The bad boys of fashion-some call them Indian fashion's viagra-led the presentation of schoolboy aesthetics. Aki Narula fittingly set the mood on the first day of the Lakme India Fashion Week (LIFW) with his raunchy ladies dressed for combat, only to turn the aggression sexual and on each other. They went for each other's butts with the precision of an anti-nuke missile, with Diandra Soares and Binal Trivedi ending the sequence with a severe tongue-lashing at each other at the mouth of the runway (there is still a debate going on whether it was a tongue touch or a snog). "After the war, the goddess goes to the bar," a visibly elated Narula pronounced when reporters asked him about his "shocker" war-inspired show. Manish Arora took his preoccupation with sexual orientation further with his monochrome photos on hot pink: T-shirts in different colours carrying the photograph of two men in an embrace flooded the runway at the end of his show, making an overt case for homosexuality. And what overthrew boring reports of buyer counting from the tabloid pages was Rohit Bal's brazen party at the Red Light pub.

(Clockwise from left) Tarun Tahiliani goes slinky; J.J. Valaya shows more; Aki Narula's models smooch at the end of the show; Wendell Rodricks' body-hugging number at the grand finale; Sabyasachi makes a bold statement even in virginal white; and Rohit Gandhi-Rahul Khanna get hip

The good news is that we are finally talking sex. Till now on the runway, Rina Dhaka was being regularly pulled up by the fashion police for too much "exposure". Now suddenly sexuality has moved beyond body exposure to homosexuality and straight-out exhibitionism. "Fashion on and off the runway is trying to push the boundaries though one does not know where it will lead to," says fashion patron and businesswoman Priya Paul of the Park Hotel. Almost single-handedly, fashion has been able to question hypocritical standards. Whether it is through Page 3-the fashion world made snogging acceptable in public long before Bollywood discovered Mallika Sehrawat and now no eyebrows are raised when smooching pictures appear in the newspapers-or through suggestions of sex on the runway-Arora's T-shirts of embracing men will go down as the first overt expression of homosexuality on the Indian ramp-prudishness is being challenged. And that's saying something in a country where Union Minister Sushma Swaraj wants to ban the FTV for showing too much flesh. Says Sharan Apparao of the Apparao Art Gallery: "Art and sexuality have always been intertwined. Since both fashion and sex dominate lifestyle, it is only natural that designers draw from sexuality." She adds: "While artist Bhupen Kakkar's homosexual series and F.N. Souza's nudes took Indian sexuality to the elite, fashion-being media friendly-has the ability to glamorise it and take it to the masses in a way that art can never do." The shows-Rohit Bal's in particular, with its anti-gender undertones and comment on sexuality through the models in lungis with sindoor in their hair-have inspired the curator to include fashion in her upcoming art show, Androgene.

The bad news is the way sex was addressed. In most cases it was more schoolboyish than sophisticated. Where you have designers like Britain's Alexander McQueen intellectualising sex by interpreting works of the Marquis de Sade in clothing by reinventing the trouser as the "bumster", and wild boy John Galliano exploring Freud-inspired fetishism through accessories such as gags, handcuffs, leather straps and ropes, in India we are still looking at T-shirts by Rocky S with "f***" spelt differently in glitter, Vijay Balhara putting his finger down his mouth (if it wasn't for the sexual suggestiveness of the movement you would have thought he was forcing himself to throw up) and Narula evolving to finally discover lesbianism.

EYE CANDY: Funky outfits by (from left) Lina Tipnis; Manish Arora and Malini Ramani added an innovative edge to LIFW

Art or stupidity? The trend does have its advocates, though. Ravi Krishnan of lifw's event managers International Media Group says, "Fashion is about personal statements and it is only natural to be honest and present a collection that explores something you believe in." After all this is Mumbai not New York, the Shiv Sena lives here, not Wacko Jacko. And if western fashion is discovering paedophilia (McQueen expressed concerns over it through his clothes), it is because it is their reality, while we as a nation are still struggling to accept homosexuality. It is common knowledge in fashion circles that many designers are gay, but nobody has either come out of the closet or expressed his sexuality through his work before. Gaurav Raina of the music group Midivial Punditz believes Arora's men in T-shirts were a statement rather than an attempt to shock. Adman and photographer Rohit Chawla, on the other hand, pronounces it a cheap gimmick to seduce the media: "For the uninitiated it might be okay to watch designers do a copy of what foreign designers did a decade ago, but for those in the know, it is nothing but a desperate attempt to get your two moments in the newspapers the next day." The lack of originality and the attempt to cover it up through sensationalism, Chawla says, "only proves that we are a nation of complete wannabes, on and off the runway".

