It was an evening of glamour, glitz and high fashion, as ace fashion entrepreneur and designer Jayanthi Ballal and her team kick-started the fifth edition of Mysore Fashion Week at The Windflower Resorts and Spa in Mysuru yesterday. And like always, the show mesmerised the spectators with a fusion of diverse couture lines by various designers across the country. The audience was treated to a blend of modern colour palettes, eye-catching silhouettes and accessories, and contemporary Indian gowns.

While the event was attended by the fashion-conscious, not-so-fashion-conscious and the fashion-curious, what was interesting to note was that this season, the three-day Mysore Fashion Week has been orchestrated as a platform to promote local talent and aspiring models. Blending the old with the new, the runway presented the city with an assortment of established designers and models, along with aspiring models and stylists. It was encouraging to see designers as young as 23 years old showcase their collections at the event. Madhu and Jayalakshmi, upcoming designers from Bengaluru, said: “The platform is an excellent opportunity for relatively new designers like us. Our portfolio is strengthened and we get fresh perspectives and ideas from stylists across the country. At this event, we are excited to learn more about ‘pattern of sleeves’ and ‘pockets’ in Indian gowns.

Fashion maestro, Jayanthi Ballal has used this platform deftly to promote Mysuru-based models. Radhika Chetan, Nivedita Gowda and ‘Mrs. India Universe’, Hemamalini Lakshman from the city have been chosen as the show-stoppers for her collections.

As the evening grew, the crowd swelled. When asked what brings them to an event like this, Kavitha, a pre-school teacher and Masuma, a teacher at a school for special children, said: “Jayanthi’s collections definitely! As Mysureans, we are proud of the strides she has made in the fashion industry and we are looking forward to see her creations, this year as well.”

When asked if Mysuru has what it takes to be a “fashion hub”, here’s what some fashion-conscious divas from the audience had to tell us, “Definitely. Today, Mysuru is developing and Mysureans are becoming more aware of the latest fashion and trends. The spending power of people, especially the younger lot, has increased and they are not hesitant to spend the big bucks on trendy design wear. Given the same, I’d definitely say Mysuru is well on its way to be a  fashion destination.”

Another audience member responded to the same question, “Mysuru is in no way behind to other places with respect to fashion. What makes us stand out, is our open-minded attitude to the old and the new, the modern influences and the heritage. The people’s flexible and open-minded attitudes towards fashion and life in general is what makes Mysuru a fashion-hub today.”

If that is indeed true, then we’d say Mysuru has what it takes to be a fashion runway for fashion gurus say, ‘Style is not a size, it is an attitude.’

‘And loads of attitude we have,’ Mysureans say. —Kavitha Mhatre