Lakme Fashion Week - Winter Festive - Atithi Gupta

Ughhh! Can you believe this? A bout of unexpected illness kept me off all the action at the Lakme Fashion Week. I even missed two fabulous shows on the final day of the fashion week, and have to now contend with catching up on all the fabulous fashion via the videos uploaded on youtube. Sigh.

But all is not lost. There has been some great fashion that has made its presence felt on the runway this season. So I am going to post the reviews of some collections that left a lasting impression on the fashion scene. First up is “Recherche” (to look ahead) by the young and petite designer Atithi Gupta.

Atithi sent rolling on the ramp sober and impeccable lines with sinuous drapes outlined in the most precious wools and silk.

Using a pleasing palette of avocado green, Golden Glow, an earthy shade of yellow, purple orchid, coral pinks, pewter grey and blacks, Athithi has played with linear, geometrical shapes with minimal, austere appearance.

Adorning her creations with textures and drapes, Atithi gave a retro chic turn to jumpsuits, dresses and jackets. Pleats were aplenty in “Recherche”, with Atithi placing them at the side, back, on shoulders, yoke, centre, stitching them or keeping them loose on the garments.

Sophisticated, stylish, youthful, and flirty… just about sums up Atithi’s collection. Will surely watch out for this young, emerging designer.

Check out some of the looks from the collection...






Photo Courtesy

Here Comes The Bride! – V J Balhara Winter Festive 2010

I love it when the ramp lights up with drama and talent. I love it when I see Indian inspirations take new flight and touch a global aesthetics. And I love to see young blood infuse new colors, new silhouettes, new lines into old genres of fashion. What a delight fashion week is, when all these happen together. Each year, the Lakme fashion Week throws up some pleasant surprises. And most of them come from the GenNext and Emerging designers categories, where a new vocabulary of fashion is being written.
Today was no exception, as V J Balhara presented his “Bridal Renaissance” collection for the modern day bride. Here is a collection for the bride who captures every heart as she walks down the aisle. With inspirations freely drawn from the royal traditions of Punjab, Cooch Behar and Rajputana, the collection had it all: chogas, Anarkali Ensembles, Dresses, Sherwanis, saris, jackets, Skirts, and tunics. Reviving the ancient “Mashru” silk from the Mughal era, VJ has woven bridal dreams from fabrics as varied as brocade, pure crepe, silk organza, net, lace, silk and satin cotton in vibrant red, green, orange, purple, royal blue and black. VJ’s favorite flower, rose, made its presence felt in the collection through motifs in zardozi, aari work, sequins, Jaipur stones and crystal embroidery. VJ even introduced an innovative way of draping the dupatta in a grand yet comfortable manner.
VJ’s showstopper, an opulent red Mashru silk anarkali creation with zardozi and gotta border teamed with organza choga and crepe churidars, had the audience in awe.

Though titled Bridal Renaissance, the collection is not for the conventional bride looking for a run of the mill trousseau. This is no designer for the faint hearted. The collection that VJ’s models strutted down the runway today is for the feisty, beautiful bride, for whom a wedding is a celebration of eternal love. A bride who revels in her individuality, and is radiant and free-spirited.









All Photographs By The Very Talented Nitesh N Nitesh
Click HERE For More Of Nitesh's work

Lakme Fashion Week Winter Festive 2010 - Preview Purvi Doshi and Masaba Gupta

As the city celebrates a week of high fashion with shows lined up back to back for the fashion week, some new and some familiar names are vying for buyers’ and media attention. Among them are the emerging designers Purvi Doshi and Masaba Gupta, who will be showing their collections tomorrow at the Lakme Fashion Week Winter Festive 2010. Here is a sneak preview of what these ladies have in store for your next season.


Designs from Purvi's last showing at the Lakme Fashion Week


Purvi Doshi finds her inspiration in the deepest depths of the country, often combining the colors, aptterns, motifs, traditional and folk arts of India with international trends and color palettes, to create collections that cut across boundaries. Her penchant for cutting through clutter is the very basis of her new collection to be presented tomorrow. The collection, titled "Bheed Bhaad", contains a heterogeneous mix of fabrics, textures, designs, combinations and the use of folk-artforms. The term “Bheed-Bhaad” is commonly used colloquial for a Crowd. "Bheed Bhaad" from Purvi Doshi embodies the coming together of different fabrics, colours, and different types of rare Indian art forms. Each garment has been created by assembling different fabrics, cuts, silhouettes, art-forms and cultures in a heterogeneous mix to bring out their unique qualities to the fore-front. The whole concept is to standout even in a bheed in a "Bheed-bhaad", looking ethnically outstanding and fashionably trendy.



