LAKMÉ FASHION WEEK REPORTING FROM FASHION S FRONT LINE ISSUE No. 3, LAKMÉ FASHION WEEK IN ASSOCIATION WITH VISIT THE DAILY ONLINE www.lakmefashionweek.co.in SUNDAY 4 MARCH 2012 INDIAN TEXTILE DAY For the first time in its history, Lakmé Fashion Week celebrates Indian weaves and crafts where the spotlight is trained on encouraging appreciation for the versatile character of our homespun textiles. Be there to witness the resurgence of tradition and learn how the pace of the nation is guiding Indian design in a contemporary direction! A sneak peek into India Textile Day PROFILES OF THE PANELISTS AND SPEAKERS: Umang Hutheesing Umang Hutheesing is the scion of one of the most historical, privileged families in the nation. He went to the Babson College, USA for his under-graduate studies in Business and Science where he graduated with two awards of distinction and leadership, and then acquired a Banking Diploma in Japan. He presently holds the position of Founder President of Hutheesing Heritage Foundation President Hutheesing Design Company Hon. Director Hutheesing Visual Art Centre Member of Governing Body Ahmedabad Education Society and Ahmedabad University Convener Ahmedabad Chapter Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage Co-Chairman, NRG Committee Gujarat Chambers of Commerce and Industries Member of Governing Council Ahmedabad Management Association. Krishna Mehta Designer Krishna Mehta constantly reinterprets classic Indian design fundamentals with elegance and sensuality. As one of the first menswear designers of the country, she has received the Fabled Peacock Award from the Government of Gujarat, CMAI Award for Best Menswear Designers and TOI award in recognition of her usage of natural and khadi fabrics. She has a printing unit (PALAK) in Gujarat which provides employment to differently abled people and aims to make them financially independent. Maximiliano Modesti Maximiliano Modesti is a fashion entrepreneur based between Paris and Mumbai since 15 years. A French- Italian MBA Graduate from I.F.M (French institute of Fashion), Maximiliano Modesti was the studio manager of Azzedine Alaia from 1994 to 1998. He has a deep knowledge about Indian crafts and textiles (having established Les Ateliers 2M in Paris and Mumbai) a design and production center for luxury brands. He collaborates today with the most prestigious brands in France. Since the past five years, he has been deeply involved in the recognition of craft excellence in India and collaborates with UNESCO (Paris) to promote and engineer the future of Indian crafts. Bibhu Mohapatra Designer Bibhu Mohapatra showed an interest in fashion at an early age by designing clothes for his sister. The road has been a long and winding one. Bibhu enrolled himself in the Fashion Institute of Technology, New York and while working on his design degree, honed his design skills as assistant designer for iconic fashion label Halston. The Fashion Institute of Technology applauded Bibhu for his design aesthetic and honored him with the Critics Award for Best Evening Wear Designer during his senior year. This recognition catapulted his career to the next level. Bibhu went on to work for J. Mendel under Gilles Mendel following which he launched his namesake label in February 2009. In January 2010, he was a finalist for Womens Apparel 2010 Rising Star Award by The Fashion Group International and in May 2010 he received the Young Innovator Award from the National Arts Club. In June
2 LAKMÉ FASHION WEEK, THE DAILY Sunday, 4 March 2012 2010, Bibhu became a member of the Council of Fashion Designers of America and in January 2011 he received the Ecco Domani Fashion Foundation award. Sabyasachi Mukherjee Sabyasachi Mukherjee graduated from NIFT and launched his eponymous label which began with a workforce of just three persons. Over the years, he has successfully built a brand which has a very social perspective and represents a comfort zone to global Indians. Known for his use of Indian textiles in a modern context and the use of indigenous methods like bandhani, gota work, block printing, hand dyeing etc in the construction of modern silhouettes, Sabyasachi won the Femina British Council Most Outstanding Young Designer of India award. Sabyasachi sells out of three flagship stores and is a part of various multi-designer stores in India. His future plans are to start an India-inspired kid s wear brand and to establish a contemporary clothing brand for mass India that employs and thrives on weavers and artisans at a grass root level. Seth Petchers Seth Petchers is the CEO of Shop for Change Fair Trade where he works to build the market and the