December 2011 - Page 11 of 19

On a nippy winter night, the curious world of Hendrick’s opened up to take the swish set of Delhi by surprise with its interesting poolside setting at Aqua, Park Hotel.

Celebrating its quirky take-over of the capital, the world famous Hendrick’s Gin from the house of master distillers William Grant & sons came up with eclectic collection of madcap Hendrick’s games and activities, including bowling with Hendrick’s bottles, night croquet, face readers and a crooner with her repertoire of 20s hits.

The evening saw guests donning bow ties and hats, and enjoying the exotic cocktails. The attendees included Manish Arora, Sanjay Kapoor Joey Mathews, V. Sunil, Amol Vadhera, NamrataJoshipura, AD Singh, Subodh Gupta and BhartiKher, Ambika Pillai, Aparna Chandra, Rohit Gandhi, Rahul Khanna, Prateek Jain & Gautam Seth, IndraniDasgupta, Anushka Menon, Abhishek & Nandita Basu, Amrish Kumar, Nikhil & Vidushi Mehra, PuneetJuneja and many more.

Karl Lagerfeld once famously said that people love to look at skinny models, and those who do not are fat mummies. Though the designer shot off his fashion-defensive volley but the chase to that dreamy look comes through a corrugated path, infact bodily and psychologically. And model Yana Gupta spills the beans in her new book ‘How to Love your Body and Get the Body you Love’.

The 32 years old Czech model turned actor says she battled chronic eating disorder for 16 years to survive in the modeling industry where work is directly proportional to less food you eat. Sharing her obsession to be thin, she says, “I was used to having my stomach half empty and in a way I liked feeling light as it made me feel skinny but the appetite was problem. Luckily there was a solution to this problem, a way to kill the taste buds: a cigarette.”

Anorexia and bulimia is the order of the modeling industry worldwide with waifs being the Goddesses. Though repetitive ‘skinny v/s curvy’ debates often raise the brows about the health of models but call it the modern perception of the beauty that skinniness prevails. There is no denying that to thrive in the industry models need to be tall and thin yet fit to bear those blinding arc lights. Designer Aartivijay Gupta concedes, “As a designer I would prefer tall and lanky models for the obvious reason that they would be looking perfect in any kind of garments. Also they add extra glam and aura to the whole look.”

Though the pressure to stay thin is neck breaking but incorrigibly it’s like ‘this-way-or-no -way for the young girls walking in those towering stilettoes. In her yet-to-be-released book, Yana Gupta recalling her apprehensions says, “Instead of being a happy 16- year-old girl, worrying about boys and what to wear on a Friday night party. I started developing a fear of becoming fat.” Over the time the model would carry her food to the places she was invited to dinner and tried every diet but her fears about her body remained.

How obsessive compulsive Yana might be about being stick thin but Model Ninja Singh, who by the way takes a high protein diet and hates the word anorexia feels there is no such pressure at all to be thin. Ford Supermodel of the World – India winner, Ninja says, “Well skinny has got nothing to do with starving to death. Some people are born skinny while some have to work for it. At the end of the day you have to be in the good shape.” She furthers, “I know many models who dope to keep thin but to be true in India you can be unfit and still be a top model if you have the so called contacts but abroad it’s just the talent which matters. The whole skinny thing is valid for the models who are beginners where they still have to prove themselves.”

So does this skinniness (to foray, at least) is the major impetus in male modeling fiefdom either? With deluging lanky male models strutting down the international runways, does anorexia smother them either? Model Krisha Kops thinks that it’s generally a bigger problem for women, at least in India since the ideal beauty for women is too be quite thin. He states, “Men have to be well trained and therefore well nourished (no junk food of course). Eventually, it is always the specific job that demands how thin you must be. There is commercial work where you do not have to be that thin or certain fashion work where it is paramount to be thin. Like most entertainment industries, fashion gives you an exaggerated, over-idealized picture of the truth. If you have to be thin in the real world you have to be even thinner in front of the camera. The importance of beauty and status is to be blamed for this. And yes, depending on the job, for girls, being thinner can also mean more work to a certain extent.”

