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Salut, Seychelles!

Miss India-World '96 Rani Jeyaraj

So... there shall be a fashion show in Seychelles. It shall be telecast worldwide, eventually, to an international audience. It shall feature 88 of the world's most beautiful women, all representing nations around the world. The spotlight shall be on The Look as much as on the women. And creating The Look for Miss World 1996, the fashion show, will be seven Indian designers, all of whom design for Bombay's top fashion house - Ensemble.

When the Seychelles government agreed to sponsor the swimsuit round for Ms World, it also wished to include one more event: a fashion show. Thus, Ensemble was called in by organisers Amitabh Bachchan Corporation Limited to grace one of the biggest media events held each year - the Miss World pageant 1996.

Ensemble is understandably delighted to mirror Indian fashion to the international community. In the past, fashion shows for the pageant have featured collections by master designers of the likes of Armani and Versace. And now, it is India's turn to strut its stuff before the world...

"The stable of designer wear modelled will showcase the best

Ensemble's Tarun Tahiliani

Indian fashion has to offer," says Tina Tahiliani-Parikh, executive director and partner, Ensemble. "The collection to be shown is representative of the entire spectrum of Indian fashion, from heavily embroidered Indian wear to trendy Western outfits. It is a matter of prestige for Ensemble to have been chosen and it is very exciting."

Indeed the excitement is palpable, it's in the air. As on November 6, the team from Ensemble has departed for Seychelles. There will be two days of extensive fittings for the 88 contestants who will participate in the pageant and model the collection.

The show was filmed on November 10, to be aired in a series of capsules both to the international audience and nationwide. It shall be a prelude, a lead-up to the main contest to be held on November 23 in Bangalore. Upton, the South African broadcasting company who have acquired sole international telecast rights, will telecast to the world; India will get to see the show, courtesy ABCL, on November 14 at 2130 hours IST on the Doordarshan channel, DD1. Countdown to Miss World 1996 has begun and soon the world will be watching...

Designer J J Valaya

Designing for the show are seven of India's best: Rohit Bal, Arjun Khanna, Raghavendra Rathore, Monika Jaising, J J Valaya and the man behind Ensemble - Tarun Tahiliani himself, the man who designed one of the outfits worn by Haiqa Khan nee Jemima Goldsmith alias Mrs Imran Khan on her wedding day. Most of the designers have already flown to Seychelles to be present for the filming. The show will be a first of sorts, for Indian fashion will be spotlighted as never before... Is Ensemble up to it?

"Ensemble has always been a pioneer in the world of Indian fashion, ever since we started nine years ago," states Tina. They are, by now, quite used to taking the first step. And preparations have been extensive indeed. Most designers have come up with a new line. Some have used representative pieces from their latest Fall collection. Each is contributing between 15 and 25 outfits to the show.

"There is absolutely no theme for the show," Tina hastens to clarify. "It's a palette, intended to give the entire world an idea of Indian fashion today." And no, the clothes are not strictly Indian. Instead they strive to show India's potential, ranging from pure ethnic to overt western.

"There are clothes that are heavily embroidered, almost reminiscent

Rohit Bal

of the Maharaja era - the Tahiliani, Valaya and Bal collections, for example, fit this bracket. There are clothes with an Indo-Western look, a fusion of the two, like jackets over sarongs as in Raghavendra and Arjun's designs. Hidden harmony has created a fluid, flowing, sensual line. And, for Western wear, we are presenting Monisha Jaising's clothes," says Tina.

Materials range from brocade to organza, colours span the palette. Arjun Khanna's line, for instance, delves into silver, gold, deep blue and Persian. Any particular reason for such a diverse colour code? Khanna comments: "It is a completely new collection inspired by Seychelles, the venue, and the pageant itself. Seychelles is a beach city, hence the gold and the blue." Khanna's collection will include halters, sarongs, lungis and some heavily embroidered pieces concentrating on Indian design.

Tarun Tahiliani has, meanwhile, picked some of the best pieces of his recently viewed Fall collection to be included in the show. His clothes are predominantly Indian - lehngas, sarees and pieces from his Hakoba collection. The colours are varied, from vibrant fuschia to deep red and, even, purple. As far as accessorising each outfit goes, most of the designers are providing their own embellishments. Tarun Tahiliani's accessories are being done by Kavita Behl, each piece a painstaking match to the outfit.

"We need to show that Indian fashion is coming of age, not only in terms of design but also in terms of cut, drape and finish. And this," says Tina, "is a fitting opportunity." Most designers have obtained a standard size in measurements as far as fitting their outfits go. For a pageant on as large a scale as this one, it is important that there should be no flaws."

"You must keep in mind that they are designing for girls they have never seen before," Tina points out. "Most of them are of a standard size but, to overcome any difficulties, we are taking along tailors and two days have been allotted for fittings only."

There is no doubt that all the designers are excited and honoured to be part of a team representing their country. The question is - why them, above all? These seven designers are not the only ones stocked at Ensemble, so why were they chosen in particular?

"The designers were chosen to represent the diversity of Indian fashion," Tina explains. "We did not wish repetitiveness and these seven designers span the elements of Indian, Western and fusion fashion. We also needed to pick clothes with dramatic impact - clothes that would look exciting to a TV audience, that would look visually fabulous." The seven designers, then, were selected because they met the requirements of the medium: television.

Choreographer Lubna Adams

And what of the show itself? After all, the world must see such a worked-upon collection in a suitable setting. The show will be filmed on two ramps connected over a swimming pool. The music chosen is, of course, of extreme importance. The choreographer of the fashion show, Lubna Adams, elaborates: "Some designers were keen on using certain tracks which would convey the feel of their clothes and I let them do so. The music is not neccesarily the newest in the market, but it is such that it suits the clothes."

That is all that really matters, of course.

And, of the models themselves, who will after all present these clothes as they present themselves, to be judged for the pageant? Adams comments: "Bear in mind that the 88 pageant contestants may not necessarily have been modelling before. It shall be challenging, as much as exciting, to bring about a high standard show, to make the models do something they have perhaps not been used to doing and make it look fabulous."

For this task, Adams is taking along three assistants just to assist her as she choreographs, for she will be handling 88 models. There can be no dress rehearsal due to time constraints. As opposed to a normal show, where Adams can work in the number of required rehearsals and where the models are familiar with her work methods, this event shall indeed be a novel experience.

Rani Jeyaraj

"Time is an essential factor," Adams comments, on the eve of her departure to Seychelles. "I have, they tell me, three hours with the girls." In the span of that time, her choreography must be perfected in order to present the girls and present the clothes. There is indeed excitement, but there is also apprehension considering time and the task at hand....

.... So there shall be a fashion show at Seychelles. Eighty-eight beautiful contestants modelling to a worldwide audience. Judging from the excitement, the committment, even the apprehension, it seems India is ready. It shall be quite a show... Salut, Seychelles!