New Delhi: The fourth day of the Lakme (LIFW) Indian Fashion Week, currently underway here, showcased sophisticated contemporary feminine designs by Monisha Jaisingh, one of the country's leading fashion designers.Jaisingh's creations combined class and sophistication with fun and punk, replete with very fluid, feminine cuts.Jaisingh, who is famous for her pret-a-porter collections,
unveiled the casual chic look with cotton trousers, denims and short tops, evening dresses and jackets. From powder blue and baby pink to sparkling silver, and rich wine and beige, and other colours from the pastel palette, she
combined Indian fabrics with western silhouettes to create an amiable fusion. "The inspiration is a woman...is a girl, is a woman everything, because everything is so feminine, and I get my inspiration from being a woman and designing for a woman," she said. Meanwhile, international hairstylist Damon Kidd, who has been with Wella (the renowned hair care giant) for the last 10 years, unveiled the "fringed" look for the Indian summers. Kidd suggested fringes that are very straight, very blunt and fall right onto the upper eyelids.
For those who did not want to get that dramatic, Kidd suggested a fringe with a tousled, unkempt kind of haircut as the look for the season. Kidd who took a hairstyling workshop for participating models at the Fasion Week was highly impressed by the Indian hair quality. "I think Indian hair is fantastic, it
is great to work with, it is very pliable, and the texture is a little bit coarser, but it is easy to work with, and you can almost make it do anything, as opposed to some other Asian countries, where hair is much more straighter, Indian hair is
more pliable, and is fantastic to work with," Kidd said. Kidd also recommended muted gold and soft copper hair colours for the Indian skintones. LIFW, happening for the fifth consecutive year, is expected to generate 25 per cent more business than last year. With over 400 buyers, 30 fashion shows, close to 10,000 invited guests and an equal number of gatecrashers, the event is marked by the characteristic confusion but has always managed to pull
through. Organised by the Fashion Design Council of India, the mega event is expected to generate a business of over 4.5 million rupees as compared to 3.5 million rupees in Bombay last year. The country's fashion industry, estimated at rupees 20 million, would get a boost with the fashion week, which would catapult it to the world stage in the coming years.
April 30, 2004

Goan designer unveils collection to suit all

New Delhi: The third day of the Lakme (LIFW) Indian Fashion Week currently underway in New Delhi, showcased fun and contemporary designs, by Goa-based designer Wendell Rodricks, at their very best. Rodricks, known for blending ancient Indian geometry with relaxed attitudes, left the audience spellbound with his collection-"Fashion Democracy", speaking volumes about
the free Goan spirit. The main highlight of the show however were the models, who came - quite literally in all shapes and sizes. Models, who included kids, teenagers, middle-aged housewives, executives, and people in their seventies, and of course, professional models, strutted the ramp in flowing ensembles with
colour contrasts such as brown, and shocking fluorescents, with asymmetrical cuts, lots of layering-a classic style statement epitomised by Rodricks. Fashion, according to Rodricks is something that everybody should be able to wear, and the attitude trickled right down to the choice of his models. "I believe that fashion should not only be the prerogative of only the wealthy and the perfect bodies. So, what I have done I is apart from the models who will model my
clothes, I have taken about 36 people off the roads of Delhi, and they are going to be walking the ramp. So will have about 51 models walking down...and some of them are very fat, and some of them are very thin and very short, and some children, some teenagers, some grandparents, so its going to be a very exciting
show." Rodricks' clothes used fabrics like silk crepe, chiffon, coarse and fine linen, georgette, organza and lyrca. Apart from using texturisation like crinkles and ribbing, Rodricks also used embellishments like fluffy pompoms, hand-rolled rosettes, button-shaped scales and T-shirt sparkle. Rodricks designs met with a great response from his audiences. "Awesome...the show was awesome. It was a very fun show. I hate those kind of shows, where there is only sitting and
looking...they are so dull. So, I think we had a great time," said Bollywood actress Amrita Arora, "It is very interesting..very nice....a lot of fun. It is all about energy, colours, and fun, being happy with life and oneself. It is like
spring, full of energy," said Liz, a visitor from Italy. Rodricks would now use his creative genius to give a makeover to Indian cricket team captain Saurav Ganguly. LIFW, happening for the fifth consecutive year, is expected to
generate 25 per cent more business than last year. With over 400 buyers, 30 fashion shows, close to 10,000 invited guests and an equal number of gatecrashers, the event is marked by the characteristic confusion but has always managed to pull through. Organised by the Fashion Design Council of India, the mega event is expected to generate a business of over 4.5 million
rupees as compared to 3.5 million rupees in Bombay last year.
April 29, 2004

