Fervent Tribute to Bal

Fervent Tribute to Bal

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? ...
In Fine Print

In Fine Print

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 ...
“Embroidery is our DNA,” says Ashdeen

“Embroidery is our DNA,” says Ashdeen

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 ...
Builder’s daughter Monisha Jaising constructs ‘bling’

Builder’s daughter Monisha Jaising constructs ‘bling’

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 ...
80% feeling, 20% aesthetic sells a garment: Dhruv Kapoor

80% feeling, 20% aesthetic sells a garment: Dhruv Kapoor

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 ...
Blue blooded fit by Countrymade

Blue blooded fit by Countrymade

 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 ...
“I wanted to dress like my father,” Pranav Mishra

“I wanted to dress like my father,” Pranav Mishra

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 ...
Luck doesn’t help, focus does: Payal

Luck doesn’t help, focus does: Payal

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 ...
“Armani taught me to be me,” says Ankur of Til

“Armani taught me to be me,” says Ankur of Til

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 ...
A & T celebrate inconsistencies

A & T celebrate inconsistencies

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, ...
Greenwashing is rampant in fashion: Drishti

Greenwashing is rampant in fashion: Drishti

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 ...
Bill Clinton told us to be at MOMA: Gautam Malik

Bill Clinton told us to be at MOMA: Gautam Malik

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 ...
Batik has unique monotones: Madhumita

Batik has unique monotones: Madhumita

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, ...
CDC winner’s clothes with a conscience

CDC winner’s clothes with a conscience

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 ...
Ujjawal’s 10th with homage to “self”

Ujjawal’s 10th with homage to “self”

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 ...
Arundhati Roy, Mira Nair, Kiran Rao and me share common artistic goals: Aneeth Arora

Arundhati Roy, Mira Nair, Kiran Rao and me share common artistic goals: Aneeth Arora

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 ...
FSP's brides court shine

FSP’s brides court shine

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 ...
Hardware to Soft Wear

Hardware to Soft Wear

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's ode to Indology

Gaurav Gupta’s ode to Indology

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 ...
Nizams Reloaded

Nizams Reloaded

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 ...
Rahul Mishra's Valley of Daffodils

Rahul Mishra’s Valley of Daffodils

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, ...
Game of Time

Game of Time

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 ...
Valaya's Flying Carpets

Valaya’s Flying Carpets

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 ...
Dolly J's Midas Touch

Dolly J’s Midas Touch

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 pursues Patolas

Kunal pursues Patolas

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 ...
Tytler's Echoes of Roman Grandeur

Tytler’s Echoes of Roman Grandeur

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 ...
Suneet Varma's ode to shine

Suneet Varma’s ode to shine

 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 ...
Here’s a glimpse of Roseroom by Isha Jajodia @roseroom official at the Hyundai India Couture Week 2024 on 25th July.Presenting “Art of Eternity” a love story whispered in lace and meticulou

Roses with lace for Isha Jajodia

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 ...
Abu-Sandeep's triumph of love

Abu-Sandeep’s triumph of love

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 ...
Princess of style

Princess of style

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 ...
The War Within

The War Within

Bomb blasts, barren land, soldier writings on walls and stones, how war destroys the fabric of mankind and its futility has been beautifully mirrored through deft stitches by Sushant Abrol’s label Countrymade. By Asmita Aggarwal From writing poetry, to working with 8-10 needlework techniques, using imagery of his late Air ...
Moon Power

Moon Power

Paying homage to the moon landing and India’s homegrown space programme Pearl Academy students delve into the future to showcase how it could be the next vacation destination through metallics, anti-gravity hair and hybrid ensembles. By Asmita Aggarwal The Chandrayaan-3 mission, was a homegrown one, as the country reached the lunar south polar region, “India ...
Sari Stories

Sari Stories

From jersey to satin Shweta Kapoor’s saris tell us you can walk the talk with this slithering drape, as she adds an 80s touch to it, this season. By Asmita Aggarwal ...
Brand by Hand

Brand by Hand

Giving leather longevity through contemporary design, Sonal Varma of Rara Avis, offers versatile shapes for a global traveller. By Asmita Aggarwal ...
The last ‘resort’

The last ‘resort’

Offering sustainable fabrics, swimwear with reversible styles and interesting prints, Reby Kumar of Guapa is embarking on, making dressing for your next holiday under the palms, super comfortable. By Asmita Aggarwal ...
Engineered embroidery

Engineered embroidery

From embroidery created out of scrap, to making even the motifs move along as you wear the ensemble Anurag Gupta woos the unusual. By Asmita Aggarwal ...
Lost Tribes

Lost Tribes

Tribal imagery comes alive in Aseem Kapoor’s free size, super comfy offerings for women who choose practicality over transient shine. By Asmita Aggarwal ...
Study of contrasts

Study of contrasts

Anju Modi is paying homage to “white weddings”, with signature crafts and a wish to move away from conventional palettes. By Asmita Aggarwal ...
Bead Seeds

Bead Seeds

From launching various verticals to the mothership brand Geisha Designs, Paras and Shalini this year elevate embellishment with corsetry and serenade the extended family with their love for Victorian needle work and beads. By Asmita Aggarwal ...
Revisiting Memories

Revisiting Memories

15 years and making a mark with classics from the stable, Pankaj and Nidhi combine their strengths from dori work to quilting, creating affable tuxedo jackets and trumpet skirts. By Asmita Aggarwal ...
Right Strokes

