Banarasi sari comeback

Gautam Seth with Aparna Chandra and Prateek Jain

Vidushi Mehra with Palak Shah and Rima Mehra

Palak Shah with Harmeet Bajaj

Anjali Goel with bride to be daughter Kashish Goel

Sujata Assomull with Palak Shah

Palak Shah with Naveen Ansal and Raseel Gujral

Anju Modi

Anju Modi with Alka Raghuvanshi

Himanshu Verma

Indrani Dasgupta showcases an Ekaya look

Mayank Mansingh Kaul with Monisha

Neeta and Palak Shah with Rakesh Thakore

Rita Sawhney with Simar Duggal and Simran Sawhney

Simar Duggal with Raseel Gujral

Sujata Assomull Sippy with Harmeet Bajaj

Decorated with raw silk settees, vibrant spiral murals on walls and colourful mounds of gulaal in clay jars, the launch of flagship sari store Ekaya in New Delhi this week proved that the traditional sari is anything but old-fashioned. Or so believes Bharat Shah, a manufacturer from Varanasi, who's collaborating directly with weavers from his home town to create collections of Banarasi saris for the store.
If the party attendance was anything to go by there are plenty of takers. So many of the guests, young women at that, wore traditional Banarasi saris. Shah's daughter Palak, in a bright pink sari with a contrasting gold blouse, was styled by Ekaya's creative consultant -- fashion stylist Aparna Chandra.
Also wearing Ekaya saris were Indrani Dasgupta, Pernia Qureshi, Vidyun Singh, Simar Duggal, Harmeet Bajaj, Raseel Gujral and Sujata Assomull Sippy. Anju Modi, Rakesh Thakore, Mayank Mansingh Kaul and Bim Bissel of Fab India, Harmeet Bajaj, Himanshi Verma, Naveen Ansal, Saba Ali and Tarun and Ritu Khiwal too were at the launch.
Ekaya is located at D7 Defence Colony, New Delhi.

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 [28 Sep 2012]

Aneeth Arora

Expanding on her impressive oeuvre of shabby-chic ensembles in traditional textiles, Arora's Spring/Summer 2012 collections was a happier version of last season's more sombre clothes with plenty of white cotton and prairie-hippie gingham and floral prints. the silhouettes remained signature Pero: Tunics, slouchy trousers, duster coats and masculine shirts; all jumbled layers of delicious colour and print.
Underscoring the barefoot-in-the-park summer feel of the show was the models' lack of footwear. Instead, they wore leaves bound to the feet with scraps of Madras checked cotton. Hair was bundled into printed scarves or topped with straw hats and the only other accessory was the occasional basket of fresh vegetables. We think the printed cotton jackets, kurtas and wonderfully comfortably looking pajama-trousers would be our choice of outfit for summer's picnics, without a doubt.

Paris Fashion Week Spring 2013 Street Style

Paris Fashion Week has begun—and all the eagle-eyed street photographers are making a landgrab outside the shows and on the cobblestone streets to catch a glimpse of one of the very best things the French have to offer: their insouciant, untouchable approach to everyday dressing. From jackets tossed over shoulders to perfectly orchestrated scarves, there seems to be a bit less pageantry and a lot more substance, without any sacrifice of style—and who doesn’t yearn for a little more of that?

Power Play: Exaggerated Hoops and the Balmain Braid

The Smiths made for a much-buzzed-about sound track at the Balmain show this afternoon, but backstage, hairstylist Sam McKnight was referencing the iconic style of a different 1980s musician altogether. “The starting point was actually Sade, only done in a much more Balmain sort of way” he said, referring to the singer’s signature pulled-back hair and large gold hoop earrings, which designer Olivier Rousteing cast in opulent silver and reworked to exaggerated proportions. As for the braids, “they’re very simple,” said McKnight, who blew the hair dry while working it with his hands and then sprayed it with Pantene Classic hairspray for texture before plaiting it into a slightly messy flyaway style. Of leaving the thin black hair bands visible—one at the end of the braid and another at the base of the neck, “we’re almost making a thing out of it,” he said, before uttering a word that’s been gaining momentum early on in Paris: “It’s a little bit grungy. But the new grunge is healthy,” he continued, “and these clothes are so high-octane that you need to wear them with hair that looks lived-in.”

Dress like a Bollywood bride

Bipasha Basu for Anjalee and Arjun Kapoor

Purists may complain, but no Indian fashion week is complete without a healthy dose of Bollywood. And things were no different at the recently concluded India Bridal Fashion Week 2012 in Mumbai, where couturiers from JJ Valaya to Tarun Tahiliani ensured their collections were made memorable with the presence of a famous showstopper.

