Luxury Chocolate Salon – VIC lover in fantasy land

Imagine having a zillion varieties of the best gourmet chocolates all on offer in one place! All the VICs (Very Important Chocolate lover), those who could rekindle the child within and let go of weighty issues, trooped out to the Pasadena Center in Los Angeles on 11th October, the venue for the 3rd Annual Los Angeles Luxury CHOCOLATE SALON. The entire area of 16,000 sqft turned into paradise with over 35 chocolatiers, confectioners and more, with chocolate tasting, demonstrations, chef & author talks, wine tastings – and not to forget the VIC lounge. Top of the line was a Chocolate Chef Competition.

With the rare distinction of being one of the three global Couture Weeks, the second edition of the HDIL India Couture Week 2009 was held in a rather rushed willy-nilly manner with last minute designer selections, media registrations and the cancellation of the opening show due to some seating problems. As of 2008, India became the third country to join the couture week circus after Paris and New York. The Fashion Design Council of India backed event that was held from October 11-16, 2009 at the Grand Hyatt in Mumbai, had the stamp of approval of most designers in the country.

No doubt India can be considered a country where couture is at its best – not in creativity of construction and design - but with every garment being hand embroidered and bridal wear being India’s version of couture as it is exclusively created for weddings.

The selection of the designers was a little ambiguous with Bollywood taking over from fashion designers for various reasons. While Salman Khan’s “Being Human” charity show was a noble event and hogged the media headlines; it could have happened outside the couture week. Fashion and style wise there were a few interesting trends that could filter down to the prêt market as couture has done in the west, but overall the designers played safe with saris, cholis, slim line kameezes, lehengas (with some interesting innovations) and gowns.

In every garment it was the work of the craftsmen of India that was on centre stage and designers should give full credit to them for the applause they earned.

The jewllery show that opened the HDIL India Couture Week 2009 was a new addition and could be termed as the highlight of the week. The jewels and the accompanying garments were exquisite and Indians can truly be proud of the creativity of these jewellers.

Pallavi Jaikishan’s bridal wear dazzled on the ramp with her distinct style statement. Varun Bahl caused a sensation with his Japanese inspired bridal wear with outstanding head gear by Little Shilpa. Manish Malhotra showed that Bollywood glamour is still coveted as his full collection went on sale at Aza the following day. Manav Gangwani and Sumeet Varma dreamt up ways of using Swarovski crystals in the most imaginative and bling manner and even Monisha Jaising tried to add a couture touch to her very wearable prêt mass market show with glittering and glitzy Swarovski crystal patches. The entry of Bollywood director, anchor, judge, producer, etc, etc - Karan Johar with Varun Bahl for a men’s wear collection was a question mark of the couture week as the garments were far from couture and selection of designers for couture week is based on the number of years in business, customer profile, number of workers, the finesse of the garments, etc and the finale show did not cater to any of these categories.

Couture also means that the complete look from head to toe has to be presented and many designers restricted their creativity to the garments and ignored the rest. The dependence on the attendance of Bollywood stars also did not speak well of the Indian designers’ talents; as the front row attendance was more important to the organizers than what was on the ramp.

India is yet new to the concept of Couture presntation. The original home of couture is Paris, where designers like Galliano, Valentino and Gaultier have transcended to another plain. The silver screen’s connection with glamour is strong everywhere and this year Jean Paul Gaultier revisited the golden age of silver screen goddesses at his haute couture show in Paris. Perhaps one could pardon the over dose of a bollywood glamour at the fledgling India Couture Week. John Galliano tried the shock and awe recipe as his models appeared on the catwalk in their underwear. Galliano recreated the backstage look with half dressed models, with either top or bottom of the couture garment missing. Here is a quote from a Coututre Week review carried in the British newspaper, Daily Telegraph. “A lilac, wide-collared jacket was worn with seashell-pink lace ‘tap’ pants and an orange satin ‘tulip’ skirt with a vintage-style, 50s black bra. Lace knickers, suspenders and stockings were paired with a dramatic, black-and-white, zebra-print jacket. A leopard-print sheath dress was open at the bust to show an elaborate black lace bra.” We are yet very staid and happy doing lehngas, sherwanis and back-less choli with net sari.

Although this may sound like a line out of a fairytale, it is actually about taking a whisky tour started forty years ago by the makers of Glenfiddich (translated from Gaelic to mean ‘Valley of the Deer’), of their distilleries located deep in the heart of the malt whisky territory in the Scottish Highlands. In 1969, the family-owned Glenfiddich Distillery became the first single malt Scotch whisky distillery to invite the public to see the time-honoured techniques that go into making the world’s favourite malt. The Scottish government-backed Homecoming Scotland initiative this year is coinciding with The Glenfiddich Distillery Visitor Centre 40th Anniversary celebrations. This centre offers five star facilities and multi lingual guides. What makes the Glenfiddich’s whisky tour special is summed up in the words of Brian Robinson, Chief Guide, who says, “Visitors to the distillery will see skilled craftsmen - 10 of whom have been working here for more than 40 years - carefully create Glenfiddich using techniques and processes lost to most other distilleries.
Nowhere in the Highlands will you see a team of coopers mending and tending every cask used to mature Glenfiddich; .. the same source of crisp, clear spring water used throughout production and a family business so dedicated to looking after its visitors”.

Nearly 70,000 people visit the distillery each year, to see how the waters of the Robbie Dhu spring acquire that fine aroma and taste after entering a Glenfiddich distillery. The tours are organised in various categories and offered in various languages. The Connoisseurs’ Tour includes visits to the cooperage, the magical Warehouse 8 - where the pioneering Solera Vat and most valuable casks of Glenfiddich are housed - and a full nosing and tasting of the Glenfiddich range (12, 15, 18 and 21 Year Old variants) as well as everything on the standard tour. These do require a reservation, cost £20 and take 2.5 hours to complete.