The Kotwara collection by designer duo Meera and Muzzafar Ali aims to evoke an era when graceful women, draped in exquisitely embroidered pastel salwar-kameezes, spent languid evenings in the sprawling courtyards of Lucknow's palaces.

The Kotwara line is known for its Lucknowi chikan embroidery, a speciality of the Alis.

A partly veiled model opened the show. Representing the Alis was one of their puppies, which the model cuddled in her arms.