The year 2009 has seen the emergence of several fashion weeks across Kolkata, Bangalore, Chennai and now Chandigarh too, with the other Tier II towns probably yet planning their own private evenings of local glamour. The two really serious fashion week event holders in the country are Fashion Design Council of India, the official owners of India Fashion Weeks with Wills as the current sponsor and IMG Fashion, which manage and produce fashion weeks such as Lakmé Fashion Week as well as Mercedes-Benz Fashion Weeks in New York, Miami, Berlin, London, Australia etc. The caliber and scope of the regional fashion weeks is clearly below par, as was visible at the Kolkata, Bangalore and Chennai fashion weeks, sans the presence of buyers, quality of production and display of old lines by few established designers, mostly toned down for local shops. The designers at the Chennai Fashion Week were given clear directive to keep their designs modest so as to ‘complement the local culture and sentiment’. Pravesh and Jai, the designer duo that is a regular at the two major fashion weeks, participated in the Bangalore Week and regretted. What has emerged is that in the end, these mushrooming local events are going to be all about local boutique lines and their clients, dilettantes, some film star to grab national media and mostly making a buck in the name of glamour, which is easier to get sponsors. One good fall out could be to associate it with all the regional NIFTs that have cropped up across the country and let the future big designers cut their teeth at these events.

Some really good quality, hand crafted cotton shirts in trendy and popular shades are being crafted in Tihar Jail by its inmates and their display at the TJ’s stall at the India International Trade Fair (IITF) in Pragati Maidan in November received an encouraging response resulting in huge sales. The modest price tag of Rs 200 might see a bigger mark up in view of the demand, next season. While Tihar Jail seems to keep its inmates gainfully employed in making other assortment of products regularly sold in the market, these low cost, great quality shirts have received the most success. Interestingly none of those involved in the design and manufacture had degrees in designing. This goes to prove that if socialites, movie producers, boutique owners can turn into designers, so can criminals on a sabbatical.

Designers roped in by up market sportswear brands

As the fashion winds blow across the urban landscape and fitness becomes the trend, traditional sportswear brands like Nike, Adidas, Reebok and casual wear brands like Puma and US Polo are relooking at ways to make their offerings more appealing and hip and are getting designers to give their inputs. Reebok had Manish Arora created the footwear range ‘Fish Fry’ last year and Puma is tying up with designer Aki Narula. Sanjay Gangopadhyay, marketing director at Nike India reportedly said, "Since participation in sport is still not very high in India, there is a greater propensity to buy into sports lifestyle products. This is clearly expanding the overall consumer base."

At the Oxybleach Indian International Fashion Week held recently in Delhi, the Dubai based fashion designer Walid Attalah showed his famous diamond encrusted gown carrying a price tag of $1.2millionr. As reported in HT, he said, “The first family of Saudi Arabia are my long time clients and they visit my showroom whenever they have an occasion at home. When the princess (I can’t reveal her name) saw that dress in my store, she asked me if I have used real diamonds and emeralds. I said yes ... she decided to pay without a doubt.” Attalah added, “I have shown the same gown in the New York Couture Week this September, which was worn by one of the daughters of Queen Elena of Italy. Though I altered it a bit, made a gold corset with skirt made of organza in off-white shade to make it simpler for the clients there. This one is priced at $ 1 million.”

Naeem Khan’s dress for Michelle Obama’s first state dinner

The best thing that has happened to the designer fraternity since the election of Obama as president of the US of A, is the preference of the first lady for lesser known but talented designers along with other establishes names. The global media has been paying close attention to the designer who has managed to dress Michelle Obama and the latest in the line up is the NRI designer Naeem Khan, whose beige-silver gown adorned Mrs Obama at the first state dinner hosted in the honor of our Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Mrs Gursharan Kaur who chose to wear a traditional and elegant silk sari.

No second season for Australia’s Swim Fashion Week

Recession has drowned the Australian Swim Fashion Week this year with no sponsors coming forward to finance the event. The event was launched last year at sanctuary Cove in the Gold Coast by IMG Fashion Australia and had met with a very encouraging response from fashion buyers and extensive coverage in the local and international media. Daniel Hill, general manager IMG Fashion Australia, reportedly said, "It was a fantastic event held in 2009 and it is our obligation to make sure we are supporting the local industry." Considering beach wear is practically the national dress of Australians, this is truly a shame.

Designers have taken note of the new found penchant of men towards fashionable dressing and now men’s wear lines are being taken as seriously as women’s wear. John Gallinao is the latest designer to start a special men’s wear line under his namesake label that will be licensed by Ittierre, the Italian fashion giant and be available from fall 2010. Ittierre has disclosed that the collection will include outerwear, knits, shirts, jackets, jeans and accessories for "trendsetting, extravagant, adventurous" 18- to 35-year-olds. John Galliano is also the creative director of French luxury fashion house of Dior.

