Fashion is somehow driven by an incessant urge to create and morph the run of the mill where novelty is the key. And the fashion designers know it quite well that it takes two to tango. It’s all about travelling to new mediums, associates and fiefs which keep one going in the business, no matter you are Karl Lagerfeld or Donatella Versace.
The year 2011 was one classic example of new ventures, collaborations and expanding fiefdoms with high-end labels going masstige, celebrities turning designers, bursting online bubble and kids to pets flaunting their designer labels. So for ‘ever-reachable’ fashion’s sake, we archive the hottest fashion forays, endeavors, tie-ups and launches of 2011.
Though there might have been thousands of such warms handshakes throughout the year but nothing can beat ‘Versace for H&M’ which sold out in 30 minutes as soon as the collection hit the stores around the world. Even H&M’s website crashed under large number of users trying to access. Similar was the response to ‘Missoni for Target’ collection which left people craving for this highly anticipated collection as all sold within a matter of few hours. Later the collection featured on eBay at an incredibly exorbitant price.
In India the story was not as gripping as of its International counterpart. We saw Shantanu & Nikhil associating with Adidas to come up with their collection titled, Lucent featuring preppy colored active wear. Even Malini Ramani designed for Bata retaining her gypsy spirit in the footwear collection.
Apart from these collaborations and associations the designers forayed into new domains with the launch of different collections. The year witnessed the birth of Young Versace, a kidswear line from the house of Versace with its newly opened store later in Milan. Internationally, it was Vera Wang going for menswear and Tom Ford debuting in womenswear range.
The celebs-turned-designers brigade marched to the fashion field like never before. Rihanna in association with Armani Exchange created capsule collection featuring denim and tees. Kanye West landed on the Paris runway with his Spring Summer 2012 collection while Janet Jackson and Cheryl Cole came up with their fashion interpretations. On the hand, Gwen Stefani launched her kids line and Kim Kardashian launched hey eponymous range. Whereas in India it was Paris Hilton who launched her accessories range in Shoppers Stop and the news of Neha Dhupia launching her lingerie line spread like wildfire.
There also came ample store launches across the country throughout the year. As the European markets remained bearish, all the major brands headed towards Asia. While Vivienne Westwood and Marc Jacobs made it to the Chinese shores, Burberry reached out to Chennai fashionistas and Bottega Veneta launched its store in Gurgaon, apart from many other fashion labels and multi designer boutiques mushrooming across the country like Kimaya opened up in tier 2 cities like Surat.
Now, as Indian government has proposed 100% FDI in retail, we expect a Venturesome 2012 with some big fashion conglomerates flying off to Indian shores.
Besides store launches online bubble inflated in diversified areas. Zovi.com and Freecultr.com, an initiative by Kavinder Mishra & Sujal Shah joining the expanding online fashion retail brand clique. Then there are bestylish.com and myntra.com, retailing footwear and apparels respectively, making their presence felt.