A model shows off a "Masaba" design


Masaba Gupta is an SNDT Mumbai 2010 graduate. Under the label ‘Masaba’ she showcased her first collection ‘Kattran’ at Lakme Fashion Week Spring/Summer ’10 under the Gen Next category for which she was awarded ‘Most promising Designer of the Year Award by INIFD. Masaba is primarily a diffusion line catering to women from the age group of 25-50 years. The silhouettes are no fuss, simple and commercially viable, yet of high cut and fashion. Masaba finds her inspiration in Indian embroideries, crafts, weaves and the fearless street women who show it off with attitude!

Both young designers, with vividly different styles will send their designs down the runway tomorrow. Let’s see what the two talented ladies have in store for the fashion world.

Lakme Fashion Week Winter Festive 2010 - Preview - VJ Balhara

Winter Festive 2010. I love the title. It has such a celebratory sound to it.And what is a Fashion Week, if not a celebration of the styles, trends, fabrics and colors of the season! And as the city gears up for the Lakme Fashion Week Winter Festive 2010, it’s time to preview some of my favorite designers’ upcoming collections. And I couldn’t think of anyone better then VJ Balhara to start the Lakme Fashion Week previews with. His last collection, “Borala Nautch” had the fashionistas sit up and take notice of the young and talented designer. No stranger to the glamourous world of fashion, VJ, an ex supermodel, shows an inherent knack for combining the edgy with the traditional. And with his first ever bridal collection ready to set the runway ablaze, this designer is all set to make a transition from “emerging designers” to “established designers”.

On 19th September, VJ will show his collection, “Bridal Renaissance”. Using his signature technique of blending the traditional, rural Indian Chic with opulent urban sensibilities, VJ aims to use his collection to revive “Mashru Silk’ , a centuries old luxury fabric hand woven by weavers of Gujarat. The flamboyant styles of Indian Maharaajas will find common grounds with the relaxed bohemian spirit of the rural Indian women in this intricately embellished collection. Adorned with the semi precious stones from Rajasthan, Zardozi , Cut Daana Work, and Karchobe work, the collection is much-awaited by hordes of VJ fans. Watch this space to see the collection as it unfolds on the runway.


MODELS SPORT DESIGNS FROM "BORALA NAUTCH"

Photo Courtesy

Weekend with Friends and Blog Award!

Saw the new movie AISHA over the weekend. It's the latest Cinematic adaptation of Jane Austen's "Emma", with Sonam Kapoor playing the title character in this slick, glossy movie. Actor Sonam Kapoor is increasingly being known as one of India's leading style icons from Bollywood, and AISHA goes on to reinforce the image.

With great styling and impressive production values, AISHA is visually pleasing, but goes DUH! on story-telling. As a saving grace, Sonam, Abhay Deol, and company look really great on screen, and the lead characters have some decent chemistry going for them. That's about all that can be said for the movie.







And the lovely Rachel of the blog INSPIRATION IN ITALY has given me the Tanti Baci (many kisses award) to mark her 100th Blog post! Thank you SO much, Rachel! Love your gorgeous blog.



I would like to pass on my Tanti Baci to my following friends...

Republic of Chic
In Honor Of Design
Bombchell
Gorgeousglam
Frenchleave
Take Me Out To The Runway

Back From Leh!

Back from Ladakh, and missing it! It was a journey of a life time. This frozen desert is the one place which time seems to have forgotten. I guess it would be difficult, if not impossible to put my journey into words. I have come back with incredible memories, and a stubborn tan. Ladakh is a region of the Jammu and Kashmir state in India. Leh is the biggest town in Ladakh.
Thee highlights of my trip included a visit to the Pangong lake. Situated at 14,270 ft, Pangong is 134 km (83 mi) long and extends from India to China. 60% of the length of the lake lies in China. The lake is 5 km (3.1 mi) wide at its broadest point. During winter the lake freezes completely, despite being saline water. At Pangong, I stayed at a Ladakhi homestay, run by the most hospitable Ladakhi family, the Nongyals. At night, I felt that I could just grab a handful of stars off the sky.

Leh was a wonderful memory too. I miss having my breakfast sitting next to a gorgeous stream. Or having my dinner in a Ladakhi dining room, sharing stories and experiences with other travellers. This was my first trip, but it definitely won't be the last.

Off to sample a slice of heaven!

Leh is often described as heaven on Earth. For years, it's been my dream to visit this beautiful, pristine spot on the planet. So keen I was on visiting Leh that I even put it on my Bucket list. And now, within hours, I am leaving. For Leh. I know I just came back from a vacation, but now I am off to another one. I will be in Leh for the next two weeks, and hope to see you all after that. There will be no posts from me on shotcouture for the next couple of weeks. But I hope to see you all beautiful people after that. In between, if possible, I will drop in to say hello. I wish you all good health and great summer.