Fashion war in Bangalore

Fashion war in Bangalore


With a new fashion weekend ready to take on the city's fashion week, the similarity in the titles has the organizers battling it out

There's nothing as exciting as a little disharmony in showbiz. The fashion scene in Bangalore may not be as vibrant as in Mumbai or Delhi, but an interesting title tussle between the organizers of two upcoming dos in the city may provide just the right spark. The promoters of the Bangalore Fashion Week, which has had seven editions so far, are now arming themselves to protect their name, as a new event called the Bangalore Fashion Weekend is on the anvil.

Feroz Khan, of the Bangalore Fashion Week (BFW), says, "We will not allow people to alter the name and have an event by banking on our popularity. One can have another fashion event in the city; we have no issues with that, but only as long as it doesn't interfere or piggyback on our name. What is the point of trademark and copyright laws if we aren't allowed ownership of titles that we've registered."

Meanwhile, Prasad Bidapa, who is organizing the Bangalore Fashion Weekend, defends his event. "This is going to be a twoday event with brands and designers exclusively from the city. Unlike the other event, where most of the city's fashion fraternity does not partake in the shows, this will have all the big names from the industry participating. We had registered the logo for Bangalore Fashion Weekend long ago."

And while Prasad is ready to take on the BFW head-on, it is interesting to note that the latter has in the past managed to stop events with similar titles. These include names like the Bangalore International Fashion Week and Bangalore Couture Week. Feroz says, " We have sought the opinion of our legal team to take care of this event too, as we want to protect the interest of the brand that we've built over the past four years."

Prasad, who was in Colombo for an event when we spoke to him, says, "We are keen on promoting our designers as we will have big buyers attending the fashion weekend. Once I'm back in Bangalore, I will deal with all other issues, if there are any."

Make way for Pakistan’s fashion bloggers

Make way for Pakistan’s fashion bloggers

Recent years have seen a tremendous surge in the field of fashion blogging — with prominent fashion bloggers like Katherine Kallon and Tavi Gevinson getting front row seats at major fashion shows, being treated like Vogue and Marie Claire editors.
The Pakistani fashion industry, with all its progress in recent years, has also observed a healthy influx of fashion bloggers itself. Let’s take a look at some of Pakistan’s best fashion blogs, which have made marks on radars of avid fashion followers with their quality of work, in-depth coverage and frequency of publication.
Pink 2.55
Launched back in 2010, Pink 2.55 is the brainchild of Amara Javed, who has been running it solely ever since.
Known for its extensive coverage of fashion from red carpet events in New York to Bollywood, the runways of Lahore and event launches in Karachi, Pink 2.55 is one of the most popular and well-recognised fashion blogs to have come out of Pakistan.
Taking its name from the iconic Chanel 2.55 bag, Pink 2.55 has created quite a niche for itself among fashion lovers in Pakistan.
It was the winner of Best Fashion Blog at the Pakistan Blog Awards in 2011 and Javed was declared as one of the top 140 Twitterati of 2011 by The Express Tribune as well.
She declares Muse, Sania Maskatiya, Fahad Hussayn, Kamiar Rokni and high-street brands such as Khaadi and Daaman as the big guns in the industry right now.
Secret Closet:
Secret Closet might be a new entrant but in its short time span of existence, it has found itself a dedicated readership due to its curtailed and refined coverage of fashion in Pakistan.
Secret Closet hails itself more as an online fashion portal than a blog, the very feature that distinguishes it from a bevy of other online fashion supplements coming out of the country.
Managed by a dedicated team of content writers and guest contributors, Secret Closet is providing something that even the established fashion councils failed at doing – the provision of detailed profiling of designers, collections and upcoming events.
With a directory maintaining profiles of over 120 designers and an ambition to discover and promote new talent, Secret Closet has garnered a fan base of over 7,000 and witnessed 200,000 plus visitors so far.
It has offered contributions to The Express Tribune Life & Style pages recently as well.
A Wardrobe Affair: 
Run by Anber Javed, A Wardrobe Affair is from one of the new crops of fashion bloggers who have created an impact with their peculiar take on celebrity style.
Launched in March this year, a healthy dose of both Pakistan and Indian fashion can be found on this blog. Javed’s work is more red carpet oriented than runway.
She covers red carpet looks and celebrity appearances replete with pictures and a careful dissection of their head-to-toe appearance.
Engineer by day and fashion blogger by night, Javed is based in Islamabad and says the one thing she would like to see changing in the industry is fashion council politics.
Style Stripped:
Style Stripped is one of Pakistan’s earliest fashion blogs and one which has sustained for quite long. When it comes to trend and style spotting, Style Stripped has unarguably the keenest eye of all.
The blog found its way to prominence due to its extensive knowledge and penchant for Western fashion which set the benchmark for its features like ‘Bag Spotting’ and ‘Seeing Double’.
Style Stripped started out in 2008 and has witnessed everything from fashion week upheavals to the invasion of the red carpet culture.
Speaking about the industry’s current dynamics, Style Stripped finds the retail pricing issue to be tricky and finds inflated abnormal prices by designers as off-puting sometimes.
Its current favourites include Elan, Bunto Kazmi and Sania Maskatiya.

