Wearing a colourful, heavily-studded lehenga and corset, the actress walked down the ramp, joined by actor Govinda’s daughter Narmada, who flaunted a blue and green, flowy chiffon dress with crystals.

“The kind of clothes I have designed this time I think Urmila and Narmada fitted the palette and the cuts very well. So they were a very good choice,” Sagar told IANS.

Urmila, who has done hit films like “Rangeela”, “Judaai”, “Satya” and “Pyar Tune Kya Kiya”, didn’t interact with the media after the show.

Sagar’s collection, which was in association with the Gitanjali group, was a melange of bright and vibrant hues – royal blue, emerald green, lime green with a subtle hint of pink and orange. The embroidery was detailed with gold work and Swarovski stones.

The show brought forward designs in saris, lehenga’s with corsets, churidar and anarkali suits, teamed with jackets. For men the collection included sherwanis with dhotis and salwars. Material used was majorly chiffon, velvet, organza, net and silk.

IANS

The WIFW has shifted from Pragati Maidan’s Hall No.7 to the more spacious Hall No.18, identified by its huge silver domes. The venue, spread over an area of 11,633 sq m, is the biggest ever for the fashion extravaganza.

“The venue is much bigger and better. There is a lot of walking space and the stall area is also huge enough. So we are not feeling claustrophobic,” designer Kavita Bhartia said.

Several designers including Rajesh Pratap Singh, Shantanu-Nihil, Kavita Bhartia and Parvesh-Jai, have added their creativity to the otherwise dull and boring rickshaws, often seen on the capital’s roads.

While one designer chose to give the rickshaw the styling of a funky motorbike, another has given the vehicle a Victorian feel by decorating it with intricate crochet work, and an elaborate crochet-shed with an umbrella to top it all.

It must have been a task for the organising body, Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI), to enhance the venue – but they have invested in a classy and spacious set up that has left the visitors and designers impressed.

The venue has otherwise been decorated with light arrangements, but lacks any special installations. This time, the organisers have chosen to exhibit the shopping bags of all its participating designers – and it makes for a colourful and unique visual experience.

The five-day event, ending Wednesday and boasting of 115 designers, started with Hyderabad-based designer Anand Kabra, who presented his collection titled Mandi.

The line had sheer garments like shift dresses, skirts and kurtas in black, white and red. What stood out among his collection was the imprint of Charminar created using sepia-beaded embroidery with burnt zardozi.

IANS

“This is the first time ever I’ll be participating in a fashion event. Though Bollywood has been doing that, I am not going to walk the ramp. This bad man is going to be there for a good cause on the concluding day of the fashion week,” Gulshan said.

“The designers have designed more than 30 auto-rickshaws and I am going to announce a winner and that rickshaw will be given to a driver. Rickshaws are almost like the life line of a city and this time fashion will reach out to someone who makes one’s life comfortable in a metro,” he added.

The actor has been invited to the gala by his college friend and Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI) president Sunil Sethi.

IANS

The couture week began Wednesday and will see eight designers showcase their collections till Oct 10.

Looking stunning in a white voluminous lehenga with heavy high eye makeup, Aishwarya walked with ease and made sure she made her man feel special by constantly gazing at him and blowing kisses from the ramp.

After the show, the two hugged each other and looked like a couple very much in love, especially with junior Bachchan praising her ramp walk and the former beauty queen accepting the compliments with warm smiles and a strong eye contact.

“Even I don’t remember the last time I walked the ramp for a fashion show. I don’t think I have ever walked during a fashion week. But, yes, it was long overdue for Manish,” Aishwarya said after the show.

Though the audience would have loved to see the couple walk the ramp together, Aishwarya justified his absence saying they didn’t want to keep Manish hanging as Abhishek was busy with shooting and could have got stuck with work.

“Manish has been trying to get me on the ramp for quite a long time now, but I have been keeping so busy that I couldn’t even watch any of his previous shows, forget about walking. But this time, things just fell into place,” she said.

Accompanying Abhishek was his mother Jaya, who too cheered for her daughter-in-law with equal enthusiasm. Besides them, actresses Sonam Kapoor, Urmila Matondkar, Riya Sen, Sophie Chaudhary and director Imtiaz Ali also dazzled in the guest gallery to cheer for Manish, their favourite designer.

It was not just Bollywood presence that ruled the show, Manish’s couture collection and the presentation too cast a spell on guests.

The main show area was decorated like a wedding ‘mandap’ with candles and marigold flowers everywhere.

His collection included long anarkalis, voluminous lehengas, dhotis, plazos teamed with long kurtas and saris with velvet boarders and the designer used a riot of colours from beige to off-white to red, pink, purple and myriad hues of green. He offered designs for both men and women.IANS

Also seen at Manish’s show on Monday some of his old favourites like Sangeeta Bijlani, Urmila Matondkar and Sameera Reddy.

This was not all. Earlier in the day, Sonakshi also walked the ramp in her western avatar flaunting Narendra Kumar Ahmed’s creations.

Even the music fraternity was not behind, while composers Salim and Sulaiman Merchant along with singer Sunidhi Chauhan walked the ramp for designer duo Bhumika and Shyamal Shodhan, playback singer Shaan was the show stopper for Troy Costa, who showcased his western evening wear line.

When LFW began Friday, everyone was expecting a heavy dose of Bollywood stars both on the ramp as well as in the guest gallery. But the audiences, especially the media, were in for a disappointment because no big face showed up. However at the second last show of the day, Sunidhi Chauhan, Esha Koppikar, Diana Hayden, Dipannita Sharma, Tisca Chopra and Vidya Malvade brought some respite.

But it was Mallika Sherawat who lifted the spirits of the LFW by attending designer Anita Dongre’s show as a guest. She came dressed in a yellow organic cotton federate dress from Dongre’s summer 2011 collection.

The second day was leaner in terms of Bollywood presence. The only star attraction was Pooja Batra, who walked the ramp for designer Babita Malkani. The former Indian beauty queen and actress was sporting a long gown. No one else from the tinsel town came down for the event that day.

But the third day brought in some excitement when Chitrangada Singh sashayed down the ramp in Arpan Vohra’s outfit. Model-turned-actress Koena Mitra too got back to her roots when she hit the runway for designer Rajat K. Tangri’s show.

However, the excitement in the air could be felt only towards the evening with the appearance of Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan and his wife Jaya Bachchan in the front row for Nachiket Barve’s show.

During the first three days, Amitabh was the only A-lister who had attended the event, giving hopes of greener pastures for people looking for Bollywood celebrities at the event.

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The 29-year-old beauty appeared in front of a Las Vegas court, following her arrest last month when cocaine was found in her possession, and admitted two offences, drug possession and obstructing an officer.

She is now on probation for 12 months and if she is arrested in that time, she will face a year in jail.

“She was treated like anyone else would be treated under the circumstances, and I’m very proud of the way she’s dealt with this. I think she’s on the road to success and I wish her personally the best,” femalefirst.co.uk quoted her lawyer David Chesnoff as saying.

Asked why Paris did not fight the charges against her, David said: “Miss Hilton accepted responsibility.”

Paris, 29, was arrested Aug 27 on Las Vegas Boulