Blog

As fashion celebrates its silver jubilee, what is clear now is ---sustainability is the only way to go forward, and designers have already taken the lead! By Asmitaa Aggarwal It was a reunion of sorts, designers came in droves, some who had not been seen for over 20 years---Anshu Arora ...

In a freewheeling chat, Rahul Mishra talks about his deep connection with spirituality, Trikaldarshi Brahma, his Paris Couture Week ‘Cityscape’ and ‘Crow’ ensembles, why Bandhani is important as we revisit the present while keeping the "rear-view" mirrors open to pay homage to the past. By Asmitaa Aggarwal He did create ...

Repair and reuse are Somya Goyal’s mantras, as she works with Bemberg to tackle global warming, intermingling with fabrics created out of waste, converted into cords, in her line “Pivot”. By Asmitaa Aggarwal Her father has been running a successful label Rich Look for the last 30 years in Delhi, ...

Somaiya Kala Vidya, is creating a space for artisans from Gujarat working with Bandhani, Ajrakh, block printing to applique, equipping them with skills that combine—marketability with design prowess-craft is just not art. By Asmita Aggarwal You would never expect a chemical engineer from the acclaimed NIT, Trichy to be working ...

Luxury pret is the new game in India, hoping to ease out international brands from the space, Amit Aggarwal is the early entrant! By Asmitaa Aggarwal There is a rise of luxury pret in fashion—there are many who are indulging in it, is it due to the influx of labels ...

 Gaurav Jagtiani’s Line Tribe gives you a mix of streetwear with Ikkats in the flavour of the decade—androgyny. By Asmitaa Aggarwal He has a label that he shut down in 2014 by the name Gaurav and Ritika, but the boy who studied from Wigan and Leigh college, knew there is ...

Shantanu Mehra talks about building a robust bridge to luxury line with sharp tailoring, smart layering and military detailing in S & N. By Asmitaa Aggarwal Shantanu Mehra is two years older than Nikhil, but what is clear in their business is how they manage it—roles are clearly divided. The ...

18 century “babu” culture of Bengal dandies gets a fashionable makeover by Abhishek Roy through his smooth velvets and zardozi. By Asmitaa Aggarwal What happens when you grow up in a fulfilling environment away from the craziness of city life in Santiniketan? Well, you have an alternate world view just ...

Anurag Gupta’s 3D, jacquard knits and intense screen prints tell us you can do a lot with menswear sans sequins.  By Asmitaa Aggarwal Imagine growing up in a village, Biskohar, (Itwa) not so far from Ayodhya, the city of Lord Ram, in a home where forget conversations about fashion, there ...

Hoping to wean away GenZ from fast fashion, Co-Ek has launched khadi resort wear-think wrap skirts and summer dresses. By Asmitaa Aggarwal It is always invigorating to observe seismic changes in the way Khadi has been perceived and elevated--- leaving its traditional starchiness, adopting a modern nomenclature. This year Co-Ek ...

After 42 years in fashion, perfecting block printing, Nikki Mahajan pays tribute to khadi not through predictable kurtas, but dresses with baroque elements and French prints. By Asmitaa Aggarwal She began almost 42 years ago, in the 80s when she was newly married, at 20, studying in Lady Shri Ram ...

After almost 25 years, Anamika Khanna is hoping women in lucrative careers want something that is not just suits and blazers --maybe a silver tie, suspenders, daddy briefcase and some pearl encrusted denims from AK-OK! By Asmita Aggarwal India is all over the world, and it isn’t just “in India”, ...

From serenading poets to artists, Rina Singh’s Eka is a case study of craft upliftment. By Asmita Aggarwal If clothes could have feelings Eka would be a right fit! Rina Singh, who built a brand, brick by brick, over 13 years believes it took years of developing product knowledge and ...

From canary yellow shoes, to men in corsets, sequinned flowers on power shoulders, slogan tees that told you to 'Grow', the Chivas Luxe Collective Perfumes presents FDCI India Men’s Weekend 2025 was an eye opener for the intrepid new man-unafraid of embroidery and red. By Asmita Aggarwal When you get ...

Does where you grow up shape you? The answer is in the affirmative…Ujjwal Dubey is a living idiom of his small-town roots, Gorakhpur which you can observe in his botanical prints this season. By Asmita Aggarwal When you call a line "BRB" (in Gen Z terms, be right back) you ...

