April 2005
Malani Ramani fascinates spectators at
Lakme Fashion Week
New Delhi:
Malini Ramani displayed her new Fall/Winter collection
at the Lakme India Fashion Week on Saturday fascinating the
spectators with her trendy clothesline. Known for her classy
resortwear, she chose three girls -- "Maya", the Bombay Bohemian,
"Maria", the Carnival girl and"Tara", the Style Swami Guru
Girl to display in style. The theme of her collection, revolved
around three girls celebrating life and was called"Carnival
Chic" Presented in three different sections, it displayed
its own share of unique colour palettes and elegant fusion
trousseau. A potpourri of fabrics - satin, crepe, corduroy,
tussar, velvet, lycra, chiffons, Swarowski crystals, pleating
and quilting could be seen. Her clothes were funky, modern
yet clothes that can be worn as she experimented with mix
and match. "It was full of life, it was colourful. It was
the best show of fashion week till now. I'll buy a blouse
or two, it was too well put together," said Neha, agreeing
that it was a splendid collection. Her clothes were unique
as former supermodel Feroze Gujaral said: "I think it was
very unusual, looked a little bit like the Kill Bill collection,
but some of the pieces were really beautiful." Selfridges,
Harrods and Browns are some of the leading stores that are
being attracted to the weeklong fashion charade of around
sixty Indian fashion designers. Fusion of east meets west
seems to be the watchword as designers are using experimental
indo-western combinations using traditional embroidery, crystal
work, beads and sequins to Western cuts and styles, and trying
mix and match like Khadi and Swarovski crystals and chiffons.
-April 24, 2005
Foreign buyers give thumbs up to India
Fashion Week
New Delhi:
Business and glamour are going together at the ongoing
Lakme India Fashion Week (LIFW) with designers displaying
their lines and buyers showing interest in the Made in India
brand. Habela Tatan, a buyer from Kuwait, said she was impressed
by the range on display at the fashion week and was likely
to tie up with a handful of designers. "Gorgeous clothes,
gorgeous fabrics, gorgeous cuts. They are exceeding my expectations.
I was amazed. I have placed an order with Geisha designs and
I am also going to negotiate some other designers as well,"
she said. The "Geisha collection" by newcomers Paras and Shalini
were a hit with international audience, ranging from top-notch
stores like Selfridges, Harrods and Kayan. At this year's
show there are 12 international companies including Selfridges
from London, that are participating in the event, along with
nearly 120 domestic buyers. Susan Malap, a buyer from Switzerland,
said Europeans preferred Indian designs full of sizzling colours
and embroidery. "Now everything is inspired by India, music
and decoration and now I think fashion as well...India is
going places," she said. Flora, another buyer from Switzerland,
who has been closely following the evolution of Lakme India
Fashion Week since its inception in 2000, said Indian fashion
designs were hot property abroad. "This fashion show is fantastic
and very soon it will be number one. Indian fashion through
its culture is very popular throughout the world. We have
been waiting for this. Now we have a chance to sell this to
the world. People in Europe have a thing for colours and embroidery
and this is available here," she said. Indian designer wear
is just a fraction of the 670-billion-rupee Indian apparel
market, according to the Fashion and Design Council of India.
To tap a larger market, share designers are jumping into the
volume game and shifting focus from haute couture to pret-a-
porter or ready-to-wear. Designers are also creating a fusion
look, by patterning indigenous prints and motifs into western
cuts, primarily to target international buyers.
-April 23, 2005
Crickters set Lakme Fashion Week on Fire
New Delhi:
If they couldn_t set the cricket ground on the fire they
did set the ramp on fire. Irfan Pathan, Mohd. Kaif and Virendra
Sehwag walked down the ramp in style at the ongoing Lakme
India Fashion week. They matched the theme perfectly as inspired
by "Today's Urban Ladies Man , and the collection emphasised
on the attributes of confidence, masculinity and flirtatiousness.
The best thing says everything the theme, was aptly displayed
by fabrics like leather teamed with velvets and loads of emphasis
on black. The cricketers looked perfect in the clothes designed
for them keeping in mind their personalities by designers
Nikhil and Shantanu at a special sponsor show. The boys looked
stunning in black and white jackets and trousers, flaunting
Samsung mobile phones. "The phone is black and it is very
sleek and this is what we got inspired by so the whole collection
is black and white with hints of silver. Abhijeet Sawant was
wearing silver, black, grey denim jacket with swarovski. Kaif
was wearing a leather jacket with linen trousers with a white
shirt. So everything had to do with glamour like the phone.
We tried to keep it as masculine as possible. Also to bring
in glamour, which has not happened in the past with them",
said Nitin. Indian Idol Abhijeet Sawant got the audience cheering
as he sang melodious songs.
-April 23, 2005
Manish Malhotra unveils his Spring-Summer
Collection-2005
Mumbai: Fashion
designer Manish Malhotra recently unveiled his latest Spring-Summer
collection. Fashion designer Manish Malhotra, who is better
known as the makeover king for style icons like Urmila Matondkar
and Karisma Kapoor, recently unveiled his latest Spring-Summer
Collection 2005 at Kimaya, a fashion house in the city. The
new collection at Kimaya manifests Manish Malhotra's characteristic
flair and talent for colour, amalgamating comfort with innovative
cuts and silhouettes, kurtis and kaftans, textured skirts
with sparkle, embroidered shirts for men with unusual embellishments
that immediately capture the eye. "It is an explosion of ideas,
thoughts and colours. This is the first time I have created
a collection of such mammoth volume - a hundred outfits each
for men and women. For women, dress like skirts especially
short skirts. There is a range of men's wear like shirts.
Colours, which I use, are Lime green, blue and yellow. Kimaya
was a ideal place for that because Kimaya has such kind of
settings, which really suits," said Manish Malhotra. Manish
Malhotra, is known as the king of Bollywood design and designer
of stars. The stars accept this as well that Manish has proved
once again that he is perennial favourite to dress up beautiful
people. Bollywood actresses like Diya Mirza, Amrita Arora,
Kajol and Kareena Kapoor were present on the occasion to cheer
Manish Malhotra and admired the collection. According to them,
with this collection, Malhotra has managed to pull off another
makeover. "I think when you think summer you think simplicity,
cool fabrics and nice vibrant fresh colours. And I think Manish
thinks the same because all his colours and clothes reflect
freshness, vibrancy and coolness," said Diya Mirza, a Bollywood
actress.
"Manish Malhotra
is India's best designer. Because I feel the style and colours
he chose, is very unique. Basically, people don't understand
what is colour. But Manish understands very well as you have
seen in this collection. Summers are very bright pink, blue
and yellow," said Kareena Kapoor, another Bollywood actress.
It is to be mentioned that at the age of 25, Manish Malhotra
forayed into Bollywood by designing for Juhi Chawla in the
film "Swarg". Today, at 34, his name is synonymous with style
in Hindi films. He revolutionized the fashion scene in Bollywood
by envisioning a 'look' for the character. His tenure as a
costume-designer has seen him design clothes for most leading
actresses in the film industry like Sridevi, Urmila Matondkar,
Karishma Kapoor, Kajol, Raveena Tandon, Manisha Koirala, Madhuri
Dixit, Twinkle Khanna, Shilpa Shetty, Kareena Kapoor, and
even Aishwarya Rai, Rani Mukherjee and Preity Zinta. Although
he doesn't design regularly for male actors, he has attired
Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan on several occasions. His work
has been greatly appreciated and he has received several awards.
Manish has managed to achieve that delicate balance between
designing for films, as well as haute couture. Now Manish
wants to conquer further horizons in the fashion industry.
-April 22, 2005
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