Monthly Archives: October 2010

Rocky S for AVIBW

For the Aamby Valley India Bridal Week, Rocky S is all set to surprise and shock the ramp with his incredible imagination, prodigious and astonishing fashion statement through his artistic, lavish and delicately crafted collection of lehengas, graceful and exquisite saris, modish and enchanting chudidar kurtas and wispy and mellifluous gowns.

His collection is beautified with delicate Silks, Chiffon, Satin, Net, Georgette, varied blends of exceptional Velvet and skillfully designed and developed textured fabrics. The range is in combination of rich and elegant colors reminiscent of old rose, military green, nude, chocolate brown, maroon, black, ivory, grey and beige. The Tribal Shock collection is also enhanced and adorned with digital print mix of floral and leopard motives. The collection is quite varied with harmonic compilation of stones, matt sequences, resham ghara work, tikki sheeting with delicate fur and crystal broaches, French gold laces, dense and delicate cord work, delicate zardosi work.

The silhouettes communicate its harmony and rhythm through layering, delicate drapes, elaborate volume and structured torso and sleeves beautifully edged with refined crystal droplets.

Halloween Mayhem at Tote bar

Halloween Mayhem at Tote bar in association with Kingfisher… Date: Saturday, 30th October 2010 Time: 10 pm onwards Venue: Tote on the Turf, Mahalaxmi Race Course, Opp. Gate # 5 & 6, Keshav Rao, Khadye Marg, Mahalaxmi Mumbai 400 034.

Ten Reasons Why This Fashion Week Came Tops

Ten Reasons Why This Fashion Week Came Tops 

As a nation we have lost the art of appreciating an effort which is good. As people we allow our own notions to get colored whilst appreciating any event in the public / B2B domain. For once I let all personal beliefs aside and decided to find ten good reasons to applaud WIFW 2010.


Reason one: Large, amazingly large space that gladdened the heart. Add to that well planned installation and you have a beautiful venue

Reason two: So many new talents that allow the wheels of fashion to churn afresh. So many new design imprints to see and in turn so many new innovations emerged out of the fashion week

Reason three: No or few show stoppers that allowed the clothes to be the real stars. Salute the spirit of the youth who believe in undiluted fashion without looking for the emotional crutch of a sassy show stopper.

Reason four: New themes that had such a strong connect to India. Infact the central motif integral to fashion week of the hibiscus flower, used as temple offerings set the tone to a ‘Proud to be Indian ‘Fashion Week.


Reason five: Some good buyers like Beams, Harvey Nichols, Anthropology joined the ranks of the rich MiddleEastern

Reason six: The ultimate connect established between digital art and fashion by digitally driven designer. On the top of this list being Nida with her Maachis motif and following her closely the Walnut girls with their modern take on pop art.

Reason seven : Great stalls…. My personal favorite being Charu Parasher’s Afro inspired space…I think she did superb justice to her theme. Pero with their monochromatic look was another soother.And off course the space designed by Varya to showcase Samir Singh’s shoes.

Reason eight: The calm. Oof!!! it was so unnerving to see a fashion week pass by with no flames, no fuses and no fights.

Reason nine:  A wiser media with stupendous bloggers who for once looked at the clothes and had a trend or two to catch and chronicle correctly.


Reason ten:  Good adherence to the theme of Spring-Summer….very few strayed into colors, textures and textiles that would make you feel that they were trying to bunge in some winter looks to please the domestic buyer

In all a pleasurable week, except so much space and quiet lead to an uncanny thought….Is this the veritable calm before a storm?
 
Posted by : Anshu Khanna  at 06:32 PM

Can India ever become Part of the Global Value Chain of Ethical Fashion?

Can India ever become Part of the Global Value Chain of Ethical Fashion?

At a Fashion Week that mostly  features natural textiles and cotton in abundance, even at a time when the world is reeling under a global supply crunch of cotton, the mind wonders why India and Indian designers do not make a natural progression towards ethical fashion? Why India does not show the way to sustainable luxury and why we have only a few, courageous young finding their way to the Ethical Fashion Forum held at The Louvre,  Paris every year ?


Specially at a day and age when “sustainable luxury” has made it onto to the agenda of several high-profile events including the International Herald Tribune’s Luxury Conference and Ms Gilhart’s Future Fashion Project which featured sustainable designs from over 30 well-known luxury brands including YSL, Proenza Schouler and Donna Karan. And documentaries like BBC’s Blood Sweat an T- shirt have convinced  72 per cent of British consumers  that ethical production of the clothes they buy is important, up from 59 per cent in 2007 ( A TNS World panel research).

