Preity Zinta shines bright in a Manish Malhotra ensemble; (below) Jesse Randhawa strikes a pose in another Manish outfit. Pictures by Pabitra Das

Trendspotting is what a fashion week anywhere in the world is meant to be about. Anywhere in the world but in the Bollywood den. For, the buzz at the ongoing Lakme Fashion Week (LFW) that kicked off in Mumbai on Tuesday is more about starspotting.

Day I of the debut edition of LFW at NCPA saw an impressive star cast on the ramp and an even bigger Bollywood brigade among the audience at almost each of the four shows. And when it came to putting together a multi-starrer show, Bollywood’s star designer Manish Malhotra did a Karan Johar (who, incidentally, introduced the audience to the line on Tuesday night).

“Urmila and Kareena have walked the ramp for me in the past and so this time it was Preity and Kajol,” smiled Manish, minutes after he took the stage flanked by the two vivacious Bollywood beauties, to conclude the final show.

The cast off the ramp: Karisma Kapoor, Tusshar Kapoor, Rahul Bose, Bobby Deol, Arjun Rampal, Mehr Jesia, Tanissha, Gauri Khan, Tara Sharma, Malaika Arora Khan, Amrita Arora, Dia Mirza, Sangeeta Bijlani and Azharuddin, Jaya Bachchan, Kirron Kher, Yash and Avanti Birla, Jugal Hansraj, Karan Johar, Neetu Singh, Ritu Nanda, Shobhaa De?

But the dazzle of the tinsel tryst was matched by the brilliance of Manish’s debut line for Fashion Week. Aptly titled Freedom, the all-white diffusion collection celebrated the designer’s departure from his trademark style revolving around colours, colours and more colours.

“In this collection I see Manish’s immense growth as a designer. It is an amazingly international line and very wearable at the same time,” felt Kajol.

The basic palette of the collection comprising 52 garments was white, touched with black, blue and gold in three segments. Breaking away from Manish’s signature of overtly glamorous embellishments, the collection boasted minimalist embroidery, with a lot of tone-on-tone work. Extensive use of crochet, lace and pearl adornments marked the line.

Models walk the ramp for Anshu Arora Sen

“The collection for both men and women is inspired by the soul-liberating philosophy of Sufism,” explained Karan Johar, in his introduction.

An almost ethereal feel brought about by pristine white sheer, flowing fabrics defined the look. Lots of saris, long kurtas with churidars, flowing skirts with shirts or blouses, corsets, long jackets, long Anarkali kurtas made up the women’s wear line, while for the men there were calf-length kurtas teamed with pyjamas, sherwanis and more.

“It was a stunning collection,” admired Preity, admitting that she was “a little nervous” on the black ramp.

Earlier in the evening, designer Anshu Arora Sen showcased her fall-winter 2006-07 line inspired by Origami. With the bird as the theme, the colour palette moved from shades of dawn like silver and grey to orange, melon, acid green and brown.

The fabrics were shot silk, organza and some faux fur. The no-embellishment line, with some touches of appliqu?s, was stark in its minimalism. Draped skirts, halter dresses, churi pants with gathers and smocking, long jackets, and blouses with tiny pouches at the back made up the collection.