Mumbai, March 17, 2006: Living upto its reputation of being a trend setter, Be: today unveiled their Spring Summer 06 Collection with an exclusive fashion walk-through at their Kemp's Corner store in Mumbai. With an exemplary repertoire of finely crafted garments and accessories for women and men, Be: sets the trends for the season with four predominant themes. The traditional Indian inspired rich ethnic look and floral inspired prints and textures dominate the Spring Summer 06 collection this year. Be: pays tribute to the survival of cultures and a fusion of eras with its Ad-Vintage collection.

Double layer spaghetti strap peasant dress

Rooted in ethnic cultures, this collection derives its inspiration from tribal prints & patterns, faded batiks and blurry ikats. The design elements focus on rethinking, editing and mixing of exotic embellishments with rustic textures and rich dark saturated colours.

In the Graphic Traffic collection, one sees basic principles of design, distortion and repetition of geometric shapes and interesting patterns which takes 'graph-ism' to another level. Stripes, squares and dots combine in a psychedelic and stylized manner to make a bold traffic stopping, style statement.

The Floriculture theme as the name suggests is all about florals. From prints, to appliqués, to lasers cut outs and embroideries, stylized florals are available in every mood and colour palette to complete the summer look.

No summer collection can be complete without its offering of soft and lightweight fabrics like voiles, light cottons and seersuckers. The Splash collection is all about these light weight fabrics translated into loose, layered and comfortable silhouettes stylized for a lazy summer afternoon.

Innovation in fabric seems to be the highlight this season with texturization, embellishments and surface ornamentation adding that special zing. Lightweight garments rule this collection with natural fabrics being the 'in-thing'. Pure cottons, chiffons, voiles, light muslins and crushes continue to be big in kurtas, skirts, tunics and tops. Lycra also continues to be a very important component in women's wear as well as men's wear. Dyed, over dyed and naturally woven colored denims with embellishments and treatments also team up to create an absolute visual drama this summer.

Racer back top with floral embroidery & Crochet bodice Baby doll voile top

Colour story: Be: urges its consumer's to play with colours and this message is probably at its peak this spring summer with the colour palette remaining as bright and vibrant as before with aqua's, corals and limes ruling the palette. Fuchsias and blues have now become a part of the basic palette for a women's wardrobe. One can also see soft, bright and fun colours with metallic accents. Oxidized tones of gold, silver, orange, shades of brown and dull yellow in garments and accessories are definitely not worth a miss. Neutral palettes have been dramatized with fluorescent linings and piping.

Whites and off-whites see an exciting twist with beautiful appliqués, laser cutworks, tone on tone embellishments and a variety of textures in the form of blouses, camisoles and tunics in varying lengths.

Comfort dominates the look this season. Intricate detailing adds premium value to the garments. Florals and paisleys rule across different styles to the extent that in knits, florals replace stripes. Skirts continue to be very popular in every length- be it short, knee length, calf length or large voluminous skirts. The dress is back with a bang and in such variety that it may get adopted with as much gusto as the Gypsy skirts, in the last year.

Another dominant silhouette that has made a comeback is the 'A' line silhouette which is seen to be making its presence felt in skirts, dresses and tops.

Be: offers fashion that captures the latest trends from across the globe. Be: offers a wide range of apparel and accessories for both men and women from Be: and well known Indian designers like Wendell Rodricks, Priyadarshini Rao, Anshu Arora Sen, Gauri and Nainika, Krishna Mehta, Savio Jon, Shantanu & Nikhil, Vidhi Singhania, Rohit Bal, Akbar Shahpurwalla across categories namely - Women's Western wear, Women's Ethnic wear, Lounge Wear and Club wear for both men & women.

Be:, from Raymond Ltd., today is a 17 store chain. Be: has a pan India presence with a store each in Ahmedabad, Ludhiana , Hyderabad , Chennai, two in Bangalore and Kolkata, three in Delhi , four in Bombay . Be: also has an international presence with two stores in Dubai , UAE. The Be: chain will continue to expand in prominent cities in India and abroad.