Wednesday 22 August 2012

Trend Spotting - Geometrical Patterns

When it comes to prints, its very common to see designers experimenting with geometrical shapes & tessellations. This year for every season, designers pulled out collections in varied geometrical motifs be it checks, hexagons, diamonds, circles, semicircles, jacquard pattern, crosshatch weave or a honeycomb structure. Ostensibly, many of these prints seem to be inspired by architectural designs and wallpaper motifs.
Preen RTW Spring 2012
Jonathan Saunders Resort 2012 
Kenzo RTW Fall 2012
Stella McCartney RTW Spring 2012, Versus RTW Fall 2012
Holly Fulton RTW Fall 2012, Givenchy Resort 2013, Marni RTW Spring 2012
Prada RTW Fall 2012
Images courtesy: Vogue.com

Tuesday 14 August 2012

Chasing Freedom

Happy Independence Day to all my fellow Indians!
Its a joyous day indeed. '65 years of freedom' in itself induces every Indian to celebrate this day with great zeal and patriotism.
But, with freedom comes responsibility which lies on the shoulders of everyone. It is the responsibility to make the nation better and curbing out anything which is a hindrance in the nation's progress, at the same time respecting the freedom of others.
Through this post and on this glorious day, I would like to stand for one of the primitive tribes, Dongria Kondh, hailing from the heavily forested Niyamgiri Hills, Orissa, who continue their struggle to protect their sacred land from being destroyed by an MNC's mining plans.
I got to know about this prevailing situation by one of the lectures on Business Ethics at school which was an eye-opener for me, but in truth for everyone. Even after these many years of our nation enjoying freedom,  the reality remains far from fantasy.
As a fashion liberal, I would like to applaud the dauntless bravery of these tribal people by bringing to light their unique personal adornment to all the fashionistas out there. 

They wear a profusion of hair clips, ear rings, neck rings, and hand rings made up of brass and iron prepared by themselves. Body tattooing is also done in a strikingly beautiful manner. To show appreciation of their high aesthetics, I have tried to adorn their look myself.


In the words of Martin Luther King Jr., "Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed."
P.S. Click on this link to view a song that describes the present day exploitation of tribal land and forests in the name of development.

Sunday 5 August 2012

High School Hot!

Happy Friendship Day to all!
High school was indeed all about friendships. Sharing our best secrets, gossips and style talks with our best buddies was our favorite time-pass. Even college days were fun in its own way, when we used to have those hostel moments, sharing clothes with our besties and of course being a fashion student, what you wanna talk about most is that McQueen platform boots & Ackermann's oh-so-chic collections.
And perhaps the reason why anybody would love to be a school girl chic is that we miss our school days a lot and would do anything to get back those days. Fashion indeed helps us to connect ourselves with anytime in the past or future. Here are a few of my top 'back to school' looks from this years top designers' collections. Style yourself adopting one of these looks and yes, watching you will give only one expression on everybody's mind: High School Hot!
Baggy sweaters with mid-thigh length pleated skirts
Shirt worn with sweater on top with a pair of jeans/trousers and big frame glasses
Shirt with knee length skirt and a backpack 
A loose t-shirt with a pair of shorts and knee high socks

Monday 16 July 2012

Meshed up...

The embellished net mesh was indeed pervasive for most of the Fall 2012 Couture collections. And perhaps its because of these elements, covering up the face and head, that the runway saw such profound drama all over the place. It reminds me of the fifties and the sixties, when women used to wear net veils attached to their hats so elegantly. Needless to say, it was a sophisticated way of concealing their faces. But, in this day and age, veils have a whole new denotation in fashion parlance, atleast as defined by the great couturiers at present.
At Armani, the beaded face-coverings depicted the mysterious character of a woman. The ornamentation on those coverings in exquisite sequins, stones, and beads made them look oh-so-chic.
Chanel's headgears also had a tint of retrospective manner of concealing one's hair. Mr. Lagerfeld had the house's favorite tweed mixed up with mesh and sequins in the beautiful combination of pinks and grays covering up the model's hair.
The collection displayed by the talented Italian designer, Giambattista Valli, perhaps really enchanted us all with the models' veiled heads studded with butterflies.
And perhaps the most bizarre of all were the crystal-studded full face-covering masks at Maison Martin Margiela where not even a single speck of skin could be seen through those masks. I wonder how the models walked in and out!
Jean Paul Gaultier had a subtle way of putting forth the decorative net mesh, which looked more like a hairnet with a forehead band, giving it a whole sixties flavor.

Armani Prive
Chanel 
Giambattista Valli
Maison Martin Margeila
Jean Paul Gaultier
Images Courtesy: Vogue.com, Style.com

Saturday 30 June 2012

In the wild...

Well this one's a long pending post. It's because of my internship which had me busy for quite some time and I wasn't able to catch up with the blog. But after a long break and being back to college for another hectic semester, I thought of publishing a post with something different this time.
I got this zebra print fabric quite long time ago, as I'm very much fascinated by these various imprints that animals have. I feel they are so beautiful, that if adorned appropriately, is definitely a fashion statement. So, I designed a jacket for the fabric. It is a double-breasted jacket with princess panels, side-front lip pockets, short sleeves, shawl collar and an extended shoulder to give that power look as a whole. Check out the pictures and comment if you like it. ^_^





Thursday 3 May 2012

Dare to bare!


In fashion parlance, Midriff is generally used as a courteous synonym for belly or for waist. The midriff exposing is not something new we are seeing but it has been coming back & forth for many decades; especially it gets attention when wearing a crop top or bikini. The cholis worn by Indian women also exposes a thin section of midriff, but the garment is a mark of traditional modesty and not else.
Pop singers like Jennifer Lopaz, Britney Spears and Shakira are well known for adorning midriff exposing costumes and we all know how best they take control of that part like no one else could. Its inevitable though only those with flat toned abs can confidently flaunt this trend.
If we see, shortening of hemlines has been going on from quite some time but showing a sliver of stomach is the new erogenous zone. The Spring 2012 collections had many designers showing explicative pieces of exposed midriffs in just the right proportion. What's the best part of these designer wear, I would like to appreciate is that the belly button was kept covered, which prevented those ensembles to look nasty or indecent. Hence the whole look was very chic. There were crop tops layered under suits & high waist skirts, midriff-baring bra tops, bodysuits, knee-length dresses to name a few.
Carven, Versace, Dolce & Gabbana, Emilio Pucci
Roland Mouret, VPL, Aquilano Rimondi, Prada 
Anthony Vaccarello, Nina Ricci, No21, Proenza Schouler
Images Courtesy: Vogue.com

Saturday 21 April 2012

Demonics!

A year before, I was just out of my fashion school, and I landed up taking admission in an MBA college two weeks after. A month later a fashion show was organized for all of us freshers. I was very much excited about a fashion show being conducted that too in a business school, so I participated with a team of 14 people, and had a chance of showcasing the skill that I developed being a fashion graduate. Well all that passion and enthusiasm was well paid off, as apparently I won the show. Here are a few clicks of the show, theme being 'Demonics'.