The crossover from one age to another can only bear fruit if we use our heritage to set us free into a new design sensibility. Set free, not by disowning our heritage, but by using it to enhance the design sensibility of the new millennium.

Nikki Mahajan walks a different road. In a league apart from the rest of the designer fraternity, Mahajan has been working with various groups from the interiors of India for almost 10 years in a committed fashion, giving an impetus to their individual workmanship.

She has worked on a variety of textiles, using different craft techniques to come up with chic ensembles that are appreciated by those who understand true fashion. She retails these exclusive pieces at various up-market stores such as Folio, Signature, Heritage, L'Affaire, Kali, Zenon and Casa Bianca. Her own store atVasant Vihar in the Priya Cinema complex houses her private collection.

``I felt that I could not cross over into the fire without paying a tribute to the century gone by,'' she says. ``To try and encompass the millennium in a presentation would be too conceited an attempt, even though our heritage goes as far as the millennium and beyond,'' she adds.

The show, titled An Ode to the Century--A Window to the New Millennium, presented a vast repertoire by Mahajan, combining crafts from the northern frontier states, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Bihar with designs from European and American design centres, thus creating a new trend in global fashion.

The focus was on apparel for the millennium, the emphasis on contrasts and combinations--opaque and sheer, glittering and subtle, dark and light, long and short, tradition and modernity. Multi-dimensional fabrics such as satin, crepe, chiffon, georgette, tussar and silk have found use, sometimes all in one collection, in an extremely subtlemanner.

Mahajan's focus is on simple cuts and graceful drapes. Though adornment is minimalist, glitter seems to be a must. A lot of crystals, beads, sequins and rhinestones helped create a truly futuristic look.