
After her store opened in Crossroads, Anita Dongre turned her attention to launching a new line 8212; to keep customer interest high. So, a series of clothes in lively, printed silks enhanced by traditional Indian borders were displayed at the Indigo on Wednesday evening. Models Rajalaxmi, Tejaswini and Svetlana Casper showed off this pret line at Rahul Akerkar8217;s restaurant. Largely for people in the trade, a quiet evening comprising excellent food and drinks followed.
Store house
The capital8217;s Lal family was in a complete tizzy at the preview of Good Earth8217;s Maroc8217; collection. Anita Lal hustled around the recently renovated outlet, putting drops of perfume on lamps and pouring out mint tea. Hubby Vikram Lal Eicher head honcho quietly cleaned the branches of a palm tree in one corner. And the daughter-son team of Simran and Siddharth put up as many candles as they could in the glass holders, fitting in a small jig to a Moroccan song in the middle. But the lady who was actually supposed to cut theribbon 8212; half-Moroccan veejay-actress Laila Raouss 8212; decided to stay away. Not that anybody missed her. There were so many other interesting people around from the world of fashion and interiors, Laila8217;s absence was hardly even noticed. Spotted there were INTACH8217;s Tasneem Mehta, Melange8217;s Sangeeta Kathiwada, designer Sara Eapen, and Birdy8217;s Rachna Narang. The guests came, shopped and left, the jugglers and dancers did their routine and everybody generally had a nice time gorging on the Moroccan goodies.
Gimmick wear
The Juhu boutique Gimmicks may not be a well-known brand but the fact is that they dress many of the city8217;s most beautiful faces, from Sonali Bendre, Tabu to Aishwarya Rai. They were also the designers of Juhi Chawla8217;s hush hush wedding! To tout their achievements, on Sunday, the store held a showing at the Fashion Bistro. With most of the garments on display costing over Rs one lakh, it really was an exclusive affair. Choreographed by Marc Robinson, on the ramp were Helen Brodie,Madhu Sapre and a dozen other leading models. Turning up to see the creations were Neeta and Mukesh Ambani, Sharmila Raj Thackeray and Aarti Surendranath as well some buyers who had flown down from London and Dubai just to check out the designs.
Short song
It was supposed to be the opening night of a karaoke bar. And the Picadilly lounge bar at Bawa International did have all the other elements 8212; celebs spilling out of every corner, drinks flowing out of the bar. But as for the karaoke bit, for most of the evening there was absolutely nothing in common between the songs being played by the DJ and those being screened on the TV sets. The only time when Jackie Shroff, Vivek Mushran and Bikram Saluja did do a bit of crooning was when Guns N Roses8217; Sweet Child of Mine8217; blared over the speakers. Otherwise, everybody was too busy trying to breathe in the midst of the choc-a-bloc crowd.
And finally8230;
Guess which local gal8217;s picture was featured in last month8217;s Vogue? No, not any of oursuper-models or fashion designers, but Lia Dubash. The daughter of a shipping magnate, she is in the September issue of the British Vogue for her personal style. Apparently, the style of the moment is to dress according to what suits your personality , whether that8217;s chic or grunge. Lia8217;s style is described by this leading fashion glossy as being quot;highly decorative bohoquot;, which is a kind of colourful eastern look which has aspects of grunge. Hmmm8230; next time there is an award going for style, perhaps this Vogue girl should be in the running.
How it happened8230;
Express Newsline has done it again. On September 30, it created a tidal wave that swept the city8217;s glitterati off its feet. With Waves8217; 8212; an evening of coastal couture and cuisine. The genesis of the event happened when Karan Grover and the Express team put on their thinking caps and came up with the novel idea of having a four-pronged series of events reflecting the four elements of nature 8212; Water, Earth, Wind and Fire 8212; in alltheir splendour. They roped in fashion designer Wendell Rodricks, who conceived an entire line of fluid, flowing creations in shades of sea green, aquamarine and sand. The Oberoi Hotel8217;s chefs rose to the challenge by concocting seafood delights from all the four corners of the world that were simply mouth-watering. Purnima Sampat8217;s creative genius transformed the entire Oberoi lobby into a coastal haven. None of this would have been possible without Garden Silk Mills, Ghanasingh amp; Sons Jewellers, Seagrams, Grover Wines, Sahara Airlines and Creation. Watch out for the next event. Which element it will revolve around: Earth, Wind or Fire? We aren8217;t telling yet.