The Pochampally Weavers have been a part of the knotty segment since quite a long due the uprisings and negligence’s. To motivate and support the weavers designer Rahul Mishra reinterpreted, engineered & customized the craft into a neo graphic manner for a show at Iconic Taj Falaknuma Place.

The fabrics which were developed keeping in mind the ‘Glocal Appeal’ presented the weave in a stylish mode which is perfectly suitable and appreciable by the contemporary audience. The collection has been inspired from the extraordinary vividness and innovation of Central Asian Ikats made in the 19th Century.

The art is engineered & modified into a neo graphic conduct, reanimating the leaves, the flowers, the Chinars, the blossoming buds along with the mor Pankhs through the pattern implemented. The fine Handloom Weave from Pochampally, transmutes seamlessly into beautiful garbs.

The Indian accessory designer known for her contemporary designs…

Seldom, we stumble across such sumptuous visual feast as this aesthetically shot Aquazzura’s SS 2012 shoe collection serves, not to mention the sexual garnish it has been layered with.

The seductively delicious shots featuring a range of stilettoes in exotic settings come as a sheer delight. The Florence based label and its latest collection features shoes in cashmere suede and baby calf, coming in leopard prints and stitch detailing. Further, rendering edginess to the collection is its anklet chain details and adjustable strap closures for a perfect fit.

The Indian accessory designer known for her contemporary designs with a touch of the conventional denotes Radhika Gupta. Radhika has not only left her mark in the Indian market but has spread her magnetism in the outside abode too. A very visible example of her fame was exhibited in the promotion of the famous Hollywood movie “Eat Pray Love” for which the designer has showcased a collection of her range.

Radhika is a Delhi based designer who specializes in crafting beautiful and elegant accessories. Mainly footwears, costume jewelry, handbags and scarf’s include the designer’s priority list. She has pursued her degree from the London College of Fashion and even has been trained by several premium experts belonging to the fashion orb. It was the year 2005 when the designer started with her expedition in the field of accessories. Radhika Gupta’s collection is exhibited under her self possessed label titled 5 Elements. She is even a member of the Fashion Design Council of India.

Her label 5 Elements is based on the muse of Panchtatva, a very prehistoric word inspiring Radhika to extract the subterranean Indian art and craft in her very contemporary mode. A perfect merge of the modern and the conventional is portrayed in her accessories. Her assortments emerge as a harmonized mixture of Panchtatva, THE INSPIRATION. 5 Elements stands to redefine style in an accurate sagacity. Designing exemplary accessories is where the designer’s fervor lies. The designs reveal her love for the conventional ethnicity and crafting. The accessories engraved by Radhika are an ideal match for the urbane and the gallant.

The designers collection has been showcased in numerous events and exhibitions held globally especially Paris. She has even been a regular exhibitor at the coveted Wills India Fashion Week.

Aza, Kimaya, Evoluzione, Carma are the outlets from where Radhika leads her retail endeavor.

You can contact Radhika Gupta at:

WWW.5-ELEMENTS.CO.IN

With more than 145 years in the business, Louis Vuitton is more like a religion now – with a set of luxury codes and its followers. The highbrow fashion label and its index of cult goodies, varying from travel suitcases to scarves, witnessed an appendage with a Louis Vuitton Condom of late.

The kind of LV idealism, or better we call it idolism was demonstrated by a Georgia Republic architect IrakliKiziria when she came up a luxury Louis Vuitton condom, enveloped in the label’s brown packaging and adorned with raised letterings.

To your slight surprise this $68 rubber has no affiliation with the Louis Vuitton Company as it has been designed by Irakli in collaboration with Design Provocation as a design project. Launched on world AIDS day, the proceeds from the product are to be donated to amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research.

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Monthly Archives: December 2011

The Curious World of Hendrick

Fight to Stay Thin

Unraveling the Ikat Dream

Radhika Gupta

Aquazzura SS

Radhika Gupta

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Louis Vuitton Condom