Monthly Archives: July 2010

LFW Female Model Auditions

Lakme, the cult cosmetic brand along with IMG India invited the young and talented pool of models to showcase their grit and substance for the upcoming Lakme Fashion Week Winter/ Festive 2010 to be held at The Grand Hyatt, Mumbai from September 17 to September 21.

LFW, in its 11th year of remarkable expertise in the field of fashion, organized the female models audition in the Grand Hyatt, Mumbai itself. This season saw 63 Indian and International models turning up to the LFW Winter/Festive 2010 auditions. After 2 rounds of short listing by fashion industry experts, 4 models – Anjali Raut, Anuradha Nayudu, Marcela Rodrigues and Rayna Levya were selected, on the basis of their confidence, attitude, poise and individuality on the ramp.

The jury was comprised of the eminent personalities like veteran designers Narender Kumar and Monisha Jaisingh, supermodel Sheetal Malhar, show director Marc Robinson; ace photographer Farrokh Chothia; Editor in chief of Elle magazine Nonita Kalra and Vice president and Head of Fashion, IMG, India.



On the occasion we had the words of wisdom of Anil chopra, Advisor, Lakme. He said, “We are pleased to relentlessly bring forth exciting fresh faces and have undertaken this quest winningly through model auditions at LFW. We recognize the imperative role played by the models in the success of fashion weeks and our auditions are a step towards identifying and nurturing this potential.” 
 

M.A.C – To The Beach

M.A.C to the beach collection is a concoction of products to color you and your senses in hues and moods of a beach, a perfect place to nurture and unleash your romance with yourself.It comprises of a new lapping-wave lip pencil and highlight powder in coral shades, nail lacquer- a scorcher, eye shadow, kohl, powder blush, bronzing powder, cream bronzer, lusture drops, bronze body oil and our stylish city-to-seaside beach bags to paint you from glowing gold to glorious bronze. So its time to dip into the beach, absorb its magical moodiness, bask in the sunshine and get a perfect sun-kissed bronze façade and tan in a second.

M.A.C senior artist,Vimi Joshi, says, apply generous amount of M.A.C fix all over your body to create instant hydration and apply M.A.C beach bronze body oil all over the skin for a luxurious sun kissed glow. In addition to it, she soothsays, that to achieve an instant healthy bronze glow to your skin dabble with beach cream bronzer for that sheer transparent veil of bronze color.

Available at:
All M.A.C locations.

Neeru

Hyderabad-based brand Neeru’s showcased a dazzling and exclusive bridal collection at Bangalore Fashion Week. A much awaited event by fashionistas, the Bangalore Fashion Week saw the launch of Neeru’s fabulous bridal collection.

This rich wedding collection saw 32 different dresses, in an exquisite range that includes 8 embroidered sarees, 8 Silk Sarees, 8 Anarkalis and 8 Suits. The show was choreographed in true professional style by Achla Sachdev. Setting the ramp ablaze was Bollywood Star, the breathtakingly beautiful Aamna Sharif.

Speaking about the collection Neeru says “In this season’s collection, we have some exclusively designed bridal wear and partywear. Both our stores in Bangalore will show case our large collection of designer bridal wear.  The art of adorning the Indian bride has come a long way. With the wedding season just around the corner, we are thrilled to launch our grand and gorgeous wedding collection at Bangalore Fashion Week”

Since its inception back in 1971, Neeru’s has grown rapidly, establishing herself as a brand achieving grand success in the Indian ethnic industry. From a diverse range of ethnic finery like embroidered sarees, Indian silks, lehangas, suits, bridal ensembles to traditional fashion jewellery and kidswear, Neeru’s has been the quintessential example of a complete ethnic wear brand.


Installations by Monapali

Yesterday evening saw the unveiling of installations by Monapali at The Grand, Delhi among the glamour and glitz of the Delhi Couture Week. The installations are an ode to craftsmanship and mother nature taking cue from the same, the entire collection is organic hence the cuts, surface, ornamentation, texturing is all soft, elegant and graded. Its an earthy collection full of richness.

Talking to Mona and Pali, they said, ‘Nature is an inspiration behind the series of installations. She plays the perfect muse as the collection is as organic as she is.’ The aesthetic sense of designer duo has made it irresistibly enticing, as it has all earthy from color tones to fabric. The colors used are of birds like pigeon and peacock with shades of blues, greens, blacks and greys. 

The fabric is completely handcrafted and created of doris and cords in madras silk and Banarsi. Kheem Khab, net, chiffon all have been used to create the effect of light and dark. Completely hand crafted, these couture pieces, pay an ode to Indian craftsmanship. The mix of surface ornamentation, prints, embellishment, hand paint create a mélange of textures which comes alive in these pieces. Talking about silhouette, it is all organic and free flowing like nature. Spray or smudge prints and hand paint, cutting through layers of fabric to create a distinct pattern and tearing fabrics with a mix of surface ornamentation, prints, embellishment and embroidery creats the mood. 


 

Raakesh Agarwal @ DCW

Conjuring a feast for the senses, he presents a vision that moves from glimmering flesh tones to delicious peaches. Then, his blushing pinks move sinuously into fuchsia tones, ending their journey in seductive wine-tones.