Metallics, florals and futuristic edge rock London fashion

Metallics, florals and futuristic edge rock London fashion

 Rainbow coloured metallics, abstract prints and edgy florals sashayed down the runway on day four of London Fashion Week, which featured a star-studded line-up of designers from Peter Pilotto to Christopher Kane and Burberry’s Christopher Bailey.
The day opened with Peter Pilotto, which saw its designers Peter Pilotto and Christopher de Vos take a step back from their usual colour palette, with a collection of monochrome pieces featuring boxy cropped jackets, revealing pencil skirts and ruffled peplum details.

“We never did black and white before, so it felt really fresh,” de Vos told Reuters backstage after the show.

The design duo is famous for their use of digital print, which was used across the collection in an abstract and contrasting way.

“It’s always print. Digital print is core of it, and it’s just so great because you can just express so many things, so in different ways you can make all these different layers, it’s just so limitless,” he added.

Graphic prints and geometric shapes gave the clothes a modern feel, with square mirrors, beading and woven embroidery adding another layer of texture to the clothes. Day dresses featured lace cut-outs and cap-sleeves in cross bodice tops.

Cobalt blues, scarlet reds, and bright lilacs served to enhance the monochrome pieces at first, before flourishing into full bursts of colour on the catwalk intermixed with black and white effects.

Scottish designer Christopher Kane added a futuristic edge to his vision for Spring/Summer 2013, fusing nuts and bolts, bows and plastic ruffles.

The collection featured boxy white jackets, candy-coloured pleated dresses held together with nuts and bolts, and tailored dresses in white, canary yellow and muted neutral prints embellished with bows, detailed beading and masking tape.

The designer revamped his trademark bandage dress using plastic ruffles and nipped-in waists, added floaty skirts to draped dresses and kept accessories minimal, with models wearing matching shoes in neutral shades, detailed with spikes, spirals, nuts and bolts.

“It’s such extraordinary sophistication combined with absolute creative brilliance, it’s so out of the box the way he is thinking, and it was just incredible, and I think that’s increasingly what London is becoming known for,” Lucy Yeomans, editor-in-chief of fashion retail site Net-A-Porter.com, told Reuters after the show.

Wild side


Fashion designer Christopher Kane (2nd R) watches a rehearsal before the presentation of his Christopher Kane Spring/Summer 2013 collection at London Fashion Week, September 17, 2012. — Reuters pic
Kane, 30, has become a staple of British fashion after launching his own label in 2006, gaining recognition for his creativity with colour (using solely neon hues for his first collection) and shapes, presenting bold and vibrant creations.

Designer Erdem Moralioglu introduced a wild side to his collection of pastels and florals for spring/summer 2013, adding snakeskin panels to his feminine dresses.

Models at Erdem wore sleek side-parted hairstyles as they walked down the runway in vibrant pinks, oranges, yellows and blues, with floral embroidery on sheer and light fabrics. While the shapes were kept lady-like with long tailored skirts and modest sleeveless tops, the vivid colors lent playfulness to the collection.

Canadian-born British designer Moralioglu has been making waves with his innovative use of intricate prints since his own label launched in 2005, and won the British Fashion Council’s (BFC) Fashion Forward Award in 2005, and the BFC and Vogue’s Designer Fashion Fund in 2010.

Burberry Chief Creative Officer Christopher Bailey finished the day with an explosion of saturated metallic hues, drawing his inspiration from Norman Parkinson photographs and the company’s archive of capes and corsets.

“The collection was a bit more joyful and quite sassy and a bit sexy,” Bailey told reporters backstage.

“It’s about taking those kind of authentic signature DNA elements from what Burberry is about, our heritage and our history. But then making them, of the moment and kind of giving them a spirit.”

Bailey delivered an explosion of rainbow-coloured metallic trench coats, fitted corsets, slinky pencil skirts and sleek silk dresses in raspberry pinks, emerald greens and sapphire blues also featured laced with a metallic edge.

