Roving Eye

Funky fashionBurlington's name has been synonymous with the world of mail-order fashion, for a few years now. Their catalogues are always pa...

Funky fashion

Burlington8217;s name has been synonymous with the world of mail-order fashion, for a few years now. Their catalogues are always packed with the most wearable clothes and the joy of getting them delivered to your door step, promptly, made shopping a painless experience. If there was a hitch it was finding that the outfit did not fit. Now, Burlington loyalists can heave a sigh of relief. The mail-order company makes a leap into the world of retail 8212; it has launched a range of smart casualwear for men and women, that will be stocked by outlets all over the city. And to announce the arrival of this new line of affordable, funky pret, Burlington8217;s CMD Andre Kapur held a small fashion show at the Oberoi on Thursday. Put together by model Achla Sachdev 8212; back in town after a long break in Canada 8212; the show sparkled with an element of fun and funk. The models wore lots of brightly-coloured hair mascara and the stick-on tattoos complemented the range of streetwear. Giving Andre support werefriends and family. Yesteryear star Shashi Kapoor, clad in a simple white kurta, was also there. And from the smile on his face, he really seemed to be enjoying the event.

From Goa

Later that day there was another fashion show. This time it was Goa8217;s Wendell Rodericks8217; turn to show his latest collection at the Fashion Bar amp; Bistro. And without doubt this was the line of the season. Simple and well-cut clothes, that were light and fluid, dominated the show. One can always be sure that Wendell8217;s clothes use no heavy embroidery and stiff fabrics are given a wide pass. Here is one designer whose clothes can be worn off the ramp as well. An opinion that was shared by those in fashion business. Raving about his clothes were ELLE8217;s Nirja Shah, models Achla Sachdev and Nina Manuel, as well as model co-ordinator Rasna Behl. On the ramp were Ujwala Raut, Bipasha Basu, Aditi Govitrikar and Sushma Reddy. Both Sushma and Aditi stayed on after the show and even had the energy to shake a leg well till the barshut down. In fact, they even looked disappointed when it was time to go home. Where do they get their energy from?

Shirt show

Another designer visiting the city this weekend was Rohit Gandhi. The man behind H2O shirts, his range of simple and funky shirts have become quite the rage in Mumbai. Already retailing at Allure, Rohit will now stock his shirts at Melange. To celebrate the event, he hosted a small cocktail party 8212; and on the spur of the moment even decided to have an ad-hoc fashion show. Spotted at the show were Queenie and Raja Dhody, Marc Robinson, Sanjeev Chowdhury, Sheetal Malhar, Manish Malhotra and Achla Sachdev.

Marc, by the way, has lost some weight and is looking fabulous. Except for the frown that he wore right through the show. A choreographer himself, the model found it impossible to appreciate the show which had obviously been put together at the last minute. Said Marc, quot;Either do something properly or not at all.quot; But we think he was nit-picking. Other than Marc, everyoneelse seemed to have enjoyed the event. Rohit is famous for his parties in Delhi and it was hardly surprising that he carried the show, in Mumbai, with the same elan.

Park party

It seems like all of Delhi8217;s socialites had decided that this was a good time to hit the party scene in Mumbai. The other Delhi-centric event was Priya Paul8217;s bash at the Copa Cabana, on Friday. The brain behind the success of Park Hotel, Priya8217;s parties are an annual event. Thrown for her regular clientele, her parties are generally rollicking affairs, eagerly awaited by the glitterati. But this year, the bash turned out to be a bit of a damp squib. The moral police had the pub down its shutters at midnight 8212; yes, the antiquated law is being enforced again. And, given Mumbai8217;s party habits no one was even close to getting to the Copa by then.

But in spite of the relatively poor turn-out, Priya played the perfect hostess. Dressed in a colourful sari, she made sure that everyone sampled the wide range of hors d8217;oeuvres onoffer. Spotted there were Tina Tahiliani-Parikh, Andrew Carnegie and veejay Suchitra Pillai.

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At the witching hour, the action moved to 1900s. There, another prominent Delhiite was spotted 8212; Ravi Bajaj. This designer was in town just for the weekend and was dancing up quite a storm at the Taj8217;s nightclub. It seems these Delhi boys really know how to enjoy this city.

And finally8230;

Check your newsstand 8212; fast. The latest issue of Verve is out and as usual this glossy is looking great. All the credit, however, cannot go to Meghna Reddy who makes a fabulous cover girl. Editor-publisher Anuradha Mahindra has packed the issue with information, all the while maintaining the stylishness that makes the quarterly a high-end read. Don8217;t miss the feature on Aamir Khan 8212; you get a chance to see the man behind the exacting star. And of course, check the back pages. Packed with the usual round up of the best parties held over the last four months 8212; including the London launch of Verve, AkshayChudasama8217;s wedding and Wendell Roderick8217;s launch party for his new restaurant in Goa 8212; these pages are a barometer of the social register. If you aren8217;t there, beware. Your invitations are going to dry up. Real fast.