Hindu texts are replete with engaging tales of the goddess and demons, for Nitin Bal Chauhan, the 17th C Devi Kothi became a metaphor, for his streetwear line inspired by Chamunda, and the demons to be slayed -- both external and internal in his menswear line titled 'A Tale of ...

Sushant Abrol, inspired by the ideology of “what is left behind” pays homage to his late brother Samir, through molten metallics, abstract kantha and silver coated denim. Asmita Aggarwal Five years ago, when Sushant Abrol’s brother Squadron Leader Samir Abrol's brother, died in a crash, he went to the crash site, and noticed ...

From healing crystals, to dressing body types and not genders, raw wool to unconventional shapes, Akshat Bansal is thinking out-of-the-box! By Asmita Aggarwal Small town boys have this innate desire to succeed, quite different from Metro cities, maybe it has to do with fewer opportunities, and exposure back home. Akshat ...

Growing up in Uttarakhand, Abhishek Paatni’s love for Formula 1 and Motor GP brought him to fashion, this time, he has expressed his need for the thrill of speed in his 'racy' menswear line. By Asmita Aggarwal You would never expect an electronic communications engineer, and MBA to switch sides, ...

His label serenades linens, he gives them a hip feel, with zips, tassels and hints of embroidery, for a new age man, who wants to experiment, but not go overboard. By Asmita Aggarwal He comes from a well-read Bihari family, father is a professor of English and mom botany, at ...

From recreating the Madras checks, to paying homage to his Tamil roots through spiritual texts “Thirukkural”, Vivek Karunakaran has come full circle at the FDCI India Men’s Weekend at Diggi Palace, Jaipur. By Asmita Aggarwal His earliest memory of fashion is an eight-year-old sitting on his mom’s feet, pleating her ...

Arjan Dugal’s line ‘Vintage 2030’ combines modern design engineering with traditional Japanese motifs, as zardosi and florals become the hero at Chivas Luxe Collective Perfumes presents FDCI India Men’s Weekend 2025 at Diggi Palace, Jaipur. By Asmita Aggarwal He kind of worked both sides of the fashion spectrum — his ...

FDCI and Blenders Pride pay a befitting homage to Gudda, with 100 showstoppers, friends, family and in this beautiful story, an emotional Sonam Kapoor. By Asmita Aggarwal What happens when you have more than 100 showstoppers paying tribute to the man, and the myth, who left behind an unparalleled legacy? ...

From Picasso, to Banksy and Mr Brainwash, Salita Nanda reinterprets art pieces through her unique rendering of hand illustrated prints in satiny draped dresses. By Asmita Aggarwal Born and raised in London, Salita Nanda studied at the London College of Fashion, University of the Arts, and then further honed her skills at ...

Dutch artist Patrick Bergsma and his broken ceramic pottery where bonsai grows is where Ashdeen found his stimuli, though his simple shapes complement the complex needlework techniques he uses to offer modern jackets.   By Asmita Aggarwal Ashdeen Z. Lilaowala is a trained textile designer from the National Institute of ...

35 years in style business, the doyen believes, her biggest contribution has been keeping alive classic Indian ethos. By Asmita Aggarwal Her father was one of the biggest builders in Mumbai, specially the Bandra area, though he taught at the London School of Economics for many years too. Narain Bhojwani ...

Dhruv Kapoor brings his PSS (print, surface and silhouette) tastes to the Denim Edit by FDCI, at LFW as he handpaints, laminates, embroiders the versatile fabric. By Asmita Aggarwal He is a regular at Milan Fashion Week, and his 10-year-old brand, was nominated earlier for the International Woolmark Prize, but ...

 Every setback in life kind of teaches us, for Sushant it was his brother’s sudden demise, he used the pain to pay homage to his memory keeping it alive each year. At the FDCI Denim Edit he gives the resilience of denim an interesting twist with hand painted leather. By ...

Huemn may be his alter ego, but the designer behind it calls himself a storyteller, who loves the possibilities of what denim can do; this season, he takes on a new journey by recycling creating invigorating landscapes in his anti-fit everything. By Asmita Aggarwal There is a huge conundrum between ...

From her backless cholis to Aishwarya Rai wearing her award-winning Anarkali, Payal Singhal in 25 years of business has been consistent leaving theatrics to greenhorns, adopting practicality for survival. By Asmita Aggarwal Payal Singhal completes 25 years in the business of fashion, and if there is one designer who truly ...

