Vineet Bahl’s show at Amazon India Fashion Week was entitled Code and came with its own hashtags. The show notes said it was a collection for women who don’t dress to impress but are confident themselves.
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October 11, 2015
Gl-Amazon India Fashion Week SS16 Opens!
Sanjay Garg, Amazon India Fashion Week SS 2016
Amazon India Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2016 in association with Maybelline is well under way and as usual, you can take a peak at the best shows here at The Chatterjis Blog!
Opening proceedings this season was top designer, Sanjay Garg and his brand Raw Mango. The show was dedicated to one fabric: mashru. Mashru was introduced to India by the Mughals it is a cotton and silk weave originally created to provide ‘halal’ fabric for menswear (silk for Muslim men is deemed haram, oh yes of course…). Production stopped in India in the 1940s inspiring Sanjay Garg and his company to re-instate the skill in Benaras. Now his hugely successful brand helps to keep the textile alive.
Sanjay Garg, Amazon India Fashion Week SS 2016
The designer’s vibrant colour palette and elaborate designs demonstrate the beauty and drape of the fabric. Repeat motifs and stripes are in step with the traditional origins of Mashru.
Bubbly
March 26, 2015
Kavita Bhartia’s Magical Milestone
Kavita Bhartia, AIFW AW 2015
Celebrating 25 years as a designer, Kavita Bhartia showed a retrospective of her designs with a collection that cemented her place as a veteran designer. The collection wasn’t so much a celebration of her greatest hit as it was a big cheers to the future. Beautifully crafted in flattering silhouettes and tones, her Ogaan
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October 9, 2014
A Dream and an Ode to Master Artisans: Day 2 at WIFW
Samant Chauhan @ WIFW SS15
Continuing his Rajputana theme this season designer, Samant Chauhan was inspired by romance and illusion and thus ‘dream’. Samant has a loyal band of followers and stockists sprawled across India and the Middle East and I’m sure they loved the intricate antique-look thread embroidery which is turning into a bit of a trend for next season.
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March 30, 2014
Rajputana Traveller by Samant Chauhan
Samant Chauhan WIFW AW 2014
‘Some travels take you so far that even when you return you are gone forever…probably it’s then they call it a journey’…the Rajputana Traveller.
Samant Chauhan WIFW AW 2014
Designer, Samant Chauhan grows in confidence each season with new chapters from his Rajputana fashion series. Continually drawing on inspiration from his native Indian state he keeps the collection looking bold and structured yet incredibly feminine.
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March 28, 2014
The Silk Route’s Enduring Inspiration
Ashima-Leena WIFW AW 2014
Ashima-Leena’s collection inspiration is the tried and tested journey down the old silk route. I say this not to criticise but to emphasise that it remains fertile ground and has provided centuries of ideas to creatives.
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March 28, 2014
Shantanu & Nikhil: The Shadows Within
Shantanu & Nikhil WIFW AW 2014
Shantanu & Nikhil are incredibly talented designers with impeccable attention to detail. Their latest collection was inspired by timeless vintage travel. The powder, blush and antique rose and apricot hues reminisced British colonial times. Lace was the dominant detail and it was especially striking on the fingerless gloves worn by all the models.
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March 28, 2014
Day 1 WIFW Photo Diary: Rock On, Structured Metallics & Selfies with Nokia
Raakesh Agarvwal showed a collection unlike any other (this was apparent even though it was still only day 1). Leather, audacious glamour and lots of skin meant this was a collection for younger women unaffected by silly things such as Winter.
Raakesh Agarvwal WIFW AW 2014
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March 14, 2014
Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week AW 2014
Design by Taurn Tahiliani
5 days, 31 shows and 119 designers… later this month I will bring you extensive coverage from Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2014. The dates for your diaries or mobile phone reminders are 26-30 March so be sure to check the blog for all the latest shows and reviews.
The week will be opened by celebrated designer, Tarun Tahiliani.
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October 30, 2013
Ornamental Adornments
WIFW Pankaj & Nidhi SS14
Intricate adornments from Pompeii all the way to Medieval church facades…Indian designer duo, Panjak & Nidhi seemed to thoroughly enjoy researching the inspiration behind their Spring/Summer 2014 collection. Hand cut fabrics appliqued to give a 3D effect and transparency were key looks.
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October 21, 2013
WIFW SS14 Day 2: Photo Diary
September 26, 2013
Trend Report Part 1/4: NY Spring/Summer 14
Zac by Zac Posen
Fashion, flash bulbs and lots of flapping around. You probably heard all the fashion weeks started a few weeks ago. I left it til near the end to summarise what you need to know as consumers (this article is part 1 of 4). For all the attention that the official fashion weeks get, they are nevertheless trade events and not open to the public. They are extremely photogenic events to pepper media cycles routinely filled with political scandal and daily humdrum.
Michael Kors
Do you have a global style or are you very British/American/European in your dress sense? My sis is very preppy Ralph Lauren despite being British
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August 1, 2013
Two’s Company, Three’s a Party!
