Church bells rang out and then there was silence. Only the sounds of tramping feet as the models walked the ramp in perfect silence. The ubiquitous music score that accompanies every fashion presentation, was eerily missing. And, to top it all, the models were gagged with strips of cloth. For those who had caught up with Narendra Kumar's post-show comment that his collection was inspired by Suketu Mehta's Maximum City and Jehangir Sabavala's Reasoning Vision, discovered themselves completely confused. "What is Nari protesting about?" I whisper to his constant companion, Kadambari. "I would rather not get into it," she replied, diplomatic as she is stunning.

Kumar had earlier lost a case against the Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI). In the great Mumbai-Delhi divide and the advent of two Fashion Weeks, Kumar hopelessly fought for his right to show his collection at both. "It does not matter that I lost the case, I am just trying to make a statement." If it had been a designer with lesser credentials, we may have put it down to a publicity stunt but Kumar's stream of asymmetrical jackets in cotton, knit tops, cotton jacquard balloon skirts, chino pants and embroidered halter neck camisoles remained as edgy as ever.