Whether it was working with Armani or Bottega Veneta, even Sabyasachi, Ankur believes good design is instinctive, that’s why his latest line for LFWX FDCI is experimental, comfortable and inclusive. By Asmita Aggarwal He lost his grandmother, whom he was closest to in the family during Covid, she would always ...

Discarded cassette tapes, toffee wrappers, bin bags are now RTW and make for new-age embellishment, as the trio Thakore, Abraham and Nigli tell us “What we buy and how we buy” is of brevity at their LFWXFDCI show. By Asmita Aggarwal Shefali Shah is a thinking actress, chooses her roles, ...

Drishti Modi and Rashmick Bose of Lafaani, CDC runner ups, bring circularity through unrestricted shapes, kala cotton and their love for repurposing. By Asmita Aggarwal She is a big movie buff, so the brand name is a result of binge-watching cinema, although alternate, thus Lafaani, was picked from the dialogue ...

Making bags out of discarded seat belts, the JNU kid, who grew up with a father who taught quantum physics is today building a sustainable community one gilet at a time with his brand Jaggery. If Apple can sell electronics, why can't jaggery sell bags? By Asmita Aggarwal Former US President ...

Working with Batik master craftsman Shakil Khatri for the last ten years in Gujarat, to revive the 1000-year-old tradition using vegetable dyes, Madhumita Nath of Ek Katha hopes to serenade a young audience with reimagined crafts.  By Asmita Aggarwal She studied textiles at NIFT Mumbai and JJ School of Art, ...

Life took a turn for the better from seeing his grandfather’s dyeing unit polluting, to now only dealing with second hand garments, reconstructing them into new shapes, Ritwik Khanna, 25, of Rkive City is a force to reckon with. By Asmita Aggarwal This generation is something else---they really know what ...

Antar-Agni as the name suggests is a journey within—thus his unisex label is a lot more than just layering, drapes and lapels, it is an exploration of the meaning of luxury, and why its connotations change to cater to an individualistic mind. By Asmita Aggarwal Some things in life are ...

From little hearts floating on smocked dresses, Hello Kitty nostalgia, to intensive embroidery details, as well as design interventions on textiles, Aneeth Arora celebrates 15 years of Pero with a FDCI show at LFW. It has been a long road from Udaipur to creating a million-dollar business for this craft ...

What lights up a dull, dark rainy day? Heartthrob Vicky Kaushal, for sure, as Falguni and Shane Peacock didn’t shy away as usual from shine, all kinds of it, as well as clashing colours, but added Banarasis to celebrate two decades of making brides sparkle, presenting "Rang Mahal" at the ...

Rimzim Dadu shifts gears and adds motifs, inspired by Baroque, Western classical music, and architecture, to give intrepid women a flavour of innovative material manipulations.    By Asmita Aggarwal Engineered gowns, signature metal saris, couture has a different meaning for Rimzim Dadu, it is more of a play of textures, ...

Gaurav Gupta is a man who vacillates between the ancient past and the ultra-modern—from “Shunya” to “Kundalini” to now “Arunodaya”, or dawn, for India Couture Week 2024, he is in awe of scriptures. He has not forgotten the power of AI in the past, when he teamed up with tech ...

Basra pearls, Banarasis, Khada duppattas with ultra-modern corsets, Jayanti Reddy, a business graduate, self-taught designer, offers brides a potent mix of traditional with “now” at the Hyundai India Couture Week 2024. The highlight has been her collaboration with Italian jewellery powerhouse-Bvlgari. By Asmita Aggarwal One thing is clear Jayanti Reddy ...

Flower power never loses its prowess, and Rahul Mishra at Hyundai ICW 2024, made sure the embroidered dupattas were unisex, the pants-suit is now out of the boardroom and frolicking at a cocktail party in a line titled, “Nargis”. By Asmita Aggarwal Nargis or daffodil is a lively yellow flower, ...

Amit Aggarwal serenades the impossibility, linearity, unpredictability of time and maybe tide, through his show as the past (cotton) meets the present (nylon), through his newly created fabric this season for Hyundai India Couture Week 2024. By Asmita Aggarwal When I watched the Amit Aggarwal show at the India Couture ...

From embroideries inspired by Mughal miniature paintings, big, broad embroidered belts cinching Sherwanis to reinventing the humble shalwar, cherry red lehengas to lighter chevron palazzos, J J Valaya redefined bridal wear. By Asmita Aggarwal It was the music directed, produced by Sahil Vasudeva, at the J J Valaya ICW 2024 ...

