Girl with the blue scarf

The 'selling point' at fashion weeks More and more fashion critics seem to be worrying themselves over lack of new trends on the fashion ramp. Point in question being the recently concluded Lakme Fashion Week Festive/Winter 2010 which was on since Sept 17 - 21 at the Grand Hyatt in Mumbai. There were hushed talks about how ' thanda ' the entire atmosphere was, compared to last season. How designers weren't distributing goodies along with their press releases. How sponsored shows were shifted to the 9 pm slot instead of 7 pm slot and most importantly, how there were hardly any new dramatic trends that sprang up apart from buyers who were rumoured to be attending most shows but were hardly spotted by me (or even other journalists). Critics accused Paris-based Indian designer Manish Arora for showcasing what he had shown at Paris in Summer of 2010 season. Bollywood designer Neeta Lulla to have forgotten to bridge the gap between film costumes and designer wear as her ...

CURTAINS DOWN ON LFW WINTER/FESTIVE 2010 And finally it was closing day of the Lakme Fashion Week in Mumbai with Delhi-based designer Malini Ramani bringing the curtains down with the grand finale. Firstly, the finale, which was scheduled to begin at 9.30 pm started at 10.30 pm. So, there were guests who were twiddling their thumbs in anticipation. Some even commented if this would even begin today or not. But then, we were all there inside the show area and the colourful show began with thumping beats. PERFORMANCE TIME: The Audio/Visual clip had Malini come on-screen speaking about the universe, inspirations from nature, yoga benefits and more so, what lies within our hearts and soul - true happiness. It did look a bit like a comic script, where a person would be perched on a lotus and many lights would go revolving behind. So, here was Malini doing just that and announcing her collection's nomadic inspirations. And then amidst a burst of colours, models showcased the four season...

OH MY GOD! I am saying OMG and not IMG (ha-ha) because on Day 4 of Lakme Fashion Week Winter/Festive 2010, we spotted many guests including actors and their chamchaas and now hold your breath -2 transvestites . Dressed in dull polka-dotted frocks, they sauntered in, towering over many others peering at the lounges and Lakme salon, clearly inviting curious gazes. If you want to know who's guests the two were? One Mr Shah got them in, guffawing all the way. Moving on to more serious matter now — of the shows. The day's last three shows were heavy duty. Good designs, sleek cuts and loads of Bollywood actors who came in to cheer. Swapnil Shinde's designs were impressive. It revolved around a courtesan lavni dancer, Chandrakala, the poet Rafael and a club owner Zidler. With romance and villainy underlining the look of the collection, Swapnil dipped into the 17th and 18th century styles of Europe but added on the Indian lavni dancers of Maharashtra clothing for impact. Ghungroo ...

Now that's what we call as festive! Day 3 of the Lakme Fashion Week saw a fabulous splash of festive colours, something that the previous two days couldn't pull through. And along with some brilliant designs came stars who we thought would give a skip to LFW this season. On Sunday, when Ganesh pandals in the city drummed beats of traditional Ganpati songs, some 'not-very-famous' but have 'fire-in-the-belly' designers were all set to showcase their worked-upon collections. I've always believed that the younger ones take the theme more seriously than the senior ones. Perhaps that's why the Winter/Festive theme came alive on Day 3 and how... THE SHOWS: Masaba Gupta : This girl opened the show on Sunday. Purvi Doshi and VJ Balhara followed. Masu (as Masaba is lovingly called by her pals) created a sensuously-woven and wearable collection. She chose a peppy number of 'Choli Ke Peeche' song, made famous years ago by actress Madhuri Dixit's dhak-dh...

The power is with the Gen Next and yes Mumbai knows that... For some reason, the most breathtaking show on Day 2 of the Lakme Fashion Week Winter/Festive 2010 was by not the stalwarts who showcased and that includes Ritu Kumar and Babita Malkani, but by the group of 10 designers who had started from the Gen Next platform themselves some years ago. Call it a kind of thanksgiving by designers Aneeth Arora, Kallol Dutta, Anuj Sharma, Rahul Sharma, Swapnil Shinde, Nachiket Barwe, Nitin Bal Chauhan, Rahul Mishra, Rimzim Dadu and Sailex Ngairangbam , the group of 10 were equal to the force of 100. Such was their diversity and design expertise. Celebrating five years of defining fashion with the top ten Gen next designers was a fabulous idea as the buyers did make maximum enquiries with these designers post their show. THE SHOW: Aneeth Arora: His 'Global Local' show was aimed at fashionistas around the world. With international trends, traditional fabrics and crafts, this lady showca...

WHEN BIZARRE BECOMES BEAUTIFUL I need to confess that on Day 1 of the Lakme Fashion Week Winter/Festive 2010 at the Grand Hyatt in Mumbai, the buzz was not as much as it was last season. But the most anticipated show of the day was that of Manish Arora's. Everyone had different expectations from this Paris-based designer who's dressed celebrities including Britney Spears, Lady Gaga and Katy Perry. But he couldn't care less of what we wanted to see, Manish came and shattered our aspirations and built a new empire — that of hi-tech looks for a super confident modern woman. So, if you have the gall to call the shots, yeah, you can be Manish Arora's client. He'll dress you up like no one else. At his 9 pm show on Friday (Sept 17), people flocked in way before time despite road blocks due to Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations in the city, lest they miss their chance to get seated on time. Not many actors came in but some very serious buyers made a front row appearance. I saw ...

Manish Arora to rock the Mumbai ramp Designer Manish Arora, yes! the one who dressed up Britney Spears for her Circus tour, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry and many more, is now making his way to participate at the Lakme Fashion Week in September 2010. He answers a few straight-offs... @ You are a Mumbai boy essentially. You moved to Delhi and then almost made Paris your base. How does it feel to come back to the place where you did your first big show (India Fashion Week) way back in 2002. Excited, nostalgic, curious? M: To me, Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, etc are all home. India is by home. So I feel very happy to showcase my designs here and even more ecstatic when I am appreciated in my country. @ Tell us about your show, the collection at Lakme Fashion Week 2010 and of course, how you will effortlessly weave neon prints? M: As an artist, you can find inspiration from almost anything, from eras and civilizations to people and places - The list is endless. During the time that we were designing t...