THE PARTY SCENE

THE RED LIGHT AREA

Elite models having a soft launch at Athena during the LIFW; Manish Arora again at Athena; Pradeep Hirani's Chicago Theme party to celebrate one year of his store Kimaya; Tarun Tahiliani's bash at Indigo where the neon bands given at the entry were turned into accessories by guests like Arjun Rampal; and Gautam Singhania's over-crowded blast at Insomnia. Elite models having a soft launch at Athena during the LIFW; Manish Arora again at Athena; Pradeep Hirani's Chicago Theme party to celebrate one year of his store Kimaya; Tarun Tahiliani's bash at Indigo where the neon bands given at the entry were turned into accessories by guests like Arjun Rampal; and Gautam Singhania's over-crowded blast at Insomnia. Despite the deluge of parties, one event stood out. Rohit Bal's post-show do at Red Light, where male models, high on vodka injections (not intravenously, thank God), fashion (and God knows what else) got atop the bar at 4 a.m. and did an impromptu striptease, taking off their shirts (some pants came down too) and gyrating their hips in perfect butt-synchrony. It was so red lightish that the Mumbai cops were asking questions the next day. Other action reported: at the fdci's party at Velocity, a whole lot of commotion centred on the men's loo, with Dubai model Falek dragging Rohit Bal from the loo to the door and out of the party. Shivraj Singh of Jodhpur engaged in a few liplocks and even removed his shirt a few times. Despite the deluge of parties, one event stood out. Rohit Bal's post-show do at Red Light, where male models, high on vodka injections (not intravenously, thank God), fashion (and God knows what else) got atop the bar at 4 a.m. and did an impromptu striptease, taking off their shirts (some pants came down too) and gyrating their hips in perfect butt-synchrony. It was so red lightish that the Mumbai cops were asking questions the next day. Other action reported: at the fdci's party at Velocity, a whole lot of commotion centred on the men's loo, with Dubai model Falek dragging Rohit Bal from the loo to the door and out of the party. Shivraj Singh of Jodhpur engaged in a few liplocks and even removed his shirt a few times.

When did overt sexuality begin to appear on the runway? Fashion watchers put it down to the show by Narula at the LIFW two years ago when he sent down his female models with tousled hair, styled to give the impression that they had walked straight out of a bedroom romp onto the runway, holding up their middle finger to the audience. Dhaka has used music with sexual undertones on the runway earlier. So has Arora who intercepted a dark German House track with film dialogues by Raj Babbar during a rape scene to make a comment on sexual assault during a dark collection. But this year, with a lot more designers addressing sexuality, the idea is taken further. "It is definitely more overt this time," agrees Manoviraj Khosla, designer. "I think designers have always wanted to do it-sex is so connected with lifestyle-but were hesitant. Now that it is addressed, they are taking it further."

Certainly there are those who say it more subtly. And better. Flavour of the moment Sabyasachi, who has already taught his seniors a lesson or two in sartorial aesthetics, also presented a sexual statement. He sent down a model in virginal white with a pacifier in her mouth and a pregnant tummy, insinuating child rape and abuse of minors. It was a variation on a theme-by a western designer who sent down his bride at the end of a sequence with a new-born child in her arms, making a case for unwed mothers-but one that was thoughtful, an odd but successful mix of vulnerability and violence. Sabyasachi says he restricted the idea to one model because more than that would have been in-your-face. "It was a statement with disturbing and dark undertones, but then I believe that besides being fun and sensational, sex and fashion should also sometimes be introspective." Hope some of fashion's wild boys will introspect on that.

The fashion moment of the week was when The Lungi made its entry. From Bal (who advocates its use topless and with combat pockets) to Rajesh Pratap (who ties it like a harem pant and calls it the lungiskirt) and from veterans like Ritu Kumar to new LIFW entrants like Sonam Dubal (who wraps it Tibetan style and more casually), the lungi has hit fashion below the belt. You divide it in the middle and it becomes a pair of pleated pajamas, if you leave it less constructed it is an Indian wrap.

