“Clothes are not just about draping yourself with something. Every piece of garment has a history behind it. In the western world, we wear clothes for function, decoration and status. But Indians wear clothing in a spiritual way; we’ve a very strong notion of shringar”, says the designer.

 Launched at the Jaipur Literature Festival, the coffee-table book is illustrated with spectacular pictures by Mark Sequeira and Bharat Ramamurtham. The photos range from the common people to famous Bollywood faces dressed in Rodricks’ creations.

 While Goans had their own colourful traditional wear, the inquisition by Portuguese was a major influence on the history of Goa’s fashion sensibilities. Wendell was sure that Goa’s love affair with clothes is a ‘story worth telling’.

 Rodricks, who took eleven years to write the book revealed, “When the Portuguese invaded Goa, they banned all forms of Indian clothing. Women were barred from wearing saris to church as they revealed too much. It was shocking to see that after suffering such a brutal inquisition, the Goan people developed a Stockholm syndrome – affection for their captors. This reflected in the way they adopted the waistcoat, and boots style. In fact, the first Indo-western style of clothing first appeared in Goa.”Rodrick has woven a visually enriching yarn of Goan clothing right from the days of Kunbi sari to the modern sartorial style.

For the designer, fashion is not banal piece of cloth. “Clothing is an art and we should respect it. India is the only country in the world where traditional wear is a living legacy.”

Known for his beautiful fashion creations, he has only one shlok to answer the detractors of fashion.“The body is the suit of clothes that your soul wears, and what you’re putting on the body is also important. So, why shouldn’t it be beautiful?” he questions.

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India Resort Fashion Week - India. For more info visit: www.irfw.in

The India Resort Fashion Week, which is going on in Goa (December 7-11), has shown many spring summer resort trends. On day one, designer James Ferreira showcased a collection inspired by Africa. Models sashayed the runway in an array of colours like pink primrose, orange, leaf green, dust gold,electric blue, gold yellow and reds. Designer Aarti Vijay also showcased clothes that were easy on the eye.

 On day two, designer Felix Bendish, who is known for his whacky accessories, displayed his collection — The Nest. He displayed head gears, brooches, bracelets, purses, bags, and necklaces in vibrant colours. What stood out in the collection was the lizard brooches. The next collection, by Ken Ferns, displayed ensembles that were layered with relaxed silhouettes and breezy styles.

The signature style was Kaftan-styled long garments. Divya Mohta’s collection, in a true resort feel, was inspired by flowers. Flowy and founcy fabrics like chiffons, silks, georgettes in loose kaftans were the highlight of the collection. Provogue showcased a comfortable line of clothing, consisting of striped tees paired with shorts.

Designer Anupama Dayal kept the resort mood intact in her collection called Sherbet, which saw some bright prints in fruity hues. So, one saw a line of fluid garments, comprising of loose kaftans in fabrics such as silks, chiffons, chanderis, dupion, and crepe de chines. Loose flowy robes worn over gold bikinis added some drama to the show.

The India Resort Fashion Week ended with designer Narendra Kumar’s show. Showing a tilt towards Japanese fashion, the designer showcased his Osonai collection. Osonai, in Japanese, means an ‘offering to God’. Kumar used an abundance of pastel hues such as mustard, peach and beige. The highlight of the show were cool and comfy jumpers worn by the models. Overall, the collections at the event managed to evoke the carefree and casual feel that resort wear is supposed to evoke.

India Resort Fashion Week - India. For more info visit: www.irfw.in

That resort wear is more than just bikinis, sarongs and flip-flops, is a fact well known amongst Indian fashion buffs. This category of fashion wear also completely suits the Indian climate. And now that India is perceived as a potential fashion market, it is not surprising that a resort fashion week makes its foray here. The first ever India resort fashion week begins in Goa today.

Designer Narendra Kumar Ahmed agrees that resort wear is the next big thing in India. “But I feel people here do not yet really understand tailoring considering that Indian markets are more apt for loose silhouettes,” he says.

Among the many designers particpating at the resort week, two Mumbai designers —Narendra Kumar Ahmed and James Ferreira — are foraying with their resort lines. Nari’s collection is called ‘Osonai’ which in Japanese means ‘offering to God’. “This collection is made of fabric, which is specifically dyed by flowers and herbs collected from temples by slum dwellers. These people are trained to do this. This is an organic collection and the first time that I have gone completely organic. This collection is very dear to me since it is about social empowerment and it amalgamates modern tailoring and my statement sensibilities,” he reveals, adding, “Also, doing this collection is very exciting since I have never done anything like this before.”

