The catwalk is drawing inspiration from around the globe at the ongoing Lakme Fashion Week here.

Designer Payal Singhal drew inspiration from the work of French artist Erte while an Italian writer's story motivated Anand Kabra to showcase his creative brilliance on the ramp.

Inspired by the work of French artist, designer and illustrator Romain de Tirtoff, better known by the pseudonym Erte, Singhal rolled out her line that marked the return of 1920's flapper fashion.

"The line has lots of tubular dresses and low waistlines with playful details like feathers, crystals and pearls...a 1920's look," Singhal told IANS after the show, which had Bollywood actors Padmini Kolhapure, Poonam Singh and Poonam Dhillon on the front row.

"My cocktail dresses embodied the carefree spirit of today's women, with modern cuts and loads of embellishments. The styling is a little surreal and fancy and is all about being luxe and extravagant."

On offer were tube dresses with blouson asymmetrical hemlines, fringe dresses with lots of layers and dresses where fabric was gathered in front and back panel to create waves.

The outfits had heavily embellished necklines with gemstones. Most of the dresses possessed overall ethnic intricate heavy embroidery - zardozi, sequins, stones and mirror work.

Kabra's collection "Renato's Malena" drew inspiration from the story of Italian writer Luciano Vincenzoni.

"Madalena Scordia or Malena, young and recently widowed, is an object of every man's lust and every woman's envy. A 13-year-old boy Renato's curiosity takes him on a journey well beyond his sexual stirring to discover a different Malena, a real one," Kabra told IANS after the show.

"My collection captures Malena through Renato's eyes. He discovers in her a beautiful human being," he added.

The colour palette ranged from white, clay, aqua blue and orange to red, black and teal.

Using fabrics like silks and organzas, the designer crafted long dresses with floral prints and fabric to create rose motifs on the garment. Noodle strap dresses teamed up with scarves and belts had leather roses.

"I used rose prints because the flower indicates so many things - freshness, innocence, romance and exuberance."

Then there were the jumpsuits and saris with overall hand-painted floral prints and disco ball shimmer.

The line saw elegant texturing and embroidery. There were interesting necklines - attached to the neckline were extended fabrics of bright colours like red and black, which were draped as scarves around the neck.

Commenting on the lines, Poonam Dhillon said: "It would be unfair to compare the designers. Both rolled out beautiful lines."

Added Padmini: "I am a big fan of Payal, but I must say Kabra's work was also very beautiful."

The five-day fashion show at the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) ends Wednesday.