November 2010 - Page 10 of 17

Kiehl’s, the venerable New York based maker of fine quality skin and hair preparations having more than 160 years of expertise in beauty, recently opened its first flagship store in India at The Ambience Mall in Vasant Kunj, making India 37th country in the Kiehl’s family.

With a floor area of 550 sq.ft. and enclosed on three sides by glass, the boutique is designed on the lines of International Kiehl’s free-standing stores – complete with a wooden flooring, a dazzling chandelier, the trademark New York red-brick wall and of course a motorbike.

Dinesh Dayal, Director of Kiehl’s in India said” India will simply love Kiehl’s. We are excited to bring in the warmth and quirkiness of New York’s East Village through the boutique’s design and our spirit of active generosity. Our products, textures and results will be explained through a thorough consultation and each customer will be given generous samples depending on his/her skin needs. As we infuse the Kiehl’s ethos in India, we look forward to Indian customers becoming a part of the global Kiehl’s community.”

Kiehl’s in India will offer the international catalogue of products, which include skin care products for face and body and a hair care & styling range.

Posted by : Divya Vashishtha at 03:12 AM

Christian Dior celebrated the opening of the first Dior boutique in Mumbai at the Taj Mahal Hotel over cocktails and dinner. Present on this momentous occasion were Mr. Serge Brunschwig, Chief Operating Officer, Christian Dior Couture and Kalyani Chawla, V.P. Marketing & Communications, Christian Dior Couture, India.

Celebrating this exclusive 1300 square feet boutique at The Taj Mahal Hotel, the Dior Dinner was organized in a grand style with archival couture dresses in giant exhibit glass cases greeting the guests.

On this unforgettable moment Kalyani Chawla who was seen personally greeting all her guests and introducing them to Mr. Brunschwig said, “Some of our best customers are from Mumbai. They had to travel to our stores in Delhi to shop. Barely two weeks old we have had an amazing response which has been very encouraging”

The rocking evening was managed by Bhavana Pandey and Nandita Mahtani, with guests like Mahesh & Haseena Jethmalani, Roohi Chetan Jaikishan, Gauri Pohoomull, Sunny & Anu Dewan, Natasha Poonawala, Yash Birla, Deveika Bhojwani, Sophie choudhury, Shobhaa De, Surily Goel, Akanksha Agarwal, Queenie Singh, Farhad Taraporewala, Ramona & Bruno Rodella, Rita Dhody, Francois Pujolais, Narendra Kumar, Madhoo Shah, Aarti & Kailash Surendranath, Varun Bahl, Celina Wadia, Karan johar, Dino Morea, Chunky Pandey, Raveena Tandon, Monisha Jaisingh amongst many more of Mumbai’s beautiful people.

Upping the glam quotient of the evening were Sushmita Sen, Deepika Padukone, Shilpa Shetty, Malaika Arora Khan, Suzzanne Roshan, Amrita Arora, Mehr Rampal, Genelia Dsouza, Neelam Kothari and Maheep Kapoor, who made a stunning style statement dressed in Dior Couture, accessoried with Dior bags and shoes.

Suneet Verma launched his Fall 2010 collection in incredible poetic and musical culture of Awadh. Inspired by the famous Qawali "Nighaien milane ko ji chahata hai", from the 50’s, it celebrated the joyful and flirtatious music with the sensual dance of the time.

The collection complimented the clothing and lifestyle of Awadh. Red, Orange and fuchsia pink being the main color palette with accents of teal, blue and beige. The techniques were inspired from the rich heritage of Awadh – silver and dull gold gota patti embroidery, velvet cutwork, satin and zari borders, zardozi and thread work, aari embroidery and encrusted pearls. The silhouettes are all long, easy and layered with a certain deliberate mismatch to bring about the cultural diversity of Lucknow. Short flared tunics in chiffon and light weight geogette, worn over voluminous satin salwars, sheer chiffon anarkali kurtas with sheer net zardosi churidars, beige and red threadwork sharars sets with gold and silver net chunnis, deep maroon and red satin applique sarees with emerald green borders and a dash of lime green to lighten up the heart.

