April 2005
Rocky S. presents saleable collection
at Lakme India
New Delhi:
He makes the Bollywood hunks look most desirable men in
the country. From Salman Khan to Hrithik Roshan to Abhishek
Bachchan, all swear by him. And on Wednesday he took the ramp
at the Lakme India Fashion Week by surprise, presenting a
saleable collection for the modern woman -- adding the colour
platter with a range of striking colours -- blue, saffron,
red, mustard, beiges and reds. Rocky S' show was a riot of
colour, fine-tuned with the western and Indian influence glamorously
reflected on the ramp. Rocky's creations, inspired by Nauch,
a traditional Indian dance, saw ample use of brocades, chiffons,
net, georgette and denims with surface ornamentations. Skirts
with layers and embroideries were the highlight of the show.
The maverick designer also used bells as trimmings and jewelled
belts as accessories hot this season. The show attended by
top Indian and international buyers, was a runaway hit. "It
was very good. It was very bold, it didn't shy away from making
a statement and I think the colours were very vibrant," said
Malvika Sanghvi, a senior journalist. Rocky's collection was
a thumbs up from the wearability point of view. Rocky said:
"I really wanted to do this collection for the buyers. Very
important that each and every garment is saleable.... modern
cuts, modern women." Rocky S is among 60 Indian fashion designers
displaying their creations at the weeklong fashion extravaganza,
which is attracting buyers from leading stores like Selfridges,
Harrods and Browns. Most of the designers are hoping to lure
buyers through innovative Indo-western combinations, adding
deft touches such as traditional embroidery, crystal work,
beads and sequins to Western cuts and styles. They are also
mixing and matching silks and handspun cotton or Khadi, with
shimmering Swarovski crystals and chiffons to create the East-meets-West
fusion look.
-April 21, 2005
India Fashion Week gets off to a rollicking
start
New Delhi:
The India Fashion Week got off to a rollicking start today
with Bollywood stars and business magnates descending in the
Capital to catch a glimpse of the latest trends being showcased
by the country's leading design gurus. More than 60 top designers
from the country are displaying their creations from April
20-26 to a galaxy of domestic and foreign buyers, including
some of the leading stores like Selfridges, Harrods and Browns.
Ritu Kumar kicked off the extravaganza with her Indus-region
inspired collection as models wearing ethnic clothes in earthy
hues sashayed down the ramp to the tune of folk north Indian
music - lending a very sub-continental touch to the inaugural
event. She started with whites with full bias cut tiered skirts
teamed with short kurtis and embellished T-shirts exuding
relaxed casual elegance and from there she moved on to a muted
palatte with muted bottle green and khaki, giving a feel of
the desert. Her collection had a "Manhattan girl meets the
Indian revivalist" theme running through it. On the occasion,
film actress of yesteryears Sharmila Tagore said that Ritu
Kumar had managed an interesting blend of east and west in
her show. "The colours were very good. And the style statements
were very good. It was casual, wearable and at the same time
very special and a combination of east and west which is what
we wear. You can wear them abroad, you can wear them here,
and you feel global wearing it -- which is nice," said Tagore.
Most designers will hope to lure buyers through innovative
Indo- Western combinations, adding deft touches such as traditional
embroidery, crystal work, beads and sequins to Western cuts
and styles. They are also mixing and matching silks and handspun
cotton or khadi, with shimmering Swarovski crystals and chiffons
to create the East-meets-West fusion look. Rina Dhaka followed
Ritu with her predominantly black creations which she felt
would sit with the same comfort on Indian or Western silhouettes.
"I think I tried to put in both. That it is for Indian, international.
And also I try to say that there is no difference. Whether
I put a saree with a skirt I didn't see it as apart I saw
it as a part of the thing. It's really about being global.
Saree is also like a drape, I do not see it as a form of clothing
which must give us sense of being an Indian or a non Indian.
It's about clothes," Dhaka said after her show. Gautam Singhania,
CMD of Raymonds, said the designers were creating ripples
in the International fashion world. "I think India has come
a long way in fashion. Certainly there is interest seen. You
are seeing buyers here. Obviously we are doing something right,"
Singhania said.