The trench coat — a Burberry staple — appeared in a variety of different forms. Classic styles were covered in colored metallic lace, capes came in both long and short versions and cropped structured jackets created boxy shoulders with slim silhouettes.

The show was streamed live to stores worldwide and online.

“I think when you do a show, it’s kind of a perfect opportunity for people to feel your brand and your image and kind of these ideas, music, lights and beautiful girls.”

US Vogue Editor Anna Wintour, tennis player Andy Murray and performer Dita von Teese all turned up for the show.

“The coats are always one of my favourite things but I’m really loving all the accessories right now too,” von Teese told Reuters.

Fashion Face-Off: Amanda Bynes vs. Lindsay...

Fashion Face-Off: Amanda Bynes vs. Lindsay...

It's the battle of the hot trainwrecks!
Both share a love of driving into things, pleading in front of judges and ruining their careers, but when it comes to these two child-actors-turned-bad-girls, who will get your vote for hottest fashion disaster: Amanda Bynes or Lindsay Lohan?
Even we at Fashion Police are having a hard time wrapping our heads around some of the choices these babes have made—in life and in fashion—which is why we need to examine the evidence thoroughly before throwing one of them into a padded cell.
See our fashion face-off between Kim Kardashian and Fergie!
Starting with fake tanning savant, Amanda! The bottle blonde was out in Studio City and dared to mix itty-bitty animal print with button-up patriotism in homage to truckstop workers the world over.
Meanwhile, LiLo's cazh look while dining out in Hollywood followed a similar "Short-shorts, men's shirt, ballet flats, no problem!" kinda vibe. Just as equally sloppy and just as painful for our eyes.
Moving on to what we like to call Courtroom Classy which, as any budding starlet on the brink of a nervous breakdown knows, is über-important to winning those crucial papz sympathy votes.


Here, Bynes is guilty until proven innocent of looking like a cheap secretary in a skintight pencil skirt, white button-up blouse, tailored jacket and stiletto heels.
Whereas la Lohan pulls out her '70s-inspired powder blue pantsuit, navy blouse, black pumps and equally aggressive bag in order to prove that she's a serious lady who is serious about not seriously partying anymore.
The evidence has been laid out before you and now it's time for final judgment: Which troubled starlet should face fashion jail time for her crimes? Tell us below and check out our full gallery of looks!

Fashion Moves South

Fashion Moves South


ew York Fashion Week may have moved uptown from Bryant Park to Lincoln Center two years ago, but this season's shows demonstrated that designers are increasingly picking up their stilettos and heading south.

Hundreds of events consolidated this year in the Meatpacking District and along the High Line, far from the operation's center on the Upper West Side. Designers balked at higher labor costs and management fees, while looking for a hipper scene.

The number of events at Lincoln Center dropped to 67 this month from 87 in September 2010, according to an analysis of the independent FashionCalendar.com, which tracks the shows. A representative for IMG Fashion, the show's producer, said the number has held roughly steady at 88, but that a large number of events didn't make it into the fashion calendar for unknown reasons.


Moreover, turnover is high as many brands sought out venues that were more intimate and less corporate-feeling. Just 33 of the 87 designers who held their events at Lincoln Center in 2010 did so this fall, according to FashionCalendar.com.

Some of those defectors were among New York's most influential labels, including Tommy Hilfiger, Derek Lam, Prabal Gurung and Narciso Rodriguez.

"The reason we moved to a smaller venue was to have a more intimate show where the guests would be closer to the work," said Mr. Rodriguez, who held his show this season on West 37th Street.

During Fashion Week, from Sept. 6 through last Thursday, designers showed their spring 2013 collections at venues across the city, from the James A. Farley Post Office on West 33rd Street, to the Dia Art Foundation on West 22nd Street, to the Jane Hotel in the West Village. "The shows feel more spread out," said Michael Fink, dean of School of Fashion at the Savannah College of Art and Design, a longtime observer of Fashion Week.

IMG said the important point wasn't where the events are but how many there are. "The goal of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week has always been to help centralize the exhausting schedule of shows and events in a way that is efficient and convenient for buyers and the press," the company said. "Of course designers will sometimes choose to show at locations that work for one-off events or limited numbers, but that's beside the point."

An analysis of FashionCalendar.com showed that there were roughly 80 fewer for New York's fall Fashion Week, compared with September 2010.

Messrs. Hilfiger, Gurung and Lam didn't respond to requests for comment.

Some fashion observers saw utility in having shows at Lincoln Center. "If you're an editor going to multiple shows you'll hang around the tents and check it all out. It's convenient," said Alex Lebenthal, an investment adviser and author who attended several Fashion Week shows.

