Iram Mirza, New Delhi: It was a show stealer, literally. Just a couple of days before designer Varun Bahl was to showcase his spring summer collection, some pieces of his line and the entire festival range worth Rs 60 lakh were stolen from his Noida studio last Sunday.

"What’s really surprising is that there is a rack of inexpensive cotton kurtas which were not touched, only the heavily embroidered pieces and some of the pieces which were going for the fashion week are gone," Varun said.

The fact that the entire collection got lifted days before his show at the Wills Lifestyle Fashion Week does sound fishy.

Could it be a case of professional rivalry? "There is surely somebody who is trying to get back at me," Varun said.

But Varun and the fashion fraternity rule out the alleged involvement of a designer participating in the rival fashion week.

"We might have a Delhi and Mumbai divide but as an industry we stand united," designer duo Shantanu and Nikhil said. As for Varun, the show must go on.

"We will do the fashion week, I will manage. I don’t have a choice, I will have to manage," he said.

If the MCD and sealing trouble was not enough, this incident has managed to spill the cup of woes for this Delhi-based designer.

With most of the studio relocated to Noida and a few big names in Delhi, it really makes one wonder if Delhi deserves to be called the fashion capital of India.

• FASHION WEEK: Hottest trends, fashion, celebrities..more!