An unparalleled blend of silks, jerseys, tulle, and embroideries vies for attention. His foil-prints, sheer chiffons create effects akin to cascading waterfalls of liquid metal, even as Lycra infused chameuse hugs the body. Velvets and silk lamés complete the dream. With a chiffon sari accompanied by a bustier constructed of Perspex elements, Raakesh mixes the delicate with the daring, breathing fresh life into an ancient craft. He also gives the sari stylish solution with ready-to-snap-on drapes that can be put on in the space of half a minute. Hand embroidered, almost sheeted fabrics are first constructed into Goddess drapes, and then embroidered over to perfection.

Raakesh Agarvwal adds another feather to his already bristling cap with his new line of haute accoutrements. Jewels by Raakesh Agarvwal, is a line of costume accessories that carries his love of glamour to another level. Raakesh uses crystals and acrylic to create statement pieces that are a combination of transparency and high shine. Oversized stones glimmer off their flat and moulded acrylic bases, with chains and beads adding their ubiquitous charm every now and then. There are cuffs, bracelets, belts and neckpieces: all of them multi-taskable – shape-changing wonders that make a stylist out of everyone. He treats his materials like precious metals and stones, ensuring that crystals – pavé-set, flushed onto Acrylic, as well as set in old-school pronged settings – not only replace regular diamonds, but surpass them in form and desirability.

Silver Streak

The traditional fine, hand crafted temple jewellery were made only in gold, studded with uncut rubies emeralds, sapphires and uncut diamonds. Silver Streak recently unveiled their Temple jewellery collection.

Today temple jewellery is also made in silver, and dipped in gold, on account of prohibitive costs. Silver Streak is one of the few jewellery stores in the city offering this kind of traditional “Temple Jewellery Collection”. The collection has enamel work studded with semi precious stones, with 92.5% Silver content .The “Temple Jewellery Collection” is available with gold plated finish giving it the perfect traditional touch and a perfect wear for any occasion. Silver Streak also has few exclusive pieces designed by Neelam Narang in this collection. So come and get your special piece for your next special occasion now at Silver Streak only.

Situated in the city’s shopping paradise in Mumbai, Silver Streak is a store that has everything that any jewellery aficionado would hunt for, ranging from glittering earrings, necklaces, pendants, bracelets to bangles. All in silver. All finely wrought and beautifully finished. While some are plain silver where the design takes limelight others are interwoven with pearls, topaz, emerald, rubies, garnet and other semi-precious stones to add a little more to it. All ranges by ‘Silver Streak ’ personify the individualistic approach to style. It is casual and comfortable and, at the same time elegant and timeless.
 

Party with Couture

The onset of Delhi Couture Week, saw the celebrations and merry making around. It was the Sabyasachi’s post show party at Smoke House Deli and the launch of Kingfisher Ultra, an uber beer brand from the house of UB group, where we saw everyone reveling the spirit imbued by the fashion gala being held in the city. It was looking like everyone wanted to relieve himself and have fun after some serious work.

The who’s who of our glamour fraternity flocked at Smoke House Deli to pay tribute to the magnificent show by Sabyasachi and glorified the night and felicitated “The Man of the moment” for his extraordinaire creativity and the applause he gathered. Glitterati  joined Harmeet Bajaj and Shiv Karan to stitch together the tailor-made concoctions, delectable food and handcrafted tunes at the venue. It was Samant Chauhan, Abdul Haldar, Sabina Chopra and Ekta Chaudhary who were seen savoring the wine and finger licking delicacies.

On the very other hand Kingfisher Premium, the Good times partner to Pearl Delhi couture Week celebrated the spirit of first day in style and luxury. Kingfisher Ultra, the latest offering from UB family in the super premium beer segment had a lavish lounge that served as an attraction to the guests and designers, models and showstoppers throughout the event. Mesmerized by the ultra cool ambience of the lounge, celebrities like Rani Mukherjee, Vidya Balan, Sabyasachi Mukherjee, Ritu Kumar, Koel Puri, abdul Haldar, Rahul Gandhi and Fleur Xaviers were seen having gala time. The bar was the most reveled place with chilled Kingfisher Utra boosting up the  high spirit of the event.

Dazzling with Swarovski

Pearls Infrastructure Delhi Couture Week greets with the brilliance of art and lighting installations made with Swarovski Elements. Creatively designed by Sumant Jayakrishnan, the entire venue is decked in crystal couture, sparkling with bespoke and dramatic chandeliers and art installations made with Swarovski Elements.



The dynamic art forms of couture lighting installations made with Swarovski Elements are spread across the venue making it luxurious, opulent and decadent. The focal installation, commemorating and glorifying the Indian Couture talent, is a dramatic and distinguished 14 feet tall cascading chandelier made with Swarovski Elements. This stunning installation has graced the central area around the main show area. Eight creative installations using over four lakh Swarovski Elements are spread across the venue.



An attractive illusion is created with a visual play of parallel glass panels, juxtaposed and studded with Swarovski Elements in one of the installations. Taking inspiration from the boomerang and enlarged to a modern sensibility, the third installation sparkles with subtle yet strong accents. A Pendoloque crystal shape has also been interpreted into two stunning chandeliers of 6 feet height creating a magnificent couture look.