Body positivity, 3D motifs and inventing a new fabric, which rustles like paper but is organza, made Dolly J’s ICW 2024 show, feel like a bouquet of roses. By Asmita Aggarwal Actor-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha’s wife Poonam, came to support her newly married daughter Sonakshi, in a woven sari. The set was ...

Kunal Rawal introduces Patola-inspired weave for grooms, turning tables on  traditionality; he serenades us with denim dhotis, and comfort, to make sure reusability, and functionality co-exist at ICW 2024. By Asmita Aggarwal Remember Ranbir Kapoor’s hybrid dhoti, well, Kunal Rawal is the one to take risks. Even though he is young ...

Taking us back in time, to the Roman empire, replete with its imposing iconography, Siddartha Tytler’s dark, grand line played with asymmetry, sheer and glimmering rhinestones at the ICW 2024.   By Asmita Aggarwal He is the quintessential Mr Handsome Rahul Khanna, it has a lot to do with his ...

 Mirror work, to mokaish, shimmer has always been the highlight of Suneet Varma's oeuvre, even as the designer, who was trained by Yves Saint Laurent announces, there is nothing better than being in the spotlight on your D-Day at ICW 2024! By Asmita Aggarwal What I really look forward to in ...

Lace and Chikankari make a heady combo, as Isha of Rose Room woos brides with a softer, lighter full skirt, with just charming hints of shimmer for ICW 2024. By Asmita Aggarwal Black, lace and Jackie! There seems to be nothing better than this, add a top bun to this ...

Their mission is to elevate craft to art, like they did with Chikankari, or mirror work, added white to couture; for 38 years Abu-Sandeep have been the undisputed frontrunners of luxury. They brought ASAL and MARD to Delhi for the first time at Hyundai ICW 2024. By Asmita Aggarwal It ...

Giant moths on chests, cutwork forests on body huggers and you throw in a little of Henri Rousseau and a children book, The Fox and the Star, you get Rahul Mishra’s inspiration behind his LFW X FDCI 2024 AFEW line.    By Asmita Aggarwal Would you ever wear the wing of a ...

There is a ‘fragility in masculinity’ and Arjun Saluja finds this conundrum a collection-worthy theme. After six years he is back at the FDCI showcase at LFW with his gender bender clothing hoping to solve the puzzle of conditioning or at least question it! By Asmita Aggarwal Frankly, in fashion there ...

Whether it is Gaza, Kashmir, Syria or Ukraine, human exodus is captured poignantly through embroideries and embellishments as well as abstract outlines by the maverick Sushant Abrol of the menswear label Countrymade. By Asmita Aggarwal He had a child-like excitement every time he begins work on a new collection and ...

Jay Jajal founder of Jaywalking will tell you he is returning to simplicity, is excited about his ‘test fit’ garment, calls his drawings ugly and reveals his USP is that he is a fabulous marketeer! By Asmita Aggarwal Jay Jajal aspired to be a rapper, and he thanks his good ...

Almost 36 Pearl students showcase the benefits and pitfalls of AI in “AI is contagious”, at LFW X FDCI 2024 with an interesting display of ideas through pixelation, distortions and translucency. By Asmita Aggarwal London, Milan, New York, and Paris, and India Fashion Week, almost over, fashion houses are ready ...

S and N, the brothers Shantnu and Nikhil have replaced the mini "It" bag and given it to men, in dhotis and sexiness with abundant leg show for women along with dollops of shimmer. While quite the opposite was post-Soviet modest label Measure, which revealed the former Communist country is ...

Saaksha Bhat and Kinnari Kamat launch a swimwear edition, complete with their signature micro pleating, and elevate it with quilting and ikat. But the Gujarati genes hold strong with their unadulterated love for mirror work! By Asmita Aggarwal Saaksha Bhat and her sister-in-law Kinnari Kamat, understand embroideries like no one ...

Ritika Mirchandani offers tone-on-tone, summer pastels with placement bling for occasion wear this season. By Asmita Aggarwal “My mother has been the most inspiring figure in my life. As a designer herself, she introduced me to the world of fashion from a very young age. Growing up surrounded by her ...

Niloufer Khanum of Hyderabad was the OG of fashion influencers with her Westernising the sari, adding exquisite pearls and it is this regality that Anushree Reddy recreates in organzas this season for the bride who chooses subtle shine over overt bling. By Asmita Aggarwal It has been a ten-year long ...