Talk about keeping abreast with the times. Whether it is the two patches of sindoor red across Nina Manuel's bosom on Tarun Tahiliani's runway or Rocky S.'s attempt at cleavage containment in halter straps or the brocade-adorned twin triangles on the racks in designer stores, the cups are running over.

BUSINESS IS BUST: From highlighting the bust-area (top left, Kavita Bhartia), fashion is now doing away with niceties and thrusting the bra forward (Rocky S)

And all over the place. Even as the navel continues to claim centrepoint, the real cleavage is replacing the butt-cleavage as fashion's new focus. And the bra is emerging as a strong contender for the position of the new shirt. "Absolutely," says Aki Narula, bra pusher who was criticised by the fashion police for sending out 30 pieces of bra variations on his runway two years ago. "Not only did all those pieces sell, but the bra has also become a merchandise product." You saw it play peek-a-boo in colour from under shirts for a while; the more adventurous were seen wearing it under sheer tops, creating an illusion silhouette. But the formalities have been done away with. Now, with the status of a stand-alone garment, it is no longer an accessory.

Manuel is stepping out in it at parties. VJ Sushma Reddy is wearing it with attached sleeves on TV. Actor Diya Mirza, considered a conservative dresser, wore it on the cover of Cosmopolitan. Model Diandra Soares is a bra lover. Stores are recording a demand for it. "It is easier to sell bras now but we didn't even stock them three years ago," says Shagun Khanna, senior merchandiser, Ogaan. Even the more conventional are being seduced. The bra has replaced the camisole as innerwear, can be worn with denim jackets or a crisp white shirt with the neckline finishing at the navel or with a stole or chiffon shrug flung over it. Bra-burning? What was that?

Rocky S, who has made them on demand for actors-Bipasha Basu is a regular client, going for it in turquoise to blood red-says there is still time before it will be worn without embellishment. "When people buy it for social wear, they don't want to go completely plain, which is why I touch it up with some sequin or embroidery." But with the trend catching, he plans to go more basic: "Next season, I will go sporty, concentrating on just the silhouette."

UNINHIBITED MARCH: Designers like Dhaka (left) and Tahiliani are pushing the bra as a stand-alone garment; model Aparna Kumar (top, right) in a bra-top variation at a night-out

Ever since Madonna created a fashion moment with her power-dressing Gaultier conical bra, the elevation of innerwear as outerwear has never been in doubt. But with the return of the Empress Line-the Audrey Hepburn-esque gathers that accentuate the bust-which marks a drastic power shift from the hips to the breasts as fashion's favoured curve of the moment, the prospects of the bra have never seemed greater. From Dolce & Gabbana to Betsy Johnson, the bra-top has been beckoning for a few summers. From being a utility item, designers have worked on it in terms of style and surface ornamentation, so the bra as a silhouette has emerged with all the sensibilities of a top. "Surprisingly, India seems to have taken well to it," says fashion forecaster Rajiv Goel. "Earlier only accepted as a garment on its own in the sportswear segment, it is now being flaunted socially as a fashion item." Available in designer stores in Delhi and Mumbai and on the runway this summer are bra-tops with tassels, with buttons, with straps in mother-of-pearl, in Chinese patterns and Japanese blossoms, taking inspiration-fashion at its most sharp is blind to irony-from the boxy kimono. It looks best when accompanied by low-rise faded jeans. When worn more sportily, it needs to be paired with a dressy skirt. There are some staunch opposers though. "The bra should be banned," says Anshu Arora Sen of The Small Shop which advocates fluid silhouettes and opposes the bra for its constrictiveness. Even designer Rina Dhaka, accused in the years of hip-emphasis of sending her models down the runway without their pants on, has now switched sides from the hips to bust. Her show this season saw models with problems of cleavage containment. "It is here to stay," says Dhaka, who nevertheless is bashful about instructing her tailors to make a B. She says she uses the more polite "bustier", but, of course, that is not what it is. It has been described at different times in fashion history as a corset, tube top, tank top, small tee and bustier. But this time it is definitely a bra. No doubt about it.

Simar Duggal, who created a line of them last year in metallic gold, silver and leather, says it will not be long before "it stops becoming a topic of conversation as it will become so common place". "The torso we have begun to favour with the Empire Line is one Indians are already quite okay with revealing, so it is not a big deal," she says. Which perhaps explains why a Kaanta laga song, with the model showing butt-cleavage and G-string, attracts criticism while Kareena Kapoor's cholis in Asoka go unmentioned. Agrees Sonam Dubbal, who has been developing the bra as a garment: "In India, it takes on a softer, more romantic form, becoming in western wear an extension of what we have been acquainted with forever in India as the choli." He feels that Indian interpretations-whether the halter bra or the embroidered bra or even tied in front-takes its inspiration from the Indian choli.

But, says Duggal, in India, a lot needs to be done with the bra-top designwise-since you cannot wear a bra under a bra, the bra-shirt will have to be a replacement for the support the real item offers. Earlier used by designers for shock value, it is now getting accepted as a shirt and so, says Rocky S., comfort is vital. He uses ready-made cups to give support. Going by the way things are going, expect a bra-zen season ahead.