On a recent trip to Italy as part of an Indian Delegation invited to visit factories that make Fashion,I was arrested with this conversation between industry head honchos on how Cotton will be the most rare element to find next summer.Reason being the torrential rains in China, floods in Pakistan and India capping cotton exports that has led global inventories in 2010 to decline to roughly 45 million bales, the lowest since 1996.Cotton prices are above $1 per pound, the first time since 1995. Prices have risen more than 40% since July due to strong demand, tight supplies, and strong buying from speculators. Yet all one sees at WIFW SS’11 are cottons:natural, beautiful and enchanting….stall to stall to stall.

Then why not take that one extra step and declare that Indian designers will endorse cotton that is produced organically? That knits that they buy will not be soiled by a child’s hands working on them. That ,as far as possible silk will take the Ahimsa route and dyes that will be used will not be chemical. Agreed it seems like an expensive indulgence. Given that Ethical fashion still constitutes 0.4% of the global market but surely Rohit Ba,who is such a goodwill Ambassador of Indian design can guide the route by dedicating one line every season to Ethical fashion.Just as the young and committed Samant Chauhan has done, rewinding the looms in Bhagalpur to include some bails of Ahimsa Silk. And the quiet Jai and Pravesh who go to Louvre every year with an organically dyed collection of sarongs. Or even Anita Dongre whose names has found inclusion in many global Ethicla Fashion Forums.

As models create a green wall and FDCI pledges to support ethical practices, lets introspect this season to hopefully try and include Ethical Fashion in this rich abundant forum next time round. Imagine feeling the finesse of Ahimsa Silk, enjoying the beauty of an Indigo dye or wearing a fibre in the comfort that no one has been harmed in its making. Instead a family of  farmers now have their fire burning because of what you wear!

Posted by : Anshu Khanna  at 09:50 AM

The Ubiquitous Cycle Rickshaw Comes Rolling into Fashion Week

The Ubiquitous Cycle Rickshaw Comes Rolling into Fashion Week

They are seen everywhere. All of us have ridden on one and seen them plying as the symbol of India shining on the streets of Chandni Chowk. The ubiquitous Cycle Rickshaw, pulled by a bike as two guests ride pillion on a very decorous, chariot like contraption, is a symbol of sustainable livelihood and ecological sensitivity. As much an icon of India as is the Tuk tuk of Thailand and the beetle Taxis of Mexico.


Giving them an artsy appeal and a very cutting edge messaging, WIFW presents a very unique canvas to contemporary India through thirty five cycle rickshaws that brightly flank both the Main Show areas. An interesting art entrée by Sunil Sethi who off late has been showing how art can step off from canvases and transcend into many new mediums. He invited a few leading designers, young and old to make the everyday rickshaw look like a fantasy space come alive.


And the impact was mesmerizing: The Czar of Indian design, Rohit Bal gave his rickshaw a very beige look including cylindrical looking installation on its umbrella and rendering on the seats a rich, hand embroidered texture.  Rajesh Pratap Singh decided to stick to his fashion theme and create the walls with the symbol of fashion: The scissor that he crafted a full screen out of. Samant Chauhan made his rickshaw musical as he added an old Gramophone, a special store rack for  records and a ‘ bhopu’ as the horn.  Charu Parasher created a rickshaw inspired by Umrao Jaan whilst designers Rahul- Gunjan insisted on calling their rickshaw Gunjan te Rahul di gaddi….Dolly J got inspired by the Barbie Doll sci fi theme and made her rickshaw look like a scene out of Cartoon network as yet another young and very promising designers Jenjum brought the Bamboo greens from their Far Eastern roots to give a Go green messaging.

Installations are of special interest this Fashion Week. As a unifying message that proclaims that we are one, FDCI welcomes all with a large wall featuring shopping bags of all the participants. Suggesting the buyer go on a buying spree at a subliminal level, these bags flanked b a screen by Varun Sardana suggest unity in diversity. Then there are the very yummy creations using marking fabric outside the buyer’s lounge that instantly takes you to every designer’s atelier to the root from which the design process itself begins.

As space personifies sprawl and the halls reach a sense of spaciousness never experienced before, FDCI pulls a coup in installation design… right from the spruced up arty rickshaw to the wall of bags that make fashion a very enchanting talking point.

Posted by : Anshu Khanna  at 11:23 AM

Gaurav Jai Gupta

His approach towards his work and commitment to revive appreciation…

Dev R Nil

The duo plays around with beautiful textiles, subtle surface texturing…