New talent crops up at India Fashion Week

New Delhi: As the country's biggest fashion fair opened in New Delhi, upcoming models and designers are upbeat to showcase their talent at the Lakme India Fashion Week (LIFW). Fashion czars who have already predicted the trends for next year, are busy trendspotting the young blood which holds future
for the country's nascent fashion industry, estimated at 20 million rupees.
This year's show includes seven debutants among usual 57 designers participating in the mega event. The debutants see the fashion week as an opportunity to prove themselves to the world. Many of the new models who have already sashayed down the ramp for international houses, are making their national debut. "I don't feel nervous but yes I do feel stage fright," said
Monikangana, an upcoming model. According to new designers, the coming years will see a lot of art, interiors and wall paper designs being incorporated into clothing to give rise to "hybrid fashion". The designers have also predicted individualism being the "in thing" next season.

Kaveri, a first-timer, said the show gives an international presence to her designs. "In fact everyday there are two groups for every fashion week.
You end up doing say three to four shows a day. It is much faster, there are no rehearsals that happen for the show. It is basically walk straight up and down. It is physically lot more tiring, slightly challenging I would say, but you know you are doing so many shows at the same time. It is much larger platform.
People from all over the world are here. You are being seen, the designers are being seen by everybody. There are buyers from London, from Paris, Spain, Mexico, they are all here. So I think it is a much bigger platform, I would say," she said.

Sister-duo of Divya and Vandana, ready to flaunt their pret line "Flesh", seek inspiration from experienced designers. "We feel very excited specially to be at the same place with all the big names, we are excited but at the same time we are quite nervous," said Divya. LIFW, which stretches over a week, is expected to generate 25 per cent more business than last year, with over 400 buyers including the who's who of the global fashion industry, participating in
the event. Organisers of the show, the Fashion Design Council of India, say
that last year's show, held in Bombay, saw a business of around
Rs 3.5 million and hope this would increase to Rs 4.5 million in
this year's event. Two decades ago, haute couture was a word that barely existed in the Indian vocabulary and fashion stopped at ethnic home-spun
cotton outfits made by neighbourhood tailors. India's high fashion clothing saw a boom in the nineties when designers Ritu Kumar, Rohit Bal, Tarun Tahiliani, Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla took Indian styles to the international map.
Today the fashion design industry is worth 1.8 billion dollars, which is growing at 20 per cent, in the 35 billion dollars global fashion market.
April 28, 2004

Biggest fashion party begins with bold, futuristic designs

New Delhi: India's largest fashion extravaganza, the Lakme India Fashion Week (LIFW), began in New Delhi on Tuesday with glitz and glamour even as the first designer show rocked with a toast of feminity. The lady perfect Rina Dhaka, famous for her bold ensembles, crafted a collection of varying
moods for the show. Dhaka presented a string "Resort Line", futuristic enough to transcend into the next season. Models presented Dhaka's sassy and feminine silhouettes that discovered the influences and beliefs of a woman in her myrid moods. Having used lilac, calm, pale and serene colours, Dhaka
revived the old English pallete that reverberated through the water colour paintings of the British era.

Dhaka said such shows open a window of foreign buyers and clients which help put India on international fashion scene. "I think it promotes many things for us. One, it helps us with our existing local clients...two, it sets awareness within the
country as a trend itself, establishes you with your counterparts as an Indian designer, and fourth, you can, in a common platform, introduce your collection to new buyers. And the Indian market has been growing rapidly," she told reporters after the show. Dhaka's designs met with great response from her fellow designers and viewers. Visiting Pakistani designer Faiza Samee was all praise for her. "Well, the people in Pakistan are very conservative, and the
society is very different. But, I really feel that with this show, Rina Dhaka has surpassed herself. I have seen all her previous collections, and this seems to be her best," said Samee. "It was an absolute bold beginning...A daring, dashing, fabulous start," said socialite Naina Balsaver.