movement for fair trade in India. Prior Shop for Change, he worked with Oxfam America where he integrated the agency's policy, corporate engagement, public education and development work as it pertained to agriculture and fair trade. Before Oxfam, Seth worked with the non-profit organization Chocolate Matters as well as The World Bank's International Task Force on Commodity Risk Management. Seth began his work in fair trade as the first Certification Manager for TransFair USA, the fair trade certification agency for the U.S. market. At TransFair, his responsibilities included working with importers and farmer cooperatives to remove obstacles in product sourcing as well as facilitating new business relationships between importers and farmers. More recently, he served as Board Chair of the Fair Trade Federation, a trade association of North American fair trade businesses. CREDITS Editorial Editor Jasmeen Dugal Photography Nitesh Square Photography Kedar Nene Designed and Printed by SPENTA MULTIMEDIA Under him, the company s studio churns out hundreds of print design ideas every month. His passion for textiles has led to a worldfamous personal collection of some of the rarest historical Indian textiles from the thirteenth century called the TAPI Collection. Stephan Siegel Stephan Siegel is the co-founder of Not Just a Label. (NJAL): a leading directory for showcasing avant garde designers and nurturing upcoming talent. Set up in 2008, NJAL quickly become an indispensable tool for the industry... helping designers gain exposure and finance their progression independently by providing an easily accessible retailing forum via its online shop. As part of their scouting process, NJAL will look to local universities to connect with these young designers to ensure they maintain their creative output and will be giving lectures to students on the state of the current international market. Mamta Reddy Mamta Reddy is a Maths graduate-turned-textile designer dedicated to the revival of the traditional handpainted Kalamkari and other declining crafts forms. In the late Eighties she happened to visit Srikalahasti (the home of traditional Kalamkari art) and was moved by the state of the once revered art wilting under neglect and dwindling patronage and turned in to a textile designer with the objective of reviving the art form. So she started personally living among the artisan community and learning the traditional process of preparing raw material, dying the fabric through various stages and hand painting with Kalam (Bamboo quill). Darshan Shah Darshan Shah is the founder of The Weavers Studio which has established its position by setting up hand-block printing, handloom and hand embroidery units in the vicinity of Kolkata. The Weavers Studio has a design repertoire consisting of more than 20,000 wooden blocks, 1000 textile reference books, 500 old and rare textiles from India and abroad and a R & D team that has worked on topics as varied as Trade Textiles, Ocean Trade, Woven Cargoes, Khadi, Jamdani Indigo Dyeing in Africa, Vietnam, India, China, Thailand and Japan. The Weavers Studio offers diverse options of surface decorations and embellishments from kantha and tribal embroidery to kalamkari, metal thread zardozi, chikanwork, appliqué work, pintucks and pleats. Their three production units employ close to 100 crafts people producing approximately 700 meters of hand dyed, hand painted, hand block printed and tie dye cloth a day and another 500 craftspeople are employed for weaving, embroideries, surface decorations and tailoring. They also export through their export division "Veda Commercial Pvt. Ltd" under the brand name "Weavers Studio". Praful Shah Praful Shah is Chairman and Managing Director of Garden Silk Mills Limited, which he transformed from a small family-owned business into a household name with sprawling factory complexes on the outskirts of Surat. With hisstewardship, Garden Silk Mills Ltd. is one of the largest integrated polyester textile companies in India. Peninsula Spenta, Mathuradas Mill Compound, N. M.Joshi Marg, Lower Parel (W), Mumbai - 400 013. Tel: +91-22-24811010 Fax: +91-22-24811021 Email: ho@spentamultimedia.com Website: www.spentamultimedia.com The views and opinions expressed or implied in The Daily are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of Spenta Multimedia or Lakmé Fashion Week. Unsolicited articles and transparencies are sent in at the owner s risk and the publisher accepts no liability for loss or damage. Material in this publication may not be reproduced, whether in part or in whole, without the consent of Spenta Multimedia or The Daily Lakmé Fashion Week.
