Mallika Sherawat adds glamour to Lakme Fashion Week

Mumbai, Sep 17 (IANS) Bollywood bombshell Mallika Sherawat lifted the spirits of the Lakme Fashion Week (LFW) Friday by attending fashion designer Anita Dongre's show as a guest.

When quizzed why she didn't make Mallika her showstopper, Dongre said: 'I just invited her as a friend to attend the show. In fact, my showstoppers were two Rajasthani dancers who came all the way from Jaipur and did a wonderful job.'

The outfit Mallika was wearing was from Dongre's summer collection, the designer revealed.

'She was wearing one of my designed outfits. She was wearing a yellow organic cotton federate dress from my summer 2011 collection,' Dongre told reporters after the show.

In the collection, the embroidery was cleverly used on cuffs, necklines and yokes in glittering gold and silver. Drapes appeared on dresses with the greatest of ease as they innovatively moved all over the garments, while cowls were used with great ingenuity.

The silhouettes were figure-hugging and sexy and the highlights were a raglan-sleeved cowl-neck outfit, and a hooded one with a cowled yoke and a simple elegant printed sheath.

'It was Rajasthan inspired, I enjoyed designing it. Everyone was wearing bandni dresses which were again inspired by Rajasthan,' said Dongre.

The designer also wanted to promote Rajasthan's folk culture through her show.

'I really want to promote folk art. Rajasthani dancers were my way of saying India should treasure its folk artists and I think from now on in every show, I am going to get folk artistes from across the country. I will put them on the ramp as I think that they deserve to be recognised,' said Dongre.

Apart from Mallika, Dongre's show had a band of women celebrities cheering for her. They included Sunidhi Chauhan, Esha Koppikar, Diana Hayden, Dipannita Sharma, Gurinder Chadha, Tisca Chopra and Vidya Malvade.