Preity Zinta's washboard abdomen in "Salaam Namaste" draws attention to her deadly mini-skirt, a midnight mood denim that talks about skirt trends in the fashion world.

In the city of Delhi, skirt sales went up in a matter of two weeks after promos of the films were flashed widely on television. All denim, all minis... the sudden splurge in skirts clearly reveals that skirts have become a statement with the women of today.

Not that skirts haven't been in for some time. Remember Rani Mukherjee in "Kuch Kuch Hota Hai"? She makes an appearance and says it all in that cute little orange number. Look back at fashion shows, too, to see a number of fashion gurus playing with fabric to create skirt trends in their favourite yarns.

"Skirts are so comfortable and coolly casual," says Surya, a Delhi working girl, who wears skirts to office.

"I like the fact that they are airy, and they are elegant even as they modestly cover all from the probing male gaze," she says. "In fact, we go to Sarojini Nagar and pick up export surplus skirts at Rs.200-300 depending on the flare and the quality of cotton muslin that has been used."

The fine mul mul cotton fabric used for Rajasthani dupattas, lehengas and saris is now getting a makeover as it gets a longer life span in skirts. At Anokhi outlets both at Jaipur and Delhi, skirts come in shades of colours or prints. At the popular Fab India, they come in all kinds of wraparounds, flowing gathered skirts and in sleek A line cuts.

"Women of all ages and sizes are getting into skirts," says the Fab India saleswoman who says they have sold more skirts in the past year with tops to match in contrasting colours and tones.

Skirts are a hot number in Delhi's crowded Lajpat Nagar too. At the more upmarket Cottonworld in Mumbai and Delhi as well as Indigo, skirts have caught sales movement.

Designers as well as small time garment creators could be credited with transforming skirts into an aesthetic philosophy of minimalism, intellectualism and acceptance.

Ritu Kumar infused black with her thoughtful musings on the nature of attire, the oppressiveness of the fashion machine and its stratification of society when she introduced both coloured and black skirts on the ramp last year at her fall showing.

A boldly coloured, feminine, Bohemian sensibility has dominated the runways, leading to a summer filled with gypsy skirts, layers of colourful tank tops and slippers in every imaginable hue.

For the summer, specifically, skirts have over the past three years made an auspicious return -- not just the colour or the fabric, but also much of the attendant attitude.

Designers at Lakme India Fashion Week also relied on skirts in collections ostensibly inspired by weddings. The cornerstone of the collections other than the heavy stuff of lehengas were skirts as garments displaying a charming, scrappy character.

"The collection of skirts in a women's wardrobe builds as the skirt combines chaotically with elements of any colour," says Sudha, an assistant designer.

Designers internationally have embraced skirts to knit a casual look of haute elegance. Miuccia Prada and Calvin Klein's Francisco Costa used them to underscore the silhouette of a garment and give it a detached sophistication.

When Prada presented her fall collection in Milan three years ago, the first garment to appear on her dramatically lit runway was a simple, spare black skirt. It represented a significant about-face, as Prada had led the way in bejewelling waistbands and hemlines. The skirt served to clear the visual palate. This was the start of a new chapter in fashion. Cleaner, leaner, but no less rich.

After a long, blinding period during which designing had become a euphemism for bedazzling couture, the fashion industry has become more attuned to the way in which garments are constructed. They are fixated on the volume in a skirt, the sharp angle of a shoulder, the face-framing importance of a neckline.

It is always risky trying to identify the social or cultural forces that swing fashion in a new direction. Sometimes, the only explanation is boredom. But the shift may also have come as a subtle response to the proliferation of celebrity-branded collections.

It is tempting to say that skirts are for grown-ups and girls, that they exude maturity because they are light, and often, more structured. But all women have their moods. Skirts don't deny the need to be frivolous, the desire to be light hearted. But ever so often, something in the air just says it's time to be comfortable.