There are awards for nearly everything these days, be it films, music, big screen, small screen, beauty, dance, sports, bravery…the list is eternal. Adding another to this ever growing number of contests and awards is the makeup and hair styling awards. Surprising that it took so long for one such to be instituted considering good makeup and fancy hair style are on top of both genders.

Pioneering the B&D Makeup and Hairstyling Awards 09 are Bharat and Doris Godambe along with Jaywant Thackeray. This trio with their magical hands and creativity have not only made stars of the Bollywood screen look like goddesses but have been in demand in India and all over the world to turn ugly ducklings into beautiful swans and they hope to make these awards the Oscars of this genre. Winners of many awards these three talented artists have guided several stars and beauty queens on the path of glamorous makeup and hair styling.

The art of makeup and hairstyling was first brought into focus by Pandhari ‘Dada’ Juker who has been the mentor for all the makeup artists in India and created the looks for top heroines of Bollywood. Bharat Godambe and Jaywant his successful students ensured that their guide and teacher was honored by being a judge for all the categories.

The awards function was a glitzy event with the who’s who of Bollywood – Shahrukh Khan, Kareena and Karishma Kapoor, Shabana Azmi, Asha Bhonsale, Juhi Chawla, Jaya Bachchan and many more who walked down the Red Carpet. The over 300 entries in four categories – bridal, funky, fashion and mythology were judged over 3 days by a battery of experts comprising models, journalists, choreographers, stars, photographers, socialites and makeup experts who finally zeroed in on three winners from each group. The show was colourful as groups from each segment walked the ramp to thundering applause from the audience.

Bridal

From the hundred entries in this section, eight finalists were shortlisted by the panel of judges and the final winners were a glamorous lineup of bridal looks that were intricately crafted. The popular look by Sonal Parekh won her the first prize. Fusion is everywhere and also in makeup and hair so Bijal Bhagat’s fusion bride got the second prize while Manisha Desai felt an Indo- western touch was ideal for walking down the aisle and won the third prize.

Bulgari is an Italian luxury label that started out with jewelry but has slowly incorporated several product lines such as watches, fragrances, leather goods, eyewear, scarves, ties and even hotels. The brand Bulgari is today 125 years old. Besides beautiful articles of luxury, the brand name is also associated with sustainable issues and socially responsible causes.

Givenchy is a French brand dealing with women’s wear, men’s wear, accessories, perfumes and cosmetics. It was founded in 1952 by designer Hubert de Givenchy whose ladylike styles were favored by such greats as Audrey Hepburn for many of her movies and the Kennedy women. Post his retirement in 1995 such designers as John Galliano, Alexander McQueen, Julien McDonald succeeded one another. Currently Riccardo Tisci is the creative head and the lines reflect his sensibilities that veer towards dark gothic and space age minimalism. The brand has been owned by LVMH since 1981.

The department of Handlooms has sent in a proposal to the Center for adding two more clusters under the Integrated Handloom Development Program (IHDP) in Kanji Koil and Kangayam in order to improve weaving practice and infrastructure in the two areas. Currently the weavers in this area produce towels and the Department wants to enhance their weaving practice by giving additional training on mat weaving and improve the designs of saris woven in Kangayam. The approval to the proposal will result in a grant of Rs60lakh, over a three year period, for each of the clusters for training, support in upgradation of looms, accessory procurement and construction of the work shed. The Government has already approved handloom clusters in Chennimalai, Thandampalayam, D.G. Pudur and Doddampalayam. In the aforementioned places, the Department is engaged in training weavers.

If the FDCI has added a Men’s Fashion Week to its litany of three mammoth events on top of Lakme’s two parallel ones, why hold others back? Mercifully, the former (FDCI Weeks) has become the adobe of the old stalwarts while the latter (Lakme Weeks) has evolved into a platform for up and coming designers. In fact many see Lakme as the first stepping stone towards FDCI’s ‘apex’ – Wills India Fashion Week. While we witnessed the demise of the audacious Delhi Fashion Week, the Oxybleach International Fashion Week held in Gurgaon was not too far behind. Now we have Fashion Weeks in Kolkata, Bangalore and Chennai with threats of more – Chandigarh, Jaipur, et all. What are we to make of this profligacy? While on the first view, it would seem to be fair for other regional set ups to rise to the occasion. However, on closer examination, the regional Weeks are being held more as ‘business promotion’ initiatives for corporates rather than a sincere effort to promote the best of regional Indian fashion. The result is that these events are stuffed with Bollywood actors, pretenders to fashion or managed very sloppily. Already, the Kolkata Fashion Week is reportedly split. The Oxybleach International Fashion Week could sport only one Indian designer while the Chennai one touted Sanjana Jon as an American designer. While we are all for more regional fashion, the question is whether these events will do more damage to Indian Fashion than promote regional skills. Quite in contrast was the recently staged two day ‘Symphony in Weaves’ Fashion Show held during Handloom Week 2009 which showcased the best products of Handloom Clusters across India. Kudos to the Handloom Commissioner and the Ministry of Textiles!