Calcutta-based designer, Sabyasachi, can best be described as the Marni of Indian fashion: quirky, off kilter, contemporary and highly relevant fashion for women that don’t do fashion. He has a loyal following and is much like fellow designer Manish Malhotra in his influence over general Indian fashion. What we see on the catwalk one evening will be copied the length and breadth of India the following lunch time (hardly anyone hits the haberdashers before then!).
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March 20, 2013
Grand Finale: Manish Arora
The hottest ticket in town was the Manish Arora’s closing show for Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2013. “Squeeze up some more!” were the cries from the pretty PR organisers to the press pack as we shuffled this way and that to make room for late arrivals.
Manish Arora already presented his collection inspired by his trip to the Burning Man art festival in Nevada in Paris
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March 20, 2013
Be Young with Payal Pratap and Rahul Mishra
Design by Payal Pratap
Payal Pratap and Rahul Mishara’s presentations were sponsored by Fiama Di Wills, the Indian beauty product giant. Under the theme ‘Be Young’ both collections pined for yesteryear.
Payal Pratap’s collection was subtitled ‘Opening my Grandmother’s Trunk’
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March 20, 2013
Roll Up for Day 4!
Styled and visualised in the theme of a circus, the circus was not actually cited in the show notes. Pero by Aneeth Arora is the winner of Vogue India’s first Fashion Fund and this was her first presentation since winning the award, for which she received the cash prize after the show.
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March 20, 2013
Manish Malhotra: Trend Maker
Indian Celebrity, Esha Gupta featured in Manish Malhotra’s show
There are few designers in the Indian fashion industry that can start a trend like Manish Malhotra. His influence in Indian cinema is so great and the trickling effect on to TV sets beamed around a billion homes is no small accomplishment. In this way,
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March 19, 2013
A Kaleidoscope of Colour
Designer Rajdeep Ranawat’s collection was inspired by a hypothetical world with a hint of exotic Medieval. The collection featured intricate embroideries and lovely accessories. The Elton John embellished glasses were my favourite.
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March 17, 2013
A Winter Garden
March 17, 2013
Heavenly Heritage Fashion
Over at Rajesh Pratap Singh’s show the catwalk had been transformed into an Autumnal woodland. Rajesh Pratap Singh is the current brand ambassador for Woolmark and the show was sponsored by them.
The ground lay strewn with rust coloured foliage and bleak trees glowed with pod lights. The effect was magical.
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March 17, 2013
Hypercraft and Colonial Orient
Kavita Bhartia is the owner of the Ogaan chain of boutiques with stores in Delhi and Mumbai. Kavita started her own label in 2001.
The collection she presented this season was entitled ‘Hypercraft’ to reflect her combining technology and craft for her designs.
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March 16, 2013
Dunes of Luxury
One of my favourite collections so far at Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2013 is Shantanu & Nikhil‘s ode to the luxury traveller with reference to The Thar, India’s largest desert.
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March 16, 2013
Kumbh Mela Comes to Fashion Week
Designer Tarun Tahiliani is a formidable force in the Indian fashion industry and this season he took inspiration from the Kumbh, a religious festival, and Sadhus – the saffron draped wandering spiritual men.
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March 15, 2013
Gothic Beauty and Sleek Silhouettes
March 14, 2013
Inspiring Courtesans and Monochrome
March 14, 2013
Day 1: WIFW Satya Paul and Annaika
February 28, 2013
Look Who’s Showing
The tension in the lead up to fashion weeks is tangible in studios where designers will be fussing over the finishes to garments that have taken months to come to fruition. Paris fashion week is currently in full swing, however, I’m in Delhi and Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week Autumn Winter 2013 is under two weeks away.
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October 12, 2012
Day 4: Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week
August 17, 2012
Delhi Couture Week: Day 4
Day 4 of PCJ Delhi Couture Week 2012 presented two shows of opposite extremes. Both designers referenced bridalwear but whereas Shantanu & Nikhil’s fantasy bride was gothic and dark, Manish Malhotra’s was a fluttery sugar-dipped princess.
Shantanu & Nikhil’s show notes were far too deep in reference points especially since they threw in the towel and conformed to produce a bridalwear collection. Why not simply state that you want to do a different type of couture collection?
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July 30, 2012
Couture Club: Delhi’s Turn
February 19, 2012
Fashion Week: Delhi Day 3
Design duo, Pankaj &Nidhi took inspiration from Polish craft for the Autumn/Winter 2012 collection. Quite a niche look hey? The designers managed to make Polish craft look wonderfully contemporary as they zoomed their focus
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February 16, 2012
Designs From Delhi
Day 1 from Wills India Fashion Week in Delhi got off to a cracking start. Autumn/Winter shows in Delhi are usually of loose relevance as designers forget it gets Very Cold Indeed here in Winter and offer bales of chiffon to supposedly keep us warm. With a vodka shot please.
Veteran Indian designers showcase alongside the new generation and here I present three designers that showed yesterday and who can demonstrate the bredth of fashion coming from India:
This beautiful dress is by Preeti Chandra who offered a collection inspired by ‘matador chic’. It’s quite a tried and tested inspiration of designers from all over the world
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