Making a million single men happy, Bipasha Basu walked the ramp in a richly embroidered lehenga for designer duo Anjalee and Arjun Kapoor. Soft waves, soft smokey eyes and a bejwelled maang tikka completed her transformation from bold to bashful. Nargis Fakhri's multi-layered velvet and brocade outfit, designed by JJ Valaya, proved that in the right garment, you can steal the spotlight even when covered from head to toe.

Chitrangada for Tarun Tahiliani

Newlyweds Esha Deol and Bharat Takhtani chose to make their first joint appearance on the ramp for Azva jewellery, reliving their recent monsoon wedding.
 Esha Deol for Azva Jewellery

Sonakshi Sinha for Jyotsna Tiwari

Sonakshi Sinha, already a pro at portraying the feisty desi belle, played to her strengths in a rani pink and vermillion lehenga by Jyotsna Tiwari, worn with a gold and ruby cummerbund. Soha Ali Khan, rumoured to be engaged to actor beau Kunal Khemu, was the perfect muse for Vikram Phadnis.
 

Malaika Arora Khan for Mandira Wirk

Sarah Jane Dias for Falguni and Shane Peacock

Zarine Khan for Falguni and Shane Peacock

Soha Ali Khan for Vikram Phadnis

Nargis Fakhri for JJ Valaya

Feathers, power shoulders and fishtail lehengas added a rockstar element to Falguni and Shane Peacock’s show, where actresses Sarah Jane Dias and Zarine Khan teamed up on the ramp. Mandira Wirk’s bridal line, an interpretation of the big white wedding, had Malaika Arora Khan in a figure-flattering princess gown that emphasised the former model's toned shoulders.

Tarun Tahiliani also favoured tones of white and dressed his showstopper Chitrangada in an ivory-coloured bridal ensemble that complemented the actress’s dusky skin tone. The tiny choli was balanced by a navel-obscuring ghagra, a clever tip for brides looking to draw attention to a narrow waistline. While Nargis Fakhri got bathed in the season's favourite shade -- dark cherry red -- courtesy JJ Valaya at the Grand Finale on Monday night.

Tarun Tahiliani is more affordable online

Owning a Tarun Tahiliani just got a whole lot cheaper. A curated collection available on Pernia's Pop-Up Shop this month includes glittering statement brooches, digital prints, cool concept saris, lehengas and anarkalis to kick off the festive season.

Dresses from Rs 20,000 to anarkali's for up to Rs 200,000. Particularly useful are the bejeweled Bajubandh armlets (Rs 6,000) which complement your jewelery to dress up a basic evening sari, or give a cocktail dress an edgy ethnic Indian twist.
Tahiliani founded his design studio in Delhi in 1990, he's been putting on an annual blow-out bridal couture exposition since 2009, he designed digital print t-shirts before they became trendy and now he's exploring online avenues for selling, and 11 of the 48 items for sale here are already marked SOLD OUT. We know a good thing when we see it!
Click here to view the entire collection on perniaspopupshop.com 

Fashion Fund finalists

Finalist: Amit Aggarwal

"I find Amit’s vision and design philosophy refreshing as he combines two very diverse techniques," says judge Suneet Varma. "He’s able to use drapes and construction with a perfect balance—it’s both soft and fluid and also has an interesting form. He presents a new shape and form for the Indian woman."

Finalist: Aneeth Arora

"In a world teeming with bigger and brasher brands, Péro embodies the appeal of the handcrafted, traditional and authentic," says judge Sabyasachi. "Despite this, her volume [of production] is substantial, which itself is a rare achievement. The strength lies in the unwavering vision of Aneeth Arora, whose non-compromising attitude ensures that the label is not blindly dictated by market trends."

Finalist: Nitin Bal Chauhan

"Nitin creates with a sincere passion and aims to serve a larger purpose through his work; and yet he has his feet firmly on the ground," says judge Gaurav Mahajan, COO, Westside. "He is a designer who not only has a strong creative message, but also has a very real chance of being able to get it across to larger audience.”

Finalist: Payal Pratap Singh

"Payal designs for the modern Indian woman. Her strength lies in her flattering cuts, a fantastic sense of colour, and the elegant off-beat detailing and embroidery,” says judge Tina Tahiliani Parikh, executive director, Ensemble.
Finalist: Pankaj & Nidhi Ahuja

 "At [Aza], we have been working with them for many years. They consistently come up with new concepts and introduce different elements to showcase their creativity in interesting ways," says judge Alka Nishar, chairperson, Aza Fashions. "Their quality and finish is impeccable, and they understand their consumer for both the Western and the Indian wear. As designers, their biggest asset is that they are true to their identity."

Finalist: Rahul Mishra  

"In order to promote handlooms in this country and take it to the next level, it’s important to make them aspirational and design-focused. Rahul has been able to achieve that seamlessly," says judge Sunil Sethi, president, Fashion Design Council of India. "His work is so detailed in the weaves and embroidery that it is easy to connect the dots between art, design and fashion."

