Models walk the ramp at the Satya Paul fashion show

It was a fusion of glamour, fashion and charity. And who best to combine all three than Shabana Azmi? So there was Azmi walking the ramp for a fashion show hosted by designer label Satya Paul in association with the Ficci Ladies Organisation (FLO) at Mumbai recently.

Apart from the fashion show, art by women artists from India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and South Africa were auctioned to raise funds for the Kishori Project’s urban health centre at Dharavi. The adolescent empowerment project has been initiated by the Federation of Obstetric and Gynaecological Societies of India (FOGSI) for young women in the age group of 15 to 19.

The designer label chose to unveil its Royal Mahabharata Collection of bridalwear at the show, which was enhanced by designer Maheep Kapoor’s jewellery. Silk, satin and georgettes combined to tell the tale of ethnic chic with global undercurrents woven by designers Puneet Nanda and Chiara Math for the label. So contemporary psychedelic motifs and art deco prints were offset with sequins, traditional gold lace, Swarovski crystals and pearls. Brocade, raw silk and twill weaves dominated.

Panelled skirts skimmed close to the bodyline, showing off the precise tailoring. These were teamed with corsets, camisoles, halter-neck cholis and bikini blouses. The bold colour palette or what the designers called “Krishna colours” included turquoise, purple, brilliant scarlet set against bronze, teal and midnight blue, hot pink and orange, pale gold and old-rose pink.

Apart from Azmi, Aditi Gowatrikar Deepika Padukone, Pia Trivedi, Tapur and Tupur Chatterjee walked the ramp. Seen in the audience were Sanjay Kapoor, the managing director of Genesis Colors, the company that owns the Satya Paul label, composer Biddu, Kabir and Pooja Bedi, socialite Queenie Dhody, and actresses Riya Sen and Rakshanda Khan.

Style high

Surily Goel, Rashmi Uday Singh and Meera Devidayal at Melange

There was glitz, glamour and oodles of style at a high-profile fashion preview held at Melange in Mumbai recently. The garments boast of a mix of prints, textiles and embellishments as also a blend of Indian fabrics characterised by modern silhouettes. The participating designers were Shantanu and Nikhil, Raj Shroff and Neetu Gupta for Ravage, Anju Modi, Raghavendra Rathore, Aki Narula and Puja Nayyar. Besides clothing, Melange also showed off a new line of handcrafted accessories by Meera Mahadevia and jewellery by Anita Vaswani.

The guest list included the Who’s Who of the city. Spotted were actress Deepa Sahi with husband Ketan Mehta, A D and Sabina Singh, Moshe Shek, Bandana Tiwari and Mita Vashisht.

Living it up

It’s the hottest nightspot in Mumbai these days — not least because of its exclusivity. So when the just-over-two-months-old members-only nightclub Prive threw its first party for its members, or Chapter 1 as they called it, the high society of the city made a beeline for it.

The nightclub is owned by Vikrant Chougule, the head honcho at wine company Chateau Indage, and Shobhaa De’s son, Aditya Kilachand. Both played the perfect hosts as they uncorked a nine-litre bottle of Moet & Chandon presented by Ashwin Deo, the head of Moet Hennessey’s Indian operations.

Guests grooved to tracks belted out by DJ Pearl. Seen having a good time were Page 3 regulars Anju and Farhad Taraporewala, Aarti and Kailash Surendranath, Chaaya and Nirmal Momaya, Devika and Suresh Bhojwani, fashion designer Surily Goel and Rashmi Uday Singh.

Viva la Valentino

Sheetal Mafatlal and Michele Norsa at the Valentino store

He’s dressed some of the world’s most beautiful women and is known worldwide as the king of couture. Now he’s turning his sights on the Indian woman. Yes, dressmaker par excellence Valentino is the latest high priest of fashion to open up shop in the country. The Italian luxury brand launched its store in Delhi at the Shangri-La, which was followed by a grand party that saw the city’s crème de la creme gather. The venue itself was as elaborate as it gets, with the letter ‘V’ inscribed on everything from the cheesecakes to the tables decorated with glittering sequins. Needless to say, the colour theme was dominated by rich reds — red being the signature Valentino hue. Attending the Valentino launch were a crowd of celebrities like designers Rohit Bal, Vijay Arora, J J Valaya, Rohit Gandhi and Suneet Varma as also industrialist Vivek Burman, restaurateur Yanchee Vadera, PVR Executive Director Sanjeev Bijli and food consultant Marut Sikka. Adding to the glam factor at the launch was the bahu of the Mafatlal clan, Sheetal Mafatlal, who was bedecked in a Valentino outfit complete with a huge coral rose studded with diamonds.

The store was a more sober affair done up in shades of black and off-white and designed along minimalist lines. How exclusive is Valentino, you might ask? Well, consider the price tags. A simple white shirt etched with lace comes for Rs 32,000; a pair of jeans cost Rs 20,000 and fancy clutches are priced at Rs 37,000 onwards. Even simple shades hover around the Rs 12,000-price range. The showstoppers — Valentino’s trademark gowns in purples and reds — start at Rs 1 lakh.

While the flamboyant designer himself was conspicuous by his absence, CEO of the brand, Michele Norsa, was in attendance. “We have launched the Fall-Winter line here in association with Mafatlal Luxury. Since it is a niche product, we have opened it only in Delhi. The next stop probably will be Mumbai, but it’s not confirmed yet,” he said.

Canvas calling

Rahul Jain and Gunjan Arora with some of their artwork at Gallery 302

Fashion designers are hitting headlines often these days for doing other things besides designing clothes. To name a few, Rohit Gudda Bal has turned restaurateur, Vijay Arora is adding to his gelato outlets around the Capital, Kavita Bhartia is making glamorous handbags and Rohit Gandhi and Rahul Khanna have turned to art in a big way with their Palette Art Gallery.

Designers Rahul Jain and Gunjan Arora, who made their debut on the fashion ramps at Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week, too decided to give textiles a new, arty twist. The fabric that the duo had specially created for Fashion Week by weaving together cotton, linen, silk, viscose yarns was put to an entirely different use. Through a special weaving technique, the designers created 17 ‘canvases’ with this textile, weaving patterns to depict the different stages of a woman’s life.

The show, curated by textile expert Jasleen Dhamija and titled My Memory! My Image is on in the Capital’s Gallery 302 till August 15. Set on its way last week by the Australian High Commissioner, John McCarthy, the evening was enlivened by the performance by Odissi dancer Sonal Mansingh. Arora says about the theme of their exhibition: “It was not a conscious effort to structure it around the life of a woman, but after we made the first piece, the story kept building one frame after the other.”

Jain added that the exhibition that took six months to complete: “This is a just another medium of expressing ourselves as artists.” Seen admiring the designers’ handiwork were Mani Shankar Aiyar, artists Gopi Gajwani, Subrata and Nupur Kundu and fellow designer Suneet Varma.

Photographs by Prem Singh and Rupinder Sharma