Designers and fashion executives have privately grumbled about IMG's management fees for its venues and Lincoln Center's union labor requirements.The large plaza at Lincoln Center allowed companies to dot the landscape with booths advertising products that seem to have little direct connection to fashion, such as energy drinks and Mercedes-Benz. That, coupled with the requirement that attendees wear passes on lanyards, gave the scene the air of a trade show—not exactly the image luxury brands selling $2,000 dresses wanted to portray.

Alternative venues have cropped up to attract designers' business. Mazdack Rassi started offering his photography venue, Milk Studios, for free to designers in 2008 in an attempt to give opportunities to emerging designers during the height of the financial crisis. Demand was so great, he helped form a company, MADE, to produce the fashion shows at Milk and the Standard Hotel on Washington Street.

MADE produced 50 shows this month, up from 41 during Fashion Week in February—its busiest ever season. "It's grown into an amazing sort of fashion collective," he said.

Sponsors have followed designers down south. Maren Hartman, lead U.S. trend analyst for WGSN, a global fashion consulting firm, started splitting her time between the tents at Lincoln Center and Milk Studios because, she said, her firm was missing out. This season, WGSN sponsored both venues: IMG's tents and MADE at Milk Studios.

"We wanted to be part of all of New York fashion week," Ms. Hartman said.

Jennifer Blumin, president at the Skylight Group, which renovates industrial spaces for high-end events and photo shoots, said clients are drawn to an ambiance of New York's history they don't find in spaces such as Lincoln Center.

"It gives a little bit of a sense of timelessness," she said. "When you're showing next spring's collection six months before, there's still a connection to times past, and the history of New York. That's something that the tents at Lincoln Center will never be able to do."

Mayor Michael Bloomberg praised both parts of his city, noting that Lincoln Center is a "fantastic home for Fashion Week." He also said: "Downtown has always been synonymous with cool, so it's no surprise that people are looking to those neighborhoods."

Fashion designer Pinto teams with Chicago museum

Fashion designer Pinto teams with Chicago museum


 Designer Maria Pinto, well-known for dressing first lady Michelle Obama and Oprah Winfrey, used her eye for fashion to curate antiquities from the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago for a new exhibit that includes a century-old shredded bark Brazilian ceremonial costume and a woven monkey fur necklace.

The materials are a stretch from the rich, bright purple silk Pinto used to design the sheath Obama wore during the 2008 Democratic National Convention. “Fashion and The Field Museum Collection: Maria Pinto” opened Friday and includes an Inuit raincoat made of seal intestines. It was the first item that caught Pinto’s attention, she said.

“I could totally see anyone wearing it,” Pinto said. “What I loved about these creations was they had limited resources. They needed a raincoat and they realized they could use seal intestines. How creative is that?”

Pinto walked through the vast storage areas under the museum and chose items that appealed to her. Pinto and co-curator Alaka Wali chose 25 garments and adornments to pair with seven pieces from Pinto’s collections. The museum items are juxtaposed with Pinto’s designs.

“Part of the point is you can’t tell if she designed them or someone in the Andes Amazon designed them,” said Janet Hong, an exhibition project manager at the museum.

Another highlight is a full outfit designed by Pinto, who closed her Chicago boutique more than two years ago because of the poor economic climate. The outfit includes a structured blue wool coat, red fur collar and skinny pants. It was inspired by a Chinese theatrical headdress.

Pinto found herself particularly drawn to weapons, tools and armor in the museum collection. She matched metal elbow-length samurai gauntlets with a wool green suit for the office, saying the suit is modern-day armor for women.

“The whole idea of armor plays into a lot of how I envision what we wear every day,” Pinto said.

Other Pinto designs in the exhibit include a sequined chiffon shoulderless cocktail dress from her 2008 fall collection and a knee-length black silk taffeta, bias-cut cocktail dress from her 2010 spring collection.

The exhibition has a trendier feel than many other exhibits at the museum known for dinosaurs and mummies. A large video is projected on one wall showing images from the exhibit accompanied by techno music that might be heard on runways in New York.

“I wanted it to be something more contemporary,” Pinto said. “Make the music have an influence over the experience to the degree of making it more of an art gallery.”

New York Fashion Week: Designs aim to lift mood says designer Michael Kors

New York Fashion Week: Designs aim to lift mood says designer Michael Kors


Just because times may be tough doesn’t mean women want to wear shrouds,” stated American fashion designer Michael Kors backstage, amid racks of some of the most optimistic clothes to hit the runways of New York fashion week.

