April 2017 - Page 6 of 9

Taking its initial cue from the Made You Look exhibition about black masculinity and dandyism which ran at London’s Photographer’s Gallery, this season’s Gucci’s campaign is an exploration of the flamboyance and self-expression of men and women who challenge the conventions of society through performance, art and dance.

Inspired by the portraiture of Malian artist Malick Sidibé, who photographed local nightlife and youth culture in his hometown of Bamako, the campaign explores the freedom of expression found in music and dance by models Nicole Atieno, Elibeidy Bakay Diaby and Keiron Berton Caynes.

Set in dancehalls and rich, colourful, make-shift studios, the images capture a group of men and women dancing passionately and posing for photographs. Referencing the spirit of England’s underground Northern
Soul movement of the 60s, with its distinctive, athletic dance moves and exuberant social scene, the images by Glen Luchford are dynamic, vibrant and spontaneous.

CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Alessandro Michele
ART DIRECTOR: Christopher Simmonds

Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana presented their ALTA MODA womenswear and ALTA SARTORIA menswear collections at a runway fashion show in Tokyo’s National Museum in Japan.

With a mix of European craftsmanship, the startling Spring Summer 2017 collection is soaking in the sentiment of spring in Japan, with the carefully placed cherry blossom tree was transplanted as the centrepiece of the show. Taking the spotlight was the collection’s prints as well as it’s delicate embroidery alongside equally detailed menswear pieces.

Koëcsh Bride & Vanraj Zaveri Fine Jewellery collaborated and launched a one stop shop Bridal Studio Koëcshat Badasaab, Bandra, Mumbai.

The Koëcsh studio showcased the Koëcsh Bridal and Pret collections, the BadaSaab Menswear collection along with Vanraj Zaveri Fine Jewellery making it the destination for a Bride & Groom or families shopping for their big day.

Seen at the event were Kishore & Kintu Bajaj, BomanIrani with wife Zenobia Irani, Mira Rajput, Bhagyashree with daughter Avantika, Anshula Kapoor, PriyaDutt, Manasi Scott, Pooja Bedi, Nishka Lulla, Raja Dhody, Rita Dhody, Anuska Ranjan, Aarti & Kailash Surendranath, Kunika Singh, Anita Raj, Anaita Adajania Shroff, Azmina Rahimtoola, Roopa Fabiani, Renu Kochar, Priyanka Thakur, Priyank Shrama, Murdula Kadam, Yasmin Karachiwala, Rauzat Qureshi and many more.

Come summer and one start looking for ideas to show off their skin, with the latest fad been to show off their stylist bras.The days are long gone when a showing bra strap was considered blasphemous and the non-concerned loved to make a big deal of it. Not anymore. Today for a banal sentence such as ‘your bra is showing’, a witty remark which says, ‘good, it was expensive’ is used by women all over. And while you are at it, why not flaunt your bra stylishly…

See-through tops are one of the sexiest ways to naively flaunt your bra. Don’t try to hide your bra under a sheer top. It’s no trendier, so don’t go for it. Instead, choose a bra in a bold color that contrasts your top while complimenting the rest of your outfit. Either way, your see-through is the most bra-friendly dress you can ever think of.

Off-shoulders or one side shoulder are the best kind of dresses where you could flaunt bra straps. The ‘strappier’ your bra, the sensual it is. There are loads of straps out there to experiment with. You could go for a single color or match it up with multiple colors and give an extra oomph to your otherwise dull look. It is not just the straps that you get to show off. If you want to portray a more tough and boisterous look, then think of a dark leathery choker for your bra.

You don’t have to think of transparent straps, adhesive cups or nude bras for that backless top or the low neck halter lying in your wardrobe anymore. It is backless for a reason. Show it to your heart’s content. Again, it could be a simple matching bra, or a printed outlandish one that is announcing its presence, or even a sporty bra under a halter or a low neck tank for that jaunty look. When you want to flaunt your bra with a backless, that is when you can fall in love with the convertible bras and the straps that come with it. Arranging the straps of your convertible or the multi way bra in a crisscross way to show it off would only look bold without appearing too rebellious.When the straps get trendier, like in a caged bra or an in multiple back strap bra, they look more than just ordinary and doesn’t make it look like a fashion blunder.

All your deep necks can enjoy the company of your laces and bows. It is never old fashioned for laces and bows. All those pleasant pinks and lovely lilacs that pop in your mind when it comes to laces – you don’t have to hide them under your dress anymore. Let them gracefully peep out of the neckline of your top. There you go with another trendy way to flaunt bra and increase the beauty quotient of your plain simple top.

Another attitudinizing way of bragging your luxe bra is to wear it underneath a casual shirt or a blazer or even a jacket you could wear a bandeau or a balconette under a blazer depending on how you want your bust to look. Choosing a seamless bra in a bold, graphic color, free of lace or other traditional lingerie embellishments, will help you walk the line between bra and bra top.

Lastly, Undo an extra button to show off just a hint of the lacy bra underneath. As long as you don’t expose the skin below the bra, it will be hard for anyone looking to know if what you are exposing is a bra or just a pretty lace camisole or bodysuit.

Shheilu Lehr hosted an award-winning soiree for Jewelry couturier Pavan Anand at Doppio in Breach Candy.

