British travel photographer Virginia Fass plans book to be titled The Forts of India

The advertisements occupied a precious quarter page in the daily newspapers with screaming headlines announcing Ravissant Live. Boasting of the latesthaute couturepackaged in Paris and set loose on stage in India, the show promised side-attractions of Europe's creme-de-la-creme of cheesecake cat-walkers. Behind the show as well as the slick publicity blitz was the lanky, silver-haired and very indigenousRavi Chawla, the creator of Ravissant. Chawla, who runs the highly successful and large garment export manufacturing outfit, Indian Handicrafts, in the capital is making an attempt to introduce Ravissant (a trade name and the name of his recently opened boutique) to the fashion conscious elite of India. Chawla has also made a dent in the international market where his clothes are sold in high-brow department stores like Harrods in London, Gallerie Lafayette in Paris and Bloomingdales in New York.Said Chawla: "The show in Delhi was not aimed at getting any fixed clientele, but to show Ravissant to people here." Meanwhile, the show itself, parading eight models, six from Europe and two from New Delhi, proved a damp squib. The capital's high society, bejewelled to their teeth, drenched in French perfumes, and dressed presumably to outshine the mannequins on stage, were successful in doing just that.