(From top): Christophe Pichambert, zone director, Rémy Cointreau, Siddharth Banerji and Amitava (left to right) at the Rémy Martin launch; (left) Aditi Gowitrikar flanked by Agnes (left) and Sylvia at Butterfly Pond; a model in a Wendell Rodricks outfit

The world of tennis and fashion came together recently at the Maurya Sheraton when designer Wendell Rodricks showcased a collection specially for the ABN-AMRO Tennis Challenge 2005. The collection took the audience through places such as Cape Town and Brazil as its theme for the itsy-bitsy numbers. The whites with which the evening started were a tribute to sailors. There were African prints and a sea-inspired line with tones of blue and aqua representing an Australian feel.

The hot pink collection, with a salsa feel to it, represented the sensual Rio De Janeiro look. And the final collection was about the cocktail look. It was presented in black by the designer who was quite sheepish about the fact that he had made the models suffer in the tiny numbers on such a chilly evening. “I didn’t know Delhi would be so cold,” he grinned.

Meanwhile the guests for the evening were tennis players Mahesh Bhupathi with wife and former model Swetha Jaishanker, Sania Mirza and Richard Krajicek. Krajicek even walked the ramp to much cheer from the audience. Krajicek, the former Wimbledon champion, is the tournament director for the ABN-AMRO Tennis Challenge in India. Apart from them, were known faces such as IMG’s director Ravi Krishnan and the Bangaash brothers doing the social rounds.

For cognac connoisseurs

It was a rich combination. There was a spot of opera for those who like hitting the high notes and also a mini art exhibition. But the star of the evening was in a bottle ? the Louis XIII de R?my Martin. This fine champagne cognac is a premium drink that’s definitely only for extremely special moments in life (the price guarantees that you won’t be quaffing it every other evening).

The paintings on show were by Amitava and Prabhakar Kolte who drew their inspiration from the Louis XIII caraf? which is a decanter made from Baccarat crystal ? this is clearly a bottle you shouldn’t drop. That might seem like an expensive decanter but remember that the Louis XIII, which is aged for anywhere between 40 and 100 years, costs about Rs 1.5 lakh. R?my’s everyday brand VSOP costs about Rs 4,000 and the XO retails for Rs 10,000.

“With growth in the ultra-premium spirits category, there clearly is a consumer demand for high-end products such as R?my. This champagne cognac has the finesse and versatility to be successful in top restaurants and bars and we are confident that it will gain high-profile listings,” said Siddharth Banerji, managing director, Kyndal India which is bringing the brand to the country.

Besides glasses of the cognac passed around for connoisseurs, there were cognac cocktails ? concoctions of pulpy grapes and mint leaves. These were teamed with appetisers like spinach quiches and chicken tikkas along with sweetmeats like kiwi tarts, pineapple tarts and chocolate. The cognac tasting was accompanied by opera music by Penelope Spencer with Mark Fernandes on guitar and Joshua on percussion.

Michael Sternberg, ambassador of Denmark and his wife with Vipul Gupta, director, The Metropolitan Hotel Nikko, New Delhi at the anniversary celebrations of the hotel and (above) a sushi platter at the same event

Japan calling

What’s the best way to collect a Page Three crowd in New Delhi? Why not try offering the best Japanese food in town? You’d be surprised how many of the Beautiful People will beat a path to your door for a spot of teppan-yaki, sashimi, sushi and Odon noodles. So, when the Metropolitan Hotel Nikko held a grand bash to celebrate its fifth anniversary in Delhi, it was a house-full event. The sake came round in traditional Japanese style in little wooden boxes and the food was set up in different stalls around the garden. An orchestra was playing and in between a Japanese recipe book that has been two years in the making, was launched. At one point of the evening there was a sake barrel-breaking ceremony.

But the food, all flown in from Japan, was the main attraction, and it lived up to the expectations of the high-powered crowd which included 13 ambassadors from different corners of the world.

Hair to stay

One has been with L’Or?al India for the last seven years, testing products and conducting workshops for some of the leading stylists in the country. The other has been an integral part of Wella in India over the last five years, training the company’s technical consultants besides doing its stage shows and photo shoots. So when sisters-in-law Agnes and Sylvia Chen came together to open their very own salon-cum-spa, Butterfly Pond, in Mumbai recently, it naturally drew quite a crowd. After all, Agnes has worked with some of the country’s leading designers (like Wendell Rodricks and Sabyasachi Mukherjee), hot-shot make-up sylists (Cory Walia and Vipul Bhagat) and models (Sheetal Malhar and Malaika Arora). Sylvia, on her part, has been associated with high-profile events like Lakm? Hair Next 2004.

Butterfly Pond, which is spread over 1,000-sq ft with individual and private spaces for hair and spa treatments, aims to undertake what Agnes calls “a holistic evaluation of the real person behind the fa?ade”. The idea is to offer services that will “make them come out of the cocoon and transform into the beautiful butterflies that lie buried within”.

Actress Isha Koppikar did the honours inaugurating the salon. Also seen at the opening were Aditi Gowitrikar, Charagh Din’s Raju Daswani and son, Nikhil, fashion designer Surily Goel, restaurateur Farhan Azmi, and Page Three stalwart Kishen Mulchandani.

Photographs by Rupinder Sharma and Jagan Negi