A splash of red marked the unveiling of the fashion line from national branded jewellery major Tanishq in Calcutta on Tuesday. Aarka, a collection “inspired by the sun”, was set off by ethnic wear designed by Sabyasachi Mukherjee.

Models including Indrani Dasgupta, Tapur Chatterjee, Shonal Rawat, Sanjukta and Joy showed off the showstoppers in the range draped in ensembles created by Sabyasachi, “inspired by the theme of the jewellery”.

So while the neckwear and earrings were studded with the warm colours of the sun (in the form of rubies, amethyst and enamel), the ethnic ensembles — mainly saris and ghagra-cholis — were in varying shades of red, with an array of embellishments, including sequins, zari and prints.

“Red is the colour of power, if you think of sindoor, bindis or even a number of corporate uniforms nowadays,” stressed Sabyasachi at a media preview, which was followed in the evening by an exclusive showing for clients.

(From top): Models Sanjukta and Tapur with Sabyasachi at the Tanishq show; Rusha, Shreya, Tanvir, Sabir, Priyanka and Bindu with Koneenica at Tressbay; Deboleena Dutt performs at the Spirit of India show. Pictures by Pabitra Das and Rashbehari Das

The Aarka collection, designed by Anjali Lal, includes lighter pieces as well as heavy neckpieces and earrings, positioned as evening wear. Lockets are available from Rs 7,000 onwards, while the sets start from around Rs 15,000.

The sensibility is traditional, using sheet, wire and goli work, explains Lal. The launch is timed to reach out to the Diwali market. The heightened activity makes pure business sense as well. Apparently, according to a company official, last Dhanteras alone, Tanishq sold ornaments worth over Rs 19 crore on a single day across the country.

Tanishq is also designing the jewellery to accompany Sabyasachi’s line to hit the ramp in Milan next month. The “India inspired” collection will have a western touch, in keeping with the garments that are “almost French with an Indian soul”.

“It is important for any design house to have international recognition,” explains Ruchira Puri, marketing head, Tanishq. The company is currently present in Singapore and Dubai, with plans of increasing the number of overseas outlets.

The jewellery is currently available at Tanishq showrooms in Calcutta, Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Chandigarh. Sabyasachi’s line will also be displayed at the outlets, to “show how clothes and accessories can be matched to form a complete look”, said a company spokesperson.

Crown colour

Crowning the look for the Pujas is the latest buzz about town. If the effort of beauty salon Tressbay in association with ’Oreal is anything to go by, you ought to match those new garbs with the right cut and hair colour.

City models trooped to the parlour on Tuesday to get their tresses tampered to go with four different looks for the four days of the festivities.

Actress Koneenica, who dropped by to watch the fun, is all for “experimental looks” but doesn’t have the gall to sport different styles on the four Puja days. “I’ll have no hair left on my head at the end of it all,” she exclaimed.

The city models proved more sporting than that with Bindu getting a feather cut hairstyle topped with a reddish brown shade to suit a traditional lal paar saada sari. Her counterpart Tanvir was given a ‘notching’ style of uneven locks with a very light blonde tint to go with his rather slippery dhoti.

A mix of modernity with tradition is what the stylists are trying to sell, as they claim is the mood of the moment. But if you thought the opposite complemented western outfits, they boo you down with another set of outlandish snips and shades. They flaunted their skills by giving the models layered, steps, uneven fringes and a mish-mash of all the cuts with colours varying from very light blonde to copper red.

They know what’s best for you, they stress, and endeavour to give you the “hottest international styles”. The experts, however, do make logical sense in that reddish browns, reds and blondes are the bright shades one should look for in the festive season. The colours are also meant to lend some cheer to the dank monsoon days in the absence of the bright summer sun.

India angle

Partition and its pains were the theme for a glittering evening replete with the right celeb quotient.

Titled Spirit of India, the show of recitals and readings conceived by Sujoy Chatterjee had Dolly Basu, June, Suchanda Das and Deboleena Dutt on its list of invitees.

Presented at Kalash, the Indian speciality restaurant at HHI recently, the evening of prose, poetry, dance and music had Chatterjee waxing eloquent about the bygone era. “ The recitals are meant to highlight people’s miseries during the dark days of partition,” he said.

The meet unfolded to reveal each participant’s heartfelt feelings through original pieces composed for the occasion. Other attractions included June reading from the diary of a real-life victim and Dolly Basu reading out a story of Saadat Hassan Manto.