Tarun Tahiliani Mix and match. Wear a corset with a lehnga and a very different dupatta. Try kurtis with micro shorts. Wear lots of semi-precious baubles and go with your strappy stilettos.

It has transformed designers from compulsive huggers, underwear flashers, flashbulb-seekers and Page 3 trash to seemingly corporate-savvy brand-builders. It is fighting back against the all-pervasive influence of brash Bollywood by doing not-always-successful makeovers. And most of all, it has expanded the tiny world of trendspotters into a growing band of the converted: kurtis are out, T-shirts are in; skirts are hot, narrow pants are not; bright colours are passe, white is right; platforms are off, pointed boots are on; animal prints are dead, stripes are rocking. Whew. Do you change your wardrobe or your body?

When the fourth fashion week begins in Mumbai on July 18, we will know. We will also know whether the fashion industry-all Rs 180 crore worth of it compared to the global figure of $35 billion-will be any closer to being taken seriously. There is no doubt that the process has begun. It is in the expansion of the branded apparel retail business to Rs 19,000 crore, whether it be Be:, Raymond's eight stores nationwide, or Pantaloons' 4,000 sq m spanking new multi-designer store in Mumbai. It is in the speed with which the "peasant look'' seen in the fashion week last year found itself being cloned by humble tailors in hole-in-the-wall shops. And more than that, it is in the fact that most of the 58 designers who are to display their collections at the fashion week will have traces of the military look. "That's what trend forecasting is about,'' says Anshu Arora Sen, who retails at Be: nationwide as well as at Selfridges in London. "Everyone said military chic would be hot this year and everybody wants their collections to sell.'' So what if everybody ends up looking like everybody else.

Monisha Jaising Skirts, skirts, skirts. Short, knee-length,long, all get a leg-up. Don't discard the capris. Use shimmer and shine, but try and make it look vintage and inherited, not acquired.

Designers, who once relied on a handful of matronly regulars, are now looking beyond them. So Lina Tipnis has already despatched the clothes under her Linarika label to over 15 stores in the country to be displayed immediately after she unveils her pret collection at LIFW. Malini Ramani, best known for mistaking a tricolour for a mini-dress at the fashion week in 2000, is contemplating a shot of B-complex to fortify herself as she grapples with her Warrior Princess look. Aki Narula, his three assistants and team of 20 tailors are busy adding sleeves, changing hemlines, dressing dummies and having lunch at 4 p.m. And the self-styled guru of ubercool Manish Arora has just fought off an iron particle lodged in his eye to race to the finish. Will that mean his collection will be colour blind? Isn't it always?

More seriously, fashion has never been so serious. Be:, Raymond's pret store chain, plans to show the wares of all its 15 fashion week designers by August, almost two months earlier than last year. Vinod Kaul, executive director of the Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI), is already contemplating the money he will make from this fashion week-last year, he says, LIFW made Rs 20 crore from contracts with stores such as Selfridges and Sanskrit in Hong Kong.

Rina Dhaka Say a big no to colour. Go for shades of black and white. Borrow from granny's closet. Use silk saris, brocade blouses. Wear T-shirts, but be sure they are printed or embroidered.

If fashion is about authoritarianism-after all, 20 per cent of the global industry is controlled by two majors, Bernard Arnault's LVMH and Francois Pinault's Pinault Printemps Redoute-it is also about democracy. And that is pretty much evident in recent ramp-to-street transitions. Rocky S' denims which ruled the ramp last year disappeared faster than the invites to the fashion front rows while Monisha Jaising's kurtis at LIFW 2001have lasted longer than most fashionable marriages. Even corsets enjoyed an extended run with actors Aishwarya Rai and Rani Mukherjee sporting it with gravity-defying results while broad belts and chandelier earrings gave all scavengers of flea markets reason to rejoice. If trends are about uniformity, fashion is about choice. So if Rohit Bal's slim linen/khadi/voile pants are too slim for the average Indian man, he will not buy them. Or if the asymmetrical skirt, which style meisters insist has to be worn, looks odd on the average big-hipped Indian woman, out it will also go.