Right Strokes

Swimwear mavericks, and now ski wear experts, Shivan and Narresh offer us a glimpse of Finland through their specially crafted prints combined with hand painting. By Asmita Aggarwal ...
Spinning Luxury

Spinning Luxury

“Handspun” is Himanshu Shani’s leitmotif this LFW, as he celebrates innately Indian techniques and processes from Bandhej to Ajrak and natural indigo dyeing making a play for incorporating kala cotton in Gen Z style lexicon   By Asmita Aggarwal ...
Social Intelligence

Social Intelligence

Anjali Mehta Patel, a first timer in Delhi is hoping to wow buyers with her au naturale offerings constructed with Bemberg, replete with India stories done in heady prints. By Asmita Aggarwal ...
Crafting a legacy

Crafting a legacy

Working with renowned weaver Prasanta Basak to offer a new language of Indian clothing, Swatti Kapoor is hoping to elevate the humble salwar-kameez, with innovative substitutes in natural fabrics. By Asmita Aggarwal ...
Simple Thinking

Simple Thinking

Ka-Sha completes ten years in fashion, she infuses the line with imagery of emotions replicated through the prism of relaxed clothing, and monochromes as bead work becomes a show stealer. By Asmita Aggarwal ...
Retro Revival

Retro Revival

Think disco, bell bottoms, Manhattan’s Studio 54 and Ashish Soni’s play with the oversized, androgynous look —-strong shoulders and suiting materials as his forte tailoring, takes centerstage. By Asmita Aggarwal ...
Motorcycle Diaries

Motorcycle Diaries

Riding, and utility make a play in Abhishek Paatni’s line that takes us back to the simple joys of life, finding peace through biking and urging us to slow down, choosing the wild road less travelled up the mountains. By Asmita Aggarwal You would imagine an MBA and engineer to ...
Sari Stories

Sari Stories

The tuxedo blouse, wide lapels, geometric shapes, hints of metallic glitter, ode to charcoals, the boy from Mubarikpur Sanjay Garg of Raw Mango, told us the sari is as cool as a floor sweeping, Paris-returned gown. By Asmita Aggarwal ...
Pearls of Wisdom

Pearls of Wisdom

Dolly J uses the radiance of pearls to add glow to her army of gowns, as couture transcends from glitter to subtle. By Asmita Aggarwal ...
Layered Intrusions

Layered Intrusions

Serenading layering, separates and fluidity the market-savvy brothers Shantnu and Nikhil, complete 24 years with almost 16 stores domestically. At ICW they managed to add dollops of deliciousness with Aditya Roy Kapur and the pint sized beauty  Sara Ali Khan. But the coup was Nikhil Mehra’s 16-year-old son Vivhan, making his ...
Wizards of Time

Wizards of Time

From ‘Fibonacci’ to ‘Equinox’, the admiration for Maths and its lasting solutions have fascinated the duo, who have been on this creative journey together for 25 years, and counting. ICW 2023 was about romancing 3D embroideries and just like their themes, the precision it echoes, is mirrored in cuts. By ...
Artist at Work

Artist at Work

No artificial intelligence here, just plain, old techniques that still capture the essence of luxury, controlling materials which have a mind of their own is Rimzim Dadu’s specialty. By Asmita Aggarwal ...
The World Within

The World Within

Anamika’s 25 year journey has been one of revelation and grandeur, this year too, she brings alive the magic of zardosi and pearls her two constant companions, expressions of love, with some unadulterated charm added by the lithe Athiya Shetty. By Asmita Aggarwal ...
Past Is Now

Past Is Now

The past always finds an embellished way to catch up with the present in J J Valaya’s offerings which came drizzling with Sufi music by a live band headed by Sahil Vasudeva and of course some embroidered swans frolicking on midnight blue lehengas. By Asmita Aggarwal ...
Wooed by Nostalgia

Wooed by Nostalgia

Couture reflects changing cultural norms, Ritu Kumar, and son Amrish, believe fine craftsmanship and customisation makes this genre a powerhouse. By Asmita Aggarwal ...
Royal Hues

Royal Hues

From the Taj Mahal, Shekhawati, Qutab Minar to the banks of the river Sabarmati and the historic Port Jail in Goa, the FDCI has effortlessly paid a tribute to traditional techniques, by synchronizing them with presentations at unforgettable heritage sites.  By Asmita Aggarwal ...
Cultural Values

Cultural Values

From mixing denim with silk, motif manipulation to paying homage to pure metallic yarns, eight designers changed the design vocabulary of ‘Made in Benaras’ at the FDCI curated show at Surajkund Mela. By Asmita Aggarwal ...
Climbing out-of-the-box

Climbing out-of-the-box

The FDCI India Men’s Weekend in Goa was a homage to the new-age experimental man, ready to take on relaxed clothing, without compromising on comfort, celebrating the love for monochromes and brightness, as well as ingenious textures in denim. By Asmita Aggarwal ...
Zoom In

Zoom In

From migrant crisis, graphic knits, zipped jackets and the red dot emerging as a leitmotif for freedom of thought, LMIFW SS’21 ended with a discerning eye on the future By Asmita Aggarwal ...
Sharp ‘Suiters’

Sharp ‘Suiters’

The tagline this season for Vikram Bajaj is--- fashion needs flag bearers to spread hope and walk out there, with their masks on, as dandy as ever By Asmita Aggarwal ...