Spring/Summer 2013..Show Highlights...

Balenciaga 

ALL talk before this morning's Balenciaga spring/summer show surrounded not the clothes, but the label's current campaign star - and October Vogue cover girl - Kristen Stewart, who was the eagerly awaited front row guest. And once there, the Twittersphere sprang into action and suddenly it was more a show report about her and what she was wearing that everyone was interested in - she was wearing a yellow biker jacket and printed trousers, for your information. Suddenly every front row fashion editor was in the game for the best Twitter picture. But let's not get distracted - Nicolas Ghesquière knows how to pull it out of the bag when it comes to fashion (sudden interest in intarsia sweaters this season anyone? Yep, that's down to him).
"It was fantastic," said Vogue editor Alexandra Shulman of the collection, which took its cues from all things cropped and began with a white sports-style bra that wrapped around the torso to reach the high waist of the trousers beneath it. We then moved on to Flamenco ruffles on a black and white dress, which put a whole new meaning to the peplum as it circumnavigated the body.
More of these followed, one with fluted sleeves and another underpinned by pink - and then it was time to revisit that first look, this time adding a jacket, and then combining it with all of the above. Ghesquiere is nothing if not a fashion mathematician - his rules and style equations always setting the benchmark for what is to come.
It was subtle and selective in palette - white, beige, eggshell blue and black - but that made for the perfect canvas to show off the collection. The crop tops were super-cropped and made so even more so by the high-waisted trousers (a shape we know so well from Balenciaga), the little skirts that fell into edgy points to make them all at once long and short.
"It was less androgynous and more feminine for him," noted Shulman - something which came by way of those flounces (all beit still with an edge), and the little jacket and skirt suits which had a primness about them too.
Then came a series of dresses whose skirts were pleated, or which appeared to be so with little leaves - and any of which would be perfect red carpet (with an edge) fodder for Stewart. You know she'd wear them with her Vans or Converse.
On the accessories front, attention was being paid to the new bucket bag shape - smaller ones for the evening and larger ones for during the day. And the shoes, little mannish lace-up numbers.
Ghesquière's ideas and talent are far-reaching - of that there's no doubt - he's one of those designers who always influences, and will again do so with this collection.

Carven

Mugler

WHEN super stylist Nicola Formichetti took the creative reins of Mugler in September 2010 (promptly chopping the first name out of the equation and putting his own stamp on it - beating Hedi to the idea), the house had been dancing to an "on again, off again" tune, under the auspices of ex-Paco Rabanne designer Rosemary Rodriguez. But with this creative powerhouse installed, we knew the Paris house would become a fixture and one to watch again.
Two years on and Formichetti’s Midas touch is clear to see. Thierry Mugler was bestowed the high honour of being invited by the Chambre Syndicale to show on the Haute Couture schedule in 1992, and tonight Formichetti demonstrated a respect for the craftsmanship of the house, rather than simply focusing on the headline-grabbing corseted silhouettes of Mugler’s heyday (besides, he has Lady Gaga, who he named Mugler’s in-house music director, for that). Knifes pleats transformed second-skin tailored dresses, allowing flirty flicky movement when the models marched. Leather robe-like jackets that folded over the body - staying put with no fastenings but just the expert cut to keep them in place - in grown-up putty and chestnut will be snapped up by those who loved Mugler the first time around (and no longer manage those sculpted, waist-cinching, cleavage-boosting mini dresses).
Wong Kar Wai’s film In the Mood for Love was referenced, and here came the tougher Formichetti-Mugler we were expecting; a lacquered (varnished lambskin, actually, but you get the Japanese interiors reference), burgundy armoured top had Samurai connotations, as did the vents slashed into the side of a patent-leather mini dress. Black chiffon trousers were worn with mini shorts underneath and belted with taekwondo sashes.  Colour was rich and seductive - grape, jade, sunburst orange, toffee, optic white and stone - and texture was at play - hyper-shine met mid-shine met matte. It never felt pastiche, as it could have done given that Formichetti cited the heavily costumed Japanese Noh theatre as an influence. He emerged wearing a T-shirt of two Noh faces kissing, but that was as literal as it got.
There were no stylist gimmicks here; these were properly tailored, carefully constructed, no doubt screamingly expensive clothes. Oh, just one stylist gimmick - get the most controversial music star of the moment (we're looking at you Lady Gaga), to unveil her new track - a dalliance with rap called Cake - at the show itself. And of course his front row was not to be sneezed at; Azealia Banks, with the new Naboo clutch already in hand (Mugler's new handbag line was unveiled tonight on the catwalk), Leigh Lezark, Sky Ferreira. You’ve got to hand it to him, Formichetti knows how to deliver the whole package.

 

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