The men’s clothes were equally rich and finely detailed – Silk ombred velvets appliqued on deep maroon jacquard sherwanis, ivory silk kurtas with all over thread embroidery with silver and gold kasab and zardozi shawls and the jewellery for this show has been specially commissioned to the acclaimed international designer Pieter Louis Erasmus.

Michael Bastian, a name synonymous with Fashion for the elite, teamed up with GANT to unveil the Limited Edition “GANT by Michael Bastian” line for men in India.To mark the occasion Gant organised a private fashion showcasing of uber-luxury line in a classic and yet sport setting inspired by the True American Sport – Lacrosse.

The celebrated new collection ’GANT by Michael Bastian’, is a result of a genuine mutual passion for Fashion & Sports resulting in a unique melange of the casual American Style and European Elegance. This collection is inspired from a true American sport called Lacrosse. “Lacrosse is fascinating to me, and I love that it is this American sport that may not be very well known around the world. Sports are a prominent part of both GANT’s heritage and in my own line, and I think guys all over the world can relate to a sporting reference”, opines Michael Bastian. The collection comprises a full assortment of clothing for men. Michael describes his designs as “deconstructed modern, luxurious and comfortably familiar.”

The collection mixes sporty and tailored elements, fusing the rich heritage of Gant with dressed-up, washed down American classics that Bastian is famously known for. The look is complete with trendy and very stylish accessories. This much talked about GANT’s Autumn Winter collection by Michael Bastian was launched at the New York Fashion week in September 2010.

GANT by Michael Bastian creations are available across the globe, and at GANT outlets in cities such as Amritsar, Chandigarh, New Delhi, Gurgaon, Hyderabad, Jalandhar, Lucknow and Ludhiana.

A splendidly elegant parade of Piaget watches and jewellery creations form a glittering escort for year-end parties. While the men’s timepieces convey a sense of tradition and expertise, sparkling watches and jewellery surround women with a glowing glamour that makes them shine like stars on a winter night.

A diamond lacework pattern nestles gently against the skin. 78 gemstones compose an undulating arabesque pattern to form a pendant lightly adorning a dipping neckline. A majestic pear-cut diamond sparkles like a mesmerizing and sensual drop of sunshine. A glittering gossamer-like motif coils voluptuously around the finger in a myriad of gemstones forming graceful wreathes crafted in white gold.

What if time decided to change appearance in the flick of a finger? The Limelight Magic Hour conceals three different personalities beneath an invisible mechanism secretly developed in the Piaget

workshops. Three styles, three ways of wearing this model and as many types of time read-off are revealed on its flinqué white dial featuring applied hour-markers that play hide and seek according to the mood of the gem-set rotating bezel. In the horizontal position, the oval shape is harmoniously classical; set at an oblique angle, it becomes mischievous and fanciful; while the vertical option reveals the jewellery watch adorned with gem-set gold numerals that transform hours into treasures. The enchanting Limelight Magic Hour watch is clothed in diamonds right through to the inner bezel ring.

A worthy ambassador of Piaget’s movement manufacturing skills, the Altiplano confirms the brand’s expertise in the field of ultra-thin watchmaking. It alone could host the new Calibre 1208P, acknowledged at the thinnest of its category at just 2.35 mm thick. A tribute to the legendary 12P movement introduced 50 years earlier, this self-winding movement pushes the limits of micromechanical feasibility while losing nothing of its reliability. Entirely designed and developed by Piaget, it remains loyal to the tradition of fine craftsmanship that has been the constant hallmark of all creations from the Manufacture. This watch displaying only essential indications of the hours, minutes and small seconds, is the smallest in the world in its category .

Artist Bhavna Minocha after the grand success of her previous exhibition presented Poetry In Frames II – An Exclusive exhibition of paintings, sculptures, Etchings & Photographs at Gallery Romain Rolland Alliance Francaise in New Delhi.

