New Delhi:Greek designer Alecca Carrano, a known name in fashion circles in Europe and the US, has a subtle and subdued style of using simple yet sensuous cuts to flatter a woman s body. She offers a range of evening gowns and transparent wraps that have a very 1920s look, apart from art-deco designs. "I design for the mature women who are comfortable with their bodies. There is no naked feel to the clothes, but they are low-necked and flowy - enough to make a woman feel womanly," Carrano said on the sidelines of the Delhi Fashion Week (DFW) here.

Hers is a predominantly white collection apart from a few red dresses with a dash of purple. She uses fabrics like silk, organza, chiffon and linen. "White shows volume and shape and if people like my designs, they order them in different colours of their choice," Carrano explained. Though the embroidered and block printed designs on Carrano s clothes are her own, the workmanship is Indian as her factory is located in the capital s suburb of Noida. She sells her creations through Indian fashion stores Bombay Electric (Mumbai), Ffolio (Bangalore), Ensemble (Mumbai), Amethyst (Chennai), Cinnamon (Bangalore), apart from Ogaan, which is a very loyal client of hers.

This apart, her clothes are sold through various leading international fashion houses across the world. Carrano, a graduate of New York s Fashion Institute of Technology, began her career as a fashion editor in New York and then worked for fashion magazine Vogue Italia. She showcased her collection at the Dubai Fashion Week just last week and now has got the chance to exhibit her creations at DFW after failing to showcase her brand at the Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week (WIFW) for two consecutive years.

"I have been staying in India for the last two years but I haven t been able to show my collection. I applied at WIFW for two years, but they turned me down both the times because they don t take foreign designers, they only take people of Indian origin. "I am happy I have got the chance this time and it s going well. I am getting a response that is way beyond my expectations," Carrano said. Though she seemed content with the response of Indian and international buyers at the fashion week, Carrano is displeased with the state of business in the Indian fashion market. "Customers here don t take any risks. I have been in the industry for 18 years, but nowhere do fashion houses return a garment to the designer in case it doesn t sell. But here they do so.

"And when the garments come back, they are not at all in a saleable condition. They need to be dry cleaned. So my only complaint is that very few people here are business people. Others don t take any risks," she rued. The designer says that due to her subtle taste of designs and colours, she cannot relate to the Indian fashion market. "I admire the clothes here, they are beautiful, but I am a very subtle designer. I don t use any contrasts, or bling or anything that is Bollywood like so I can t relate to it," she said. Carrano has a liking for creations by Tarun Tahiliani, Manish Malhotra and Gaurav Gupta.