Designer Nivedita Saboo created a stunning outfit with a Samurai belt, which was later accessorised by Pavan along with a Knuckle duster 18K two head dragon ring with Burmese rubies and solitaires.

The cake played an ode of one of his finest designs with the topping in the shape of the Green Emerald necklace. Seen at the do were Manjari Phadnis, Shama Sikander, Nisha Jamval, Aarti & Kailash Surendranath amongst others.

Renowned sculptor J. K. Chillarwill be exhibiting his work at Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai, a wide variety ofvisual arts in the form of Marble Sculptures and Live Size Bronze Sculptures.

His artistic discipline not only involves aspects of the visual arts but also theart of other types like Contemporary Line Drawings.

Mr. J. K. Chillar, a Maharashtra Gaurav Puraskaarand nationally awardee sculptor has been pursuing his passion in this field for the last 50years. He has exhibited his workwidely by hosting 22 solo shows at renowned locations across India andaround the world like the Jehangir Art Gallery from 1971- 2013, at Taj ArtGallery from 1982 and 1986 and numerous other group shows.

The musée Christian Dior, situated in Normandy in the couturier’s childhood home, marks its twentieth year of existence this year and celebrates the couture house’s 70th anniversary with Christian Dior and Granville: the source of the legend, running from 8 April to 24 September 2017. Focusing on the couturier’s childhood, the exhibition pays tribute to a period in his life that would profoundly inform his future work, and influence the creations of his successors.

It was at Granville, at the beginning of the 20th century, that Christian Dior spent the first years of his life, in the turn-of-the-century setting of the villa named les rhumbs. Of the building with its soft pink and grey stone roughcast facade, perched on a cliff top and surrounded by an English garden, he kept “the sweetest and most wonderful memories”, he wrote in his memoirs, before exclaiming: “what can i say? My life, my style owes almost everything to its location and its architecture.”

Curated by the fashion historian Florence Müller, the exhibition Christian Dior and Granville: the source of the legend opens as a dialogue between Christian Dior’s childhood home and the designs produced in his couture house, over the course of an itinerary equal parts historical and stylistic. Spread across three levels, the exhibition conjures up the atmosphere of the era during which Christian Dior was living at Granville, supported using archival documents. On the ground floor, the various rooms each signify specific aspects that decisively shaped his personality. His artistic flair was fired by the Japanese exoticism of the entrance hall and the rococo decoration of the grand drawing room, while the dining room expresses his Normandy appetite, as much gourmand as gourmet. His entrepreneurial side comes through in his father’s study, while the mixture of scents and colors in the garden brought out the dreamer in him. The first floor is occupied by the bedrooms, each evoking a member of the family in displays that juxtapose photographs, portraits and other personal objects with haute couture dresses. Christian Dior’s creations find an echo in the objects that influenced them, such as the elegant outfits worn by his mother, madeleine, or carnival costumes. The top floor finishes telling the story of the origins of the Dior legend, showing how the couturier’s extraordinarily imaginative output, revisited by his successors, remains an indelible reference today.

What Antonelli Firenze has sought in the spring-summer 2017 collection is a meditated elegance that leaves room for the personality. It has achieved this by proposing different themes all sharing the bedrock concept that luxury is essentiality.

A mixture of cuts, colours and fabrics runs through the entire collection, where the waistline becomes higher in the culottes-style, above-the- ankle or carrot pants, and in the flowing midi skirts gathered at the hips. The dresses hint at the figure of the wearer rather than hugging it.

Jackets, even in soft glove leather,are short with raw edges or long and sleeveless with shawl collars to be worn over transparent voile t-shirts.

The new femininity is interpreted by a refined play of combinations. These include an array of blouses to be worn over drainpipe pants. Long waistcoats over full calf-length skirts; knee-length shirt-jackets oversoft culottes; zipper-closed bomber jackets in lightweight wool, blouses in printed silk to be worn overpants in male-style wool weaves, as well as a range of tracksuits in a mix of fabrics and contrast colours.

The range of dresses in cotton seersucker in natural summer shades play on an optical effect. The denim-look linen proposals are enhanced by contrast cognac-colour top stitching, while the cottons and linen shave precious inserts in organza weave or lurex. The range of shirts in summer fabrics showcases rufflesand two-tone collars.

And the alternatives for evening wear are long, sleeveless dresses, sometimes with side splits, in shades of white or sand, mandarin orange or black.

Adarsh Gill new store is a joyous union of green and silver with highlights of the royal colonial past. Large chandeliers and mirrors give the space the grandiose and opulence that Adarsh Gill couture is synonymous with. Retailing from this space will also be Adarsh Gill’s silver home collection, four poster beds, art deco sofas, Queen Anne chairs,accessories and décor artifacts such as vases, ashtrays, champagne buckets and much more.

The furniture has a typical royal hangover with a colonial touch, silk tapestry and diverse hues of green blend in beautifully with the sheen of silver giving the pieces the aura of regal splendor.

The studio itself has been done up to lend a comfortable feel for fashionistas to walk in spend time browsing through the couture and prêt collection. Lots of legroom and light makes the spacean elegant vista of fashion and interiors.