-April 20, 2005
Delhi gears up to host Lakme India Fashion
Week
New Delhi:
It's that time of the year again when who's who of the
Indian fashion industry will be rubbing their shoulders and
the fashionistas and couturiers will descend with their haute
couture at the high-profile fashion extravaganza that kicks
off in Delhi on Wednesday. For one week the venue will be
the hub of activity - what with models sashaying down the
ramp wearing stylised creations with ilan and sporting chic
hair styles, make-up trends and accessories as well. And with
hardly any time left for the show, designers from all over
the country are busy getting their creative acts together.
According to Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI), 61 fashion
designers would showcase their designs during 39 fashion shows.
Nearly 400 buyers from across the world are expected to have
a peek at the Indian ensemble. Last year the fashion week
had observed the presence of international buyers, Saks and
Browns from London. The buyers list this time includes names
like Selfridges and Harris. "We are also likely to get Selfridges
and Harris. This time 41 designers from various parts of the
world, foreign buyers (are participating)," said Rathi Vinay
Jha, FDCI director-general. The participating designers will
showcase their Pret (ready to wear) and Diffusion (a line
between ready-to-wear and couture) lines in Indian, Indo-Western
and Western categories at the country's largest fashion event.
Fashion designer Ritu Kumar's ensemble is inspired by Kashmir's
ethnic designs. "It's all resourced and researched from the
really heavily textile tradition that we have in the (Sindh)
Indus plain. The Indus starts from Leh and Ladhak and the
Jhelum from Kashmir. So this is the entire basket of textile
I have had fun with and that actually done," she said. Two
leading designers will present their interpretations of Lakme's
fashion statement for 2005 through their outfits and make-up
of the models at the grand finale. Besides Ritu Kumar, the
other deisgners who would unveil their toplines include Rohit
Bal, J.J. Valaya, Rina Dhaka, Suneet Verma, Raghavendra Rathore,
Rajesh Pratap Singh, Meera and Muzaffar Ali, Gitanjali Kashyap,
Monisha Bajaj, Monisha Jaising, Kiran Uttam Ghosh, Jatin Kochhar,
Rocky S. Ashish Soni, Rohit Gandhi, Rahul Khanna, Sabyasachi
Mukherjee, Malini Ramani, Shobhna and Vijay Arora, and many
more. Hectic events through the week like interactive seminars
on business of fashion covering various facets of the industry
besides of course ramp shows are scheduled. Seventy exhibition
stalls and interactive panel discussions will keep all those
present steeped in the world of fashion. 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. The Indian high fashion
clothing saw a boom in the 90's when designers like Ritu Kumar,
Rohit Bal and Tarun Tahiliani took Indian styles to the international
map. Today the fashion design industry is worth 1.8 billion
dollars, growing at 20-30 percent in the 35 billion dollars
global fashion market.
-April 20, 2005
Payal Jain showcases her latest collection
New Delhi:
Payal Jain's creations are all about style. Her designs
reflect a blend of both the rustic and the urbane, and as
usual her latest collection also portrays that very aspect.
Recently, the designer gave a sneak preview of her collection,
to be flaunted by the models at the event, at Djinns, The
Hyatt, here. Her collection is a tribute to the spirits of
the desert, the wandering mendicants. Describing the collection,
Payal said, "The collection is inspired by the lives of the
desert people. I have done lots of embellishment and patch
work". She has explored a mix of delicate fabrics and energetic
colours across the collection, to reflect sentiments of the
nomadic wanderer. Its a synthesis of nomadic patchwork, hand
block printing with embellishments of ornate rustic beading
and textured embroidery, which has been used for an authentic
tribal nomadic look by reworking traditional vegetable dyed
block printed silks and woven jacquards in a mismatched mixed
mosaic look. Model Nonika, however feels its the most wonderful
piece that Payal has ever designed. "Its great. Its just lovely,"
said Nonika. Earth baked browns, deep saturated terracotta
reds, vibrant indigo blues, weed greens and burnt oranges
are the colours used by Payal in her collection. The collection
is also varied with assortment of skirts of varied lengths,
layered wraparound skirts and pants paired with crochet gillets,
bandana style bustiers, sensual vests and structured jackets.
Payal an experienced designer who knows her market and customers
well after training at the Fashion Institute of Design and
Merchandising, San Francisco, and working with couturiers
like Jacqueline De Bery and Ulrich Engler in Europe, set up
her studio in India in 1993. and presently terms herself as
a couturier, prjt designer and corporate stylist.
-April 18, 2005