“We’ve got to remember what a mood transformer fashion can be,” he pointed out. “Put something bright and beautiful on, and your whole attitude changes.” That’s certainly the theory behind fashion these days, unlike years gone by, when clothes were seen as a barometer of our socio-political climate.

See trends photo gallery here

And so, in defiance of America’s current uncertainty, the wildly successful Kors sent out a graphic collection inspired by West Coast architecture. His sharp tailoring and riffs on horizontal and vertical, thick and thin stripes, indicated this designer’s vision is crystal clear.

The modern, graphic approach to spring prevailed in other collections, too, most notably Marc Jacobs, whose bold offering was a complete turnaround from last season’s heavy play on Victoriana. In one of the most striking shows of the week, Jacobs took on a ’60s op art sensibility with his play on stripes, mostly in black in white, but also in beige and white and Bordeaux and white combos. The renegade designer also toyed with lengths, and dished out some yummy minis. Low slung skirts, dramatic column gowns, and a sequined black and white striped jumpsuit were all standouts, with footwear mostly low-heeled and pointy-toed. For his more accessible Marc collection, aimed at cool girls, platform shoes and sandals were worn with heavy socks, in a patchwork mix of checks and patterns that was brave, colourful, and ultimately relaxed.

Designer sisters Kate and Laura Mulleavy — their label is Rodarte — concocted imaginative outfits fit for a female knight. Front row guest Kirsten Dunst lapped up their Medieval fantasy fare, which had a bit of a sci-fi attitude. It included princess gowns and came in a variety of fabrications, from leather, pewter lame, brocades and chiffon to lace and crochet knits. Fringed leather jackets and one pair of tight leather lace-up pants, which sported rows of grommets, gave the collection a sexy edge, but knowing the Mulleavy sisters, it was romance that ultimately drove their creative steed.

At J Crew models styled like the label’s president, Jenna Lyons, in sleek ponytails and geek chic glasses, sported a colourful assortment of quirky pieces, jammed together in sassy ways. Brocade short shorts and blazers, striped shirts and floral print pants, pajama tops and skinny skirts.

Some designers still insist on sticking with just plain pretty. In that department, it’s hard to beat Oscar de la Renta. This season, he did get a little risqué with a couple of red latex garments. But overall, beautiful pieces like his macramé embroidered jacket, ribbon-embroidered dresses, evening jumpsuits, cocktail shorts and magnificent striped ball gowns reminded us why the man is a master.

Eastern influences inspired exotica on the catwalk, and at least two collections were inspired by India. Vera Wang played with shades of azure, cypress green, chartreuse, amethyst, and navy, and went to town with gold embroidered lace. The results were gorgeous, with damasks, brocades, jacquards, and chiffons all blossoming at the hand of the designer. At Marchesa, Georgina Chapman and her partner Karen Craig took their cues from the spirit of India in the ‘60s, citing the Beatles’ experience with the Maharishi as having informed their lovely collection. Ornate embroideries and jewel embellishments adorned gowns and dresses in lace, tulle, and brocade, and colour ran the gamut from chartreuse and teal to garnet, fuschia, coral and hot pink. Silk fringes added to the sensuality, and kitten-heel shoes punched up the ‘60s sensibility in this ultra luxe vision of red carpet exotica.

Exotic luxe was also the driving force behind Jeremy Scott’s edgy “Arab Spring” collection, and the irreverence that Scott is famous for surfaced in spades. “He’s opening the show with a burka,” screamed PR guru Kelly Cutrone backstage. Scott’s iconic print for the season was a whimsical combo of dollar logos, gilt and leopard, and his shiny bikini and over-the-knee boots, aqua snakeskin baseball shirt and flowing chiffon harem pants, all topped off with baseball caps, was a bazaar of eye candy. Canada’s own Jeremy Laing did us proud in the Big Apple once again with a strong array of silky architectural fare. His marshmallow white boxy garments, some constructed of pieces which snapped together, featured graphic strips of metallic beaded embroidery.

Meanwhile at Proenza Schouler, designers Lazaro Hernandez and Jack McCullough’s play on leather and snakeskin made for spectacular garments . Inspired by the German painter Gerhard Richter, who produces paintings both abstract and photorealistic, Hernandez and McCullough dove into bright reds, greens, and blues, creating patchwork and perforated pieces that were absolute stand-outs.

So whether it’s graphic images, bold colours, brave cuts, or something as simple as razor sharp tailoring, Spring 2013 is shaping up to be a season of strong statements with a cacophony of clothes that are bound to be as empowering as they are mood transforming.