www.lakmefashionweek.co.in RUNWAY REVIEW Komal Sood Nimish Shah Priyadarshini Rao 3 Suhani Pittie Pia Pauro Komal Sood showcased Joie de Vivre which took inspiration from the vibrant celebrations of Holi. From floor-length gowns to sculpted minis, the charming designer blended and contrasted colors with skilful touches. The canvas of hand painted garments paved the way for the cocktail circuit: the one-shoulder mini, the strapless orange crepe dress and the red sari-draped mini. When it comes to style, Pia Pauro has the Midas touch. Splashes of neon livened the catwalk as garments in shades of orange, hot pink and electric blue dazzled guests who cheered for the embroidered yoke cotton blouson batwing mini, the waistcoats embellished with mirror work, the hipster skinny pants, the beaded bundis and the gold metallic sheath. Nimish Shah reinvented kids play clothes with summer dresses, midi skirts and feminine blouses... set to a lively retro soundtrack to complement silhouettes that were evocative of the 60s and 70s. While this collection evoked the artsy woman more than it did kids on the playground, it aimed for an easy sensibility. We loved the floral printed off-shoulder blouses and dresses, floppy trousers, unstructured cotton jackets and hooded pinafores that often mixed prints, stripes and solids in one look. Payal Khandwala took inspiration from abstractionists, Mark Rothko and Barnett Newman. Flowing long silhouettes with a hint of androgynous effects gave the line an interesting touch. The construction was interesting with angular zips on waistcoats and fluid pleated pants under skirts teamed with cropped tops wrapped around the body. From the studio of jewellery designer Suhani Pittie came the Child of Eden which showcased the intricacy and craftsmanship of the Bidri star print and the Chand Bali filigree. Using nature as her motifs, Suhani had delicate leaves, entwining vines, roses, peacocks and spiral rivets on cuffs, collar bands, neckpieces, belts, earrings and head bands. We love the way she gave the Hasli a modern twist with a Bidri print bow or a trellis with rose and filigree. Working around a natural color base with neon shots, Priyadarshini Rao played with fabrics and motifs... mixing the sheer with opaque to steer a folk-y inspiration into edgier, modern territory. We loved the printed bubble smock over an acid green voile skirt, the handkerchief hemline skirts edged with lace, the crushed cotton shirts worn with parallel pants and the lace gilets worn over puff-sleeve blouses teamed with denim shorts. Bhairavi Jaikishan showed a bridal collection of saris and lehenga cholis embellished with resham, sequins, crystals and zari. Roses that appeared as appliqués, 3D embroidery on borders and liberally splashed all over the garments were quietly impressive. The cholis with draped bodices and the gold corset worn over the sari pallav were highlights of the showing. - JASMEEN DUGAL
4 LAKMÉ FASHION WEEK, THE DAILY Sunday, 4 March 2012 Talent Box Mona Shroff Pranav Mishra and Shyama Shetty Indira Nitya Arora Payal Kothari Payal Khandwala Bhairavi Jaikishan
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6 LAKMÉ FASHION WEEK, THE DAILY Sunday, 4 March 2012 Disney Couture Presents Memories Of Mickey Mouse And Minnie Mouse By Little Shilpa And Nitin Bal Chauhan It was back to the good old days of fun and frolic as Disney Couture presented the collections of Little Shilpa and Nitin Bal Chauhan inspired by Mickey and Minnie Mouse. Celebrated for her exotic headgear, Little Shilpa has been consistently displaying the most mind-boggling headgear at fashion weeks but this time she moved her inspirations to cartoon characters from the world of Disney and displayed garments that had a quirky touch and inspirations of childish elements. Her collection was a delightful play of drapes in cotton net and Lycra silk inspired by Pop surrealism. Adding on bows, polka dots, stars, hearts and daises all associated with the Disney characters, Little Shilpa teamed the striking garments with headgear and neckpieces. We loved the asymmetric hem jersey black dress accessorized with an elaborate turban, the red silk giant ears sewn on the skirt of a gown, the beaded black and white streamers embellishing a maxi and the giant black ears seen as a shrug worn with vinyl tights and white heart shaped balloons. Nitin Bal Chauhan ensured that the theme resonated in his collection of washed denim with leather, canvas, fibre glass, acrylic, wires, metallic gauze and even test tubes moulded into flowers and wild headgear! Presenting a variety of innovative cuts, prints and textures, Nitin opened the showing with strains of a lone trumpet player on the catwalk and sent out a white dress embellished with buttons, high-waist denim, a jumpsuit and a sheath with frayed detailing though the round of applause was reserved for printed dresses and maxis with a Mickey centric print and a black gown embellished with metal buttons and Mickey inspired sleeves! Behind The Scenes
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8 LAKMÉ FASHION WEEK, THE DAILY Sunday, 4 March 2012 RED CARPET Pic Credit: Manav Manglani Nargis Fakhri Soniya Mehra Jaya Bachchan Simone Singh Ileana D'Cruz Amy Jackson Amrita Puri Kalki Koechlin and Anurag Kashyap Pooja Bedi and Akashdeep Saigal