As far as James’s collection goes, he has tried something new too. He says, “With this collection, Ihave tried something totally different. I have given my resort line an Indian twist. Considering the wedding season is around the corner and with so many destination weddings being a trend, a major part of my collection is sarees, salwars, kurtas, etc that can be worn over bikinis. There are also jumpsuits, maxis and dresses. I have used a lot of batik fabrics from Colombo, which has been beautifully colour blocked.”

Ask them about this season’s resort trend and Nari says, “It is all about jumpsuits, shorts, loose silhouettes and easy-to-carry clothing.” James adds that colours will make a big impact. “A major trend that will be spotted on the runway is bright colors,” he informs. He adds, “Sexiness will be back in an Indian avatar with sarees and translucent cholis with very minimal work but well constructed. Besides jumpsuits, flowy dresses are perfect for a city like ours. It is hot and humid all year round and the collection is comfortable. So you get the perfect blend of fashion and comfort!”

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Mumbai

The newspaper report alleges Lopes of being given a undue advantage to take part in a Miss Angola competition for Angolan citizens living in the UK, despite of the fact that Lopes herself never lived outside Angola, said a report in popular Mumbai newspaper MiD DAY.The report also claims that her documents were forged by a man named Charles Mukano, which showed her as a student of business management at a British school making her eligible to take part in the contest.

Rumours also suggest that Mukano might have allegedly bribed the judges in England so that Lopes win.Lopes is the first Miss Universe from Angola.

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“I love doing my nails before I am out on court. I love to look as glam as I can,” the Daily Express quoted Williams as saying.

While the Wimbledon pack features a set of ‘mixed doubles’ with purple varnish, silver glitter, silver lacquer and a silver glitter top coat, the pack representing US Open has red varnish and gold glitter.

The Australian Open range has a green varnish and black shatter top coat, with the her French Open selection featuring pink varnish with a red shatter top coat and a gold lacquer plus white shatter top coat.

The range has been designed with the collaboration of health and beauty firm OPI International.

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The couple has signed a deal with department store Kohl’s and will work on a lifestyle fashion venture. The collection will include men’s wear, women’s wear and home-wear, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

The 41-year-old star said she only involves herself with projects if she can do something “superclose” to her.

She said: “For me, whenever I get involved with something, I get really involved. Every business that I do get involved with is something that is superclose to my heart.”

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The original outfits, long-sleeved salwar kameez (tunic) and chudidar pants, were created by Indian designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee and imitations have flooded the shops here with many shopper’s asking for the ‘Aishwarya masakali’.

The suits have been in the market since early this year after the release of the movie but sales have peaked as Deepavali approaches, reported New Straits Time.

The salwar kameez also comes with transparent sleeves and multi-coloured dupattas (stoles) to suit the tastes of the individual shoppers.

Malaysia is home to 2.1 million ethnic Indians, a bulk of them are from Tamil Nadu and fans of Tamils films and film stars.

The Hindi version of the film ‘Raavan’ failed to create magic at the box office, but ‘Raavanan’, in Tamil, became an instant hit here.

Harekrishna Silk’s managing director Thiyananthan Bathumalai said most of the masakali suits in the market today were inspired by movie stars. “For example, we now have Robo masakali, which was inspired from the movie Enthiran (in which Aishwarya acted) and Raavan masakali, which was inspired by Raavan,” he said.

“Every year, we have customers asking for a particular sari or suit that was worn by an actress in a movie. This year, everyone is asking for masakali suits which were worn by Aishwarya Rai,” he added.

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These bullet rings from bulletgirl, Cool! From left to right, 45 AUTO rhodium plated with CZ caps flower ring; 357 MAG 24k gold plated bullet with CZ cap ring; .357 MAG rhodium plated bullet with CZ cap ring.

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Madonna walks the pink carpet with daughter Lourdes Leon at the launch of their new fashion line, Material Girl, at Macy’s Herald Square in New York City.

The mother-daughter duo was accompanied by the face of the line, Gossip Girl’s Taylor Momsen. Material Girl was designed by Madonna and Lola along with Iconix Brand Group’s in-house fashion department. The collection includes apparel, footwear and accessories including handbags and jewellery.

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The ‘Hero’ singer has tied up with US cable channel Home Shopping Network (HSN) for the venture.

It will be an affordable line with jewellery priced between $40 and $200, while shoes will cost between $70 and $170.

The designs are expected to heavily feature Carey’s favourite butterfly motif and will include a limited edition version of her Luscious Pink fragrance and a personal note from the star.

Earlier this year, after the 40-year-old singer caused pregnancy speculation when she hinted she had “something special on the way”, her husband Nick Cannon revealed that Mariah was actually working on a deal with HSN.

“It’s funny because the big surprise has to do with Home Shopping Network or something like that. She has a new product coming out. It has nothing to do with kids,” said Cannon.

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