But it is clear the number of buyers will be greater. Take Ranna Gill. In her store on Delhi's fashionable 1, MG Road, a group of trendy 20-somethings is looking at her skirts and tees. Close behind is a rack of belts, bags and other accessories. The sight doesn't fail to thrill Gill, even though the purchases are small. "Two years ago, I knew everyone who bought my clothes-it was the same 200 people season after season. But now just about anyone wears my clothes." Hemant Trevedi is in the same happy frame of mind. Even as he prepares for the lifw's closing collection with Goa's beach god, Wendell Rodricks, he exclaims about having been asked to join the upscale retail London store, Harvey Nicols. "Even the man with the comb in his pocket wants to look good. We are becoming helping hands for them," he says.

Rohit Bal I hate to say it but short kurtas will still be very cool for women. Buckle under a trend, wear them on the belt, coats, bags and shoes. Men should wear slim, really slim pants. Get the hips in shape.

The figures speak. Men's garments are seeing a growth of over 35 per cent as compared to women's wear which is growing at 20 per cent every season. The change has meant that the big names are not the only ones who sell. Sure, JJ Valaya and Tarun Tahiliani, whose turnovers are estimated to be around Rs 20 crore, are still the kings of bridal wear. But it is the younger designers who have discovered pret just as pret has discovered them. Gill, for instance, has three stores in Delhi and another opening in Mumbai. She does not talk just about herself, de rigueur in designer country, but also numbers: her turnover will increase by 10-12 per cent this year. Mumbai-based Priyadarshini Rao, who quit Shoppers' Stop to launch her own label in 1996, saw a 25 per cent rise in business last year (PR for Pantaloons, her mass label, is priced between Rs 395 and Rs 750) while the poster boy of last year's fashion week, Sabyasachi, found his business increasing by almost 50 per cent in a year. "The 50 pieces I had crafted before LIFW 2002 are now considered masterpieces," he says, with no trace of irony. Satya Paul, the design house which caters to mid-market mamas and their daughters, has a target of Rs 15 crore this year. Bal, having ceased to experiment with his hair colour, has now found an alternative occupation-that of serious businessman. He has spun off a pret company called Balance Apparel Private Limited, run by a professional manager, while the portly Valaya has already signed consultants Ernst and Young for his pret collection.

Hemant Trevedi Denims with embellishments and embroidery will be just about everywhere. Join the gang. Body-hugs are so last season. The silhouette in shirts and skirts is fluid this year. Keep it that way. Don't try conforming to anything. Stick to your own style. Remember, fashion is a personal statement.

Everyone has not only a silhouette but also a corporate blueprint. Even the seemingly dippy Rina Dhaka. "I am looking at Spring Summer 2004 for the European market and designing clothes accordingly," she says, citing three big orders last year-Selfridges, Lord and Taylor in New York, and Coin in Italy. Even Sabyasachi says, "I am already in all the domestic stores I would like to be. Now getting a job from a foreign design house would be good. I would get to learn so much."

Clearly, he has not heard of Ritu Beri's aborted tie-up with the House of Scherrer. As the Indian market opens up to foreign retail houses after WTO in 2004, that will be the biggest problem. How can India sell to the West a sensibility it has already squeezed dry, whether it is Jean Paul Gaultier or Tom Ford for Gucci? The danger is that even as Indian designers are unable to cash in on their cultural specificity, the domestic market may fall to foreign labels like Mango and Marks and Spencer-they may be overpriced but they still have a value attached to them. But FDCI is still optimistic and is looking at the possible increase in exports as quotas are lifted. It is already in negotiation with Promostyl and Peclar, two well-known fashion trend companies in France. "Today, fashion anarchy exists in India. With a trend forecasting agency operational in the domestic market, things will improve," says Kaul.

