hushed wispers about a supposed showstopper and the media frenzy

greeted the day's, or perhaps the fashion week's, most awaited show by none other than Bollywood's most cherished designer, Manish Malhotra.

As the lights came on, we could spot Neetu Singh Kapoor, looking elegant in a beige salwar-kurta, in the front row as she avidly waited for Manish to light up the ramp with his creations. Not to mention, a host of people from Delhi's page3 circle including Feroze Gujral, designers Varun Bahl and Manav Gangwani among others.

The lights dimmed and in strode men - for the very first time at this fashion week and what a welcome relief that was - in Kashmiri-style bandhgalas and sherwanis worn with old-world pants and salwars. From navy blue, aqua blue to off white, Manish's was a perfect example of craft-meet-style. Sporting a rich Kashmiri look, the men flaunted an exquisite yet understated range of kurtas together with bandhgalas and sherwanis in structed silhouettes teamed beautifully with dhoti pants and salwars thick with chikankari work. Said the designer, "My label has adopted 45 women workers from the village of Mijwan for their chikankari work for a period of one year. This year the focus is to draw attention to regional crafts like chikankari and embrioderies from Kashmir." The men's collection was, indeed, a wealth of textures in jute and tussar silk in greys, navy blues and blacks with a spattering of autumn colours.

The second half of the show explored the 'autumn' part of the story by walking women in grand anarkalis, kurtas and sarees in signature tones of ivory and nudes merged with pinks, rusts, brick reds and burnt oranges. Model Indrani Dasgupta lend a timeless elegance to the beige anarkali coordinated with a sleeveless flowy robe rich in chikankari work. There was an occasional use of net too in the creation, particularly the nude net sarees with embellishments and Kashmiri embriodery around the bust and waist. And in the end, it was the outfits that turned out to be the only and the most righteous showstoppers, which no one seemed to mind despite speculations about a celeb showstopper.

It was a pure visual treat, the collection and its presentation, made magical by the designer himself who took his bow before a packed house of mesmerised audience.