FASHION MOMENT: The lungi wrap was the hot item for most designers including (from left) Rathore, Bal and Manju-Bobby Grover

After Monisha Jaising popularised the kurti, designers seem keen to take the till-now-ignored bottom half of Indianwear and present it as a global statement. Says Anamika Khanna who used the lungi-salwar as her strongest presentation this season: "We as Indian designers usually take a western silhouette and put an interpretation on it. With the lungi, we get a chance to take an Indian silhouette and give it a western twist." She has displayed the yoke, ordinarily hidden from view in a traditional salwar, adorning it to make it a belt. Says Priyadarshini Rao who has used the silhouette of the wrap: "It can be teamed with long tunics or with bra-tops, short knits and bomber jackets."

Call it the lungi-salwar or the lungi-wrap, but this one is definitely going to land up in fashionable wardrobes. But warns Anuradha Mahindra who has seen its emergence on the runway from her vantage point in the front row of every show this week: "While the kurti was a hit, it is a little more tricky to play around with the silhouette at the bottom. If the marriage is not right, it can be a bit of a fashion faux pas." Dubal, who advocates the use of lungi pants for their comfort level, is confident that it will be a rage. "The lungi is the new kurti," he pronounces. Just one question though. If the kurta became the kurti, what will the lungi go down as in Indian pret vocabulary? The lunga? Hope not.

THE MARKET

ALL DRESSED UP BUT NOWHERE TO GO

STALLED SALES: A typical scene in the buyers lounge where there were more visitors and journalists than buyers Buyer counting is as much a part of LIFW as celebrity spotting. Jean Marc Loubier, president of the house of Celine which belongs to the LVMH Group, was clearly the toast of the week. Here to study the market, Loubier let the cat out of the bag when he said, "I think though ready-to-wear is developed in the country, India is only just getting ready for designer ready-to-wear." Even as FDCI was saying it had 57 buyers, the question is-is the business big enough? Satya Paul's MD Sanjay Kapoor echoes the sentiments of many when he says, "It has been a disappointing week so far. My regular buyers have come back. But there are almost no new faces." LIFW, in its fourth year, seems to have stuttered and stumbled with no big deals or corporate tie-ups except for Manish Arora signing up with the French store Maria Louisa. Even though the "organic growth", as FDCI Executive Director Vinod Kaul puts it, is still on track with almost every designer's turnover growing at 20-30 per cent, this year has seen no major development. The investments made by domestic corporates like Pantaloon and Raymonds is only about Rs 5-6 crore while a Gucci or lvmh would invest $100-200 million (Rs 460-920 crore) in a label. The buyers are already seething at FDCI's attitude. "Their shabby treatment of buyers has become a bad habit now," says Sumit Chandna of Shopper's Stop. "We even had to sit on the floor to watch shows, if we managed to get entry into the main arena. How do you expect us to buy anything at all?" The buzz in the buyers lounge is not a happy one. Subhash Midha, a buyer from Uttam Temple Designs who has flown down from New York, says he will return only if the India Fashion Week cleans up its act. "We stood for an hour to watch Tarun Tahiliani's show while Kareena Kapoor, Simi Garewal and Nita Ambani were seated almost immediately. This is not how business is conducted at other shows." Raymonds' Be: team which has no budget earmarked for LIFW 2003 complains about the lack of focus. Explains its executive director Aniruddha Deshmukh: "While some have designed for Autumn-Winter 2003, others have kept Spring-Summer 2004 in mind. That makes it very difficult to even place orders. They need to move the fashion week at least a few weeks early to June." International buyers too complain about the timing of the LIFW. Armand Hadida of L'Eclaireur of Paris says more international awareness should be brought about: "July and August are holiday season for most fashion houses in the world. It is a bad time to hold a fashion week." Despite the evolution in designing and the streamlining of pret which LIFW can take full credit for, the week has been nothing but a Page 3 spectacle and TV's end-of-the-news prop. A common roar from everybody in the business, be it designers or the buyers, is that the Page 3 show must go. Says Raymonds' Gautam Singhania: "The tamasha has to stop. The buyers have to be in the front row, not the socialites. Their support is not helping the cause of the Indian fashion industry." As designer Ashish Soni, a regular here, says, "I only come here for the media attention. I am not interested in small orders from one-stop stores which is the only business the week has got so far. That makes sense only for emerging designers." Clearly, the Indian designer is all dressed up. But has nowhere to go. -Nidhi Taparia