But that is next year. For now, there is the promise of catfights, transparent fashion shows, endless parties, one barbecue and another Chicago theme evening. Tahiliani maintains a Buddha-like calm even as he is besieged with requests for passes, while Ravi Krishnan, managing director of IMG, the exclusive commercial agent, gears up for the hand-pumping and back-slapping. Narula is still wondering how to display his 35th garment when disco queen Donna Summer is in the middle of a particular shriek, while the patrician Raghavendra Rathore is sitting with tailors in Jodhpur, dipping bread and paneer jalfrezi in hot cups of tea, listening to air music, occasionally reading the Bhagvad Gita and working on his LIFW collection. "It is Indian fashion's break or make year. We are moving from a cottage industry to a corporate one. If we don't change now, we never will.''

He is changing-moving from expensive linens to affordable cottons. Will the urban Indian move with him?

What's Hot!
Fashion is fantasy. It is also A reality reflecting the zeitgeist. So what does the Lakme India Fashion Week's look for 2004 suggest?
Loose Pants Loose-fit trousers for both men and women are in. Cargo pants are very hip, as in Anshu Arora Sen's collection but bellbottoms too should be aired. This one is from Niki Mahajan's collection.	T-shirts The lowly T-shirt is offering stiff competition to the flattering-to-fat kurti. Whether it is embroidered, zipped, floral or even striped, it is now regulation wear. In Ranna Gill's collection (left), it comes with motifs while Tarun Tahiliani showcases it in jewel tones this season.	Denims Vintage blues are back. Even Rocky S, the emperor of the decorative denim, is going plain, mysterious and gothic. Call it what you will, in the collection of Narendra Kumar Ahmed of Banswara Textiles (left), it is rocking. And its clones are affordable.	Skirts They are everywhere this season. Even the sarong and lungis surface. Priyadarshini Rao has played with the calf-length version, Aparna Chandra has shown the knee, Malini Ramani has, in keeping with her love of underwear, flaunted the mini while Kavita Bhartia has opted for the asymmetrical look.	Military Chic Combat gear is everywhere. In the always-loud Manish Arora, it shows up in the kimono-inspired blood red shirt (above), while in Anshu Arora Sen's collection, it becomes jungle green.	Go Vintage The past is back but mixed with the present. Luxurious silks are washed out, colours are faded and patchwork is dyed. The effect as in the Neeta Bhargava ensemble is old rich.
What's Not!
You can be a slave to fashion. Or ignore it. If not, here is a Guide on what not to wear.
Platforms Are where trains come and go. They are not designed to transport individuals from one place to another on their feet. Put them at the back of your shoe-shelf. And keep them there.
Peasant Top Everyone had them on and off the ramp at the Lakme India Fashion Week last year. It is time to retire them if you think they are still trendy.	In chiffons, georgettes, silks and satins. In Aparna Chandra's collection, the tops are slender and printed in Oriental Variations. In Ashima and leena Singh's collection, for instance, the Asian elements comes from Indonesian orchids	Kurtis Ranna Gill's kurti last year revived Monisha Jaising's creation a year earlier. That and a realisation that it was convenient camouflage meant it spread like wildfire.	Straight Pants and Thin Belts Out, out. Malini Ramani's look last year needs an update. And that disco triangle T-shirt is too overdone. As Isha Koppikar who wore it in the song would say, Khallas.	Flouncing Skirts It is all right for John Galliano but Indian designers should stop short of the Flamenco look and its ghaghra equivalent. Waste of cloth. Anuradha Vakil, are you listening?	Animal Prints Grrr. Pronounce this species extinct forthwith. Rohit Gandhi and Rahul Khanna may have been trendy at the fashion week last year, but now not even your shoe should be seen with it. If you must wear anything, try plain stripes, black and white or geometric prints.