LIFW, which stretches over a week, is expected to generate 25 per cent more business than last year, with over 400 buyers including the who's who of the global fashion industry participating in the event. Organisers of the show, the Fashion Design Council of India, say that last year's show, held in Bombay, saw a business of around Rs 3.5 million and hope this would increase to Rs 4.5 million in the event. India's nascent fashion industry, estimated at Rs 20
million would get a boost with the fashion week, which would catapult it to the world stage in the coming years.

Over 400 buyers from across the world and 57 designers including seven debutants are participating in the mega event. Some of the buyers include Michael Fink from Saks Fifth Avenue, New York, Albert Morris from Browns, London and Joyce Boutique Ltd, Hong Kong. Two decades ago, haute couture was a word that barely existed in the Indian vocabulary and fashion stopped at
ethnic home-spun cotton outfits made by neighbourhood tailors. India's high fashion clothing saw a boom in the nineties when designers Ritu Kumar, Rohit Bal, Tarun Tahiliani, Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla took Indian styles to the international map. Today the fashion design industry is worth 1.8 billion dollars,
which is growing at 20 per cent, in the 35 billion dollars global fashion market. India's fashion industry has only 10,000 people in a nation of over one billion estimated to be in a position to regularly afford the roughly 70,000 rupees to 150,000 rupees that designers ask for regular creations. There are perhaps 5,000 designers catering to this market with technical institutes across the country churning out about 500 fresh ones annually.
April 27, 2004

India's fashion frat prepares for the extravaganza

New Delhi: Indian fashion designers are busy giving finishing touches to their creations for the annual fashion extravaganza beginning in New Delhi next week. Fifty-seven fashion designers would showcase their collections at
the Lakme India Fashion Week (LIFW) which begins on Tuesday at the Grand Hotel. The seven days of frenzied business activity will focus on pret-
a-porter or ready-to-wear collections and upmarket range of
clothes by eminent designers. Nearly 350 buyers from the world over are expected to have a peek at the Indian ensemble.

Internationally-acclaimed designer Raghuvendra Rathore said the designs would be judged by the way they fitted the models. "These clothes are for people of Indian origin, they are about clothes which are global but which speak a language that we understand. This season I wanted to move away from last year, which was very Jodhpur inspired, to a collection which is a very
global collection, which means, we will carry these clothes from wearing in Delhi to New York, and not feel that you are Indian, but yes, they will fit your body very well in the global context," said Rathore.

At least 35 fashion shows have been lined up for the LIFW, which enters its fourth year. The shows will be interspersed with seminars and workshops on the fashion business and trends. Designer Manish Arora said his collection boasts of a young, hip-hop designs. "This time the collection I have made is all different prints...There are 8-9 prints, there are flowers, kids, there are
stripes, there are lots of fluorescent colours, lots of knits, there are lots of lycra, lots of uni-friendly clothes...Very young, for young people who are adventurous and fashion conscious," said Arora. Debutant U.S.-born model Akriti is excited for the D-day. "It's very hectic, and life's all about, for the next three days more,
changing, trying, fitting, giving alterations, hanging in the room, waiting, fitting again, twelve hours of work, and then we get time to have dinner. Then we hit the sack...go to sleep," she said. The event, organised by the Fashion Design Council of India, will open with a show by Delhi-based designer Rohit Bal.
Two decades ago, haute couture was a word that barely existed in the Indian vocabulary and fashion stopped at ethnic home-spun cotton outfits made by neighbourhood tailors.

India's high fashion clothing saw a boom in the nineties when designers Ritu Kumar, Rohit Bal, Tarun Tahiliani, Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla took Indian styles to the international map. Today the fashion design industry is worth 1.8 billion, dollars which is growing at 20 per cent, in the 35 billion dollar global
fashion market. India's fashion industry is still in its infancy with only 10,000 people in a nation of over one billion estimated to be in a position to regularly afford the roughly 70,000 rupees to 150,000 rupees that designers ask for regular creations. There are perhaps 5,000 designers catering to this market with technical institutes across the country churning out about 500
fresh ones annually.
April 25, 2004

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