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Malaika Arora Khan. The name is synonymous with too many credits. Model, MTV veejay, Arbaaz Khan's wife, mother, television host and an item gal. She has juggled all roles with equal passion and bountiful lan. It wasn't a surprise then when she walked the ramp for Surily's show and treated the ramp like it was her oyster. The designer took Madam Khan's assets into account, and had Malaika behave like she was a tigress on the prowl, throwing an apparent "come f*** me" look at the shutterbugs. Not that we have a problem with the masala. But, not at a "serious" fashion show! Just because the show is scheduled in Mumbai, must we display the Bollywood trump card time and again? | ||||||||||||
March 28 will go down in the history of fashion as the day LFW took a bow. It was also a day, the petite and soft-spoken Delhi designer Anshu Arora Sen showcased her breathtaking, Origami-inspired collection. Put together in just 30 days, the 45-garment collection was unveiled piece by piece, taking a cue from the soothing background score. Simple silhouettes deftly cut in to light-hearted skirts, military style overcoats, churidar trousers and dresses with tiny pouches took centre stage. Like always, it was the detailing that went into creating each garment that left the audience spellbound. Anshu turned designing on its head, by keeping the front of each garment bare, leaving embroidery for the back. She chose baby hues — an apt manifestation of Anshu's state-of-mind (she's just had a baby girl). The magic lay in plunging backs held together by fragile beaded ties. If we were to overlook the only complaint ("Anshu's clothes are stunning but meant for slim bodies"), the range was utterly wearable to any thinking women. It was the only show on yesterday that was devoid of the celeb glamour quotient. And it was the only that received a standing ovation.
Kiran Rao, who is adorning a whole new look these days, looked lovely in an off-white umbrella cut skirt and a tight black top at the Anshu Arora Sen show (sans husband Aamir Khan). She looked so different in her new do, that most of the photographers didn't even notice her entrance. | ||||||||||||
With these many stars at the show, the TV crews and cameramen seemed to be having a field day. In fact, Surily had to leave her post show press conference to go say bye to her celeb friends, since they were too scared of coming back in and getting mobbed. And while we're at Preity Zinta, the actress seemed to have a tiff of sorts with a camera man. Apparently, the cameraman pushed the lovely lady, and the actress yelled back in retort. Not to be publicaly humiliated the cameraman screamed back and left Zinta fuming. She went back complaining all the way till her car. | ||||||||||||
We got a retailer from Lalbaug, Yogesh Maru, to review Manish's collection for us. His one word description: Awesome. I work with a small fashion garments store, Mith Collections in Lalbaug. Our clothes range from Rs 150 to Rs 700. I'm also on the sales desk at Tuscan Verve. Manish's collection was awesome. It was very appealing — the chikkan work, the use of georgette, the appliqu, it was all great. I really liked the sherwani Shawar Ali was wearing. It was a fashionable show with a nice traditional touch. His clothes are probably really expensive though. If you had to make this at home it would cost around Rs 700. Since most of the material he's used would cost around Rs 100 a metre, with crochet being Rs 150 upwards if you go out and try to buy it in the market. You can find similar stuff at Colaba Causeway, but Manish has added that extra something you wouldn't find anywhere else.
Talk about going through a major design shift. Manish Malhotra's never-ending, 52-garment collection titled Freedom was different. And we don't say different for lack of a better word. It truly was. The designer, who metamorphosed tacky Bollywood into a fashionably focused industry with his obsession for pastels and embellishments, suddenly decided he wanted to break free. He discovered that black and white were colours too. Saris juggling between metres of net and crochet followed churidar kurtas locked in the tight embrace of lace; Manish seemed to have gone bonkers with his latest invention. But the subtle strips and motifs in gold made for some classy eveningwear. The men weren't spared either. Manish sent his models wearing sherwanis crafted out of sheer crochet. Now, here's the catch. How many Indian men have bodies and bare chests like Upen Patel's to carry off a see-through crochet kurta? That Manish made an honest effort at moving away from what actually skyrocketed his career into riches and fame cannot be ignored. But when the process of change is overpowering enough to shadow the final creation, it gets a bit confusing, even threatening enough to pack him back to his usual design sense.
The flower of love, the beautiful rose was the dominant motif at least two of the shows today. And while Rocky S used the flower with a certain delicacy on his flowly feminine line — a Greco-roman inspired collection, in sheer fabrics and lace embellishments in subtle shades of pink and off white, (with the right hint of vintage and a contemporary touch of metallic shrugs and faux fur), Surily Goel's collection seemed a little too dramatic for our tastes. The designer has been talking about her rose inspired collection for weeks, yet she unfortunately only managed a loud heavily embellished look (though of course she claimed it was the least embellished collection), with garish, large flowers (she even had flared bottoms) in shades of electric blue, bright orange and the like. While the rest of the fashion fraternity seems to be moving towards simplistic styles — with a focus on treated fabrics, Surily is still playing with her beads and pearls. | ||||||||||||
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