 Miss World Priyanka Chopra and Miss Asia-Pacific Diya Mirza were today seen strapped, straddling up and down a ramp showcasing "India’s finest collection of leather garments, shoes and accessories”, writes Gautham
Adithya.
Now a regular feature in the industry, this year’s Leather Fashion Show, part of the India International Leather Fair, 2001, also saw the reigning Femina Miss India winners, among other models, come together for a classy, well-rendered display of very fashionable leather products.
Hemant Trivedi, coach for the Miss India winners, directed the event; one that packed the Taj Coromandel’s ballroom with entrants paying Rs 1,000 and Rs 1,800 per seat, for show time that was a little over an hour.
 Priyanka appeared early on in the show, for Tannex Leather, stunning the audience with a black, full-sleeve leather jacket, a tight, long, black velvet skirt and a black skullcap. Emerging on the ramp as the centrepiece with other models surrounding, Priyanka was greeted with excited murmurs of recognition that rose above the already high music volume. But her ensuing smile, one wonders, was it part of the routine or a natural response to the audience’s recognition?
The range and design were extensive; boring, simple, stylish, gutsy, loud and sometimes downright ridiculous. One of the interesting sequences, with Eastern Leather, had two models wearing jackets and skirts of identical design, one in green and the other in red. Here too Priyanka was in the middle, donning the same design jacket and skirt but combined the colours she was flanked by, green and red. Innovative.
A show on hides was not without a show of skin. Though absolutely nothing vulgar, it threatened to get revealing. Women models often had on their upper backs just one horizontal string tied into a bow attempting to hold up the otherwise adequate front of the garment.
The men, however, had a blast in unbuttoned jackets and shirts, revealing well-developed chest cuts, complemented by freshly gelled hair, half beards and that aura of absolute cool composure.
 Drish Shoes had Diya Mirza smiling and accompanying about 8 cute children on the ramp, showing off kid’s shoes. She herself was pink, in a tight tank top and a tight, bell-bottomed trouser. It does take some terrific attitude to sport that outfit. Their combined wave saw the last of them (the kids) as they disappeared into the back stage area.
Apart from all of this, the show had men in vests, monkey caps, women in spaghetti-strapped leather tops, tops with rivets and outfits with loosely hanging strings, outfits in metallic colours: green, copper and blue; but Orient Express’ red, as red as red can get, jacket topped the creative, attention-seeking palette. With that red jacket you can never get lost in a crowd!
In the midst of all this, you also wonder why most of the faces on the ramp look familiar. You have this "I’ve seen this person somewhere” feeling. Soon enough you realise they are models, who would have got our attention somewhere in the past with some advertisement or the other that now escapes our memory.
 The finale: Chennai based Gaitonde Shoes presented apparels designed by Rehane, incorporating sequins from crystal shop Swarovski. This round saw almost the entire modelling team come out, the last two being Diya and Priyanka, specially introduced and acknowledged for their recent international titles.
Choreography was excellent. The men and women appeared seasoned, walking gracefully, stopping and posing with finesse, before continuing with the rest of their sequence. The set was a couple of triangular layers and was elevated up stage (far end). Lights were thematic and well coordinated with the music and entry and exit of the walkers. The occasionally smoking smoke machine reminded us of another employable device.
The Trade Dinner and Fashion Show Committee presented the Leather Fashion Show 2001, in association with German based Schill Seilacher and Chennai- based Salma International.
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