Art curator Bhavna Minocha the organizer of the art would be continuing her efforts in her forthcoming exhibitions as well which are planned to be held all across the country in the near future. On the occasion Bhavna said she was very happy that she was promoting all kind of artists where Malika Sikand the youngest artist a class 12 student stole the show.

The participating artists were Achutan kudallur, Aparna caur, Atul aggarwal, Avijit roy, Bina aziz, Brinda miller, Goldy malhotra, Gunjan & Rahul, Jatin das, John douglas, kanchan chander, kayur patel, lalita lajmi, leena bidani, Malika sikand, M.G. kumar, Manohar desai, Nishant dange, Paresh maity, Ram kumar, Rohan sonavane, Sanjay kumar, Shamendu sonavane, Shola carletti, Simran ks lamba, Shuvaprasanna, Shuchi khanna, Subhash awchat, Suhas roy, Suman roy, Sunayana malhotra, Sunil mehra, and Yashpal chandrakar .

Some of the guests present at the exhibition were L.K Advani, Pratibha advani, Manish Seth, Sunil Mehra, Kanchan Chandra, Artist Anita Kulkarni, Simran Lamba, Youngest artist Malika Sikand, Shalini Vij,Vandy Mehra,Designer Rahul Gunjan , Artist Niladri Paul ,Designer Kapil – Monika,Designer Preeti Ghai and many more……….

Ermenegildo Zegna Group which has recently set a joint venture with Reliance Brands Ltd launched its first store in Hyderabad at Taj Krishna. This new opening is the fourth store launch, forming an integral part of Zegna’s worldwide expansion strategy and establishing yet another pillar in India.

The Ermenegildo Zegna store world leader in luxury menswear, offers a perfect wardrobe for the stylish gentleman with a multi-faceted lifestyle who is ready to enjoy the best under all circumstances – be it formal functions or leisure time. In addition the store also offers accessories from the world of Zegna including shoes, bags, ties and small leather items to complement the urban chic attitude of the collection.

Spread across 2300 sq.ft, the Zegna store at Taj Krishna is designed by architects Gianmaria and Roberto Beretta and utilizes a variety of colors, natural textures and furnishing details to distinguish between the different collections inside the store, whilst maintaining Zegna’s heritage of timeless style and sophisticated elegance.

Seen at the launch were well known personalities and fashionistas of Hyderabad like Anand Kabra, Meena Reddy, Aparna & Venkatesh Roddam, Suhani & Stouvant Pittie, Bunty & Suresh Bajaj, Kelly Dorjee, Pavan Reddy, Rekha Lahoti, Sareen Patta, Sandeep & Sarita Reddy, Raju Naik, Uttam Reddy, Vikram Polavarupu, Mohan Atluri, Gaurav Sanghi, Maya & Shankar Krishnamurty amongst the members of the New Zealand cricket team Tim Southee, Tim Mcintosh, Jesse Ryder, Jeetan Patel, Trent and Shane adding to the glam quotient of the launch.

It was a glitterati hooded night when Shiv Karan Singh celebrated his Birthday among his family and friends. Hosted by himself and Riyaaz Amlani at Smoke House Grill, GK2, the birthday bash turned out to be ebullient where guests were seen getting indulged in some delectable food and fine selection of wines and spirits.

The well known percussionist Jonqui flew down from Mumbai especially for Shiv’s birthday and played live with DJ Cheenu, and DJ Amit at the console. Jonqui churned out the mind-numbing sounds on his percussion set which were enjoyed by everyone present.

The birthday bash was attended by who’s who of the tinsel town, some of the well wishers who were present at the party were Sunil Sethi, JJ Valaya, Nikhil and Vidhushi Mehra, Shatanu and Reema Mehra, Navneet Randhawa, Gulneet Bajaj, Sanjay Sharma, Indrani Dasgupta, Sonalika Sahay, Lakshmi Rana, Ammu Saidi, Tanisha Mohan, Vikrum Baidyanath and many more.