Pankaj & Nidhi Play Cards

Pankaj & Nidhi WIFW AW 2014

Pankaj & Nidhi’s show was sponsored by Fiama Di Wills so it was a rather slick production, albeit with a fashionably late start.  Pankaj & Nidhi’s signature looks is placement embroideries and graphics in bold combinations.

Pankaj & Nidhi WIFW AW 2014

The collection notes referenced the history of playing cards linking their origin from ancient China to their appearance in Spain and Portugal.  So far so good, especially in the graphics department.  Then the designers also took inspiration from matadors in a bullring.  I think this was too much for me. 

JJ Valaya, The Maharaja of Madrid

The Maharaja of Indian couture, JJ Valaya’s opening show for AAmby Valley India Bridal Fashion Week was as spectacular as to be expected from a designer who spares no expense in executing his vision.

JJ’s previous couture collection was inspired by his visits to Turkey resulting in an exquisite fusion of silk route couture.  The Arab empire ruled in Spain for over 700 years before

Heroes and Demons

Locksmiths in Pamlona, Spain, unanimously decided they would not help banks reclaim property from customers who fell behind their mortgage payments.  A locksmith interviewed by the Guardian recounted an awful story of how one sick, elderly man was barely able to get his trousers on before he was made homeless.  Whilst the action of the locksmiths turns them into heroes, the demons are less clear.

There is a lot of anger

Etch A Sketch

Does everyone remember the Etch A Sketch? What a fabulous toy. My children have one and it goes everywhere. I was so pleased to see the Spanish basketball coach using one to convey strategy and tactics.

In the modern days of electronic tablets, the most common of which, the IPad, this was somewhat surprising. He was able to quickly draw and erase his messages to each of the players, making it all look as simple as child’s play.

The Spanish team beat Team GB whose coach decided to take them to the classroom by using a whiteboard. Not quite as cool.

Bunty

 

Short Bargain Break

Following a tip from a travel agent on BBC Radio 4 a while ago, I decided to take a short city break to Valencia. The agent suggested that countries affected the most by the recession are offering the best value for tourists and she wasn’t wrong. Normally visiting Europe feels and is so expensive but this trip left me with change.

Hit the Eject Button

As the Top of the Bailout Pops continues I will provide a useful summary of the single currency crisis so far:

Bailout received:

Portugal €78 billion

Italy N/A (yet)

Ireland € 77 billion

Spain’s Stolen Babies

Last year while I was driving I listened to a Radio 4 programme about new-born babies that were stolen from mothers and families in Spain deemed unfit to be parents while Spain was under the dictatorship of General Franco.  This story has come into the media spotlight once more as an 80 year old Spanish nun attended court on 12 April accused of being involved in alleged baby stealing.

It was heartbreaking listening to mothers

The Stolen Baby Scandal

Spain has a dirty secret that has finally been exposed and investigated: over the course of five decades the country’s government, in collaboration with the doctors and nurses and the Catholic Church, stole new born babies from families regarded as unfit in order to sell them to apparently more deserving families.

Miro At The Tate Modern

Spanish surrealist artist, Juan Miro, took my breath away 4 years ago when I went to see his work at the MIro Foundation in Barcelona and I am delighted to see the first display of his work in Britain since 1964, at the Tate Modern.

Amidst the fairytale Gaudi architecture of Barcelona, Miro’s playful and colourful style represented the Mediterranean vibrancy and humour through a political kaleidoscope. The Ladder of Escape captures his life’s work over 70 years including his first masterpieces dating back to 1921.

Eurovision Debt Contest

What is going on in Euro zone, another country joins the downgrade top of the pops every week. Today Germany’s cost of borrowing increased, Italy yesterday, Spain last week and we’ve been reading about the Greek and Irish crises for some time now.  Without wanting to seem like a card carrying Tory, why are we legally obliged to help these countries in their bailout when we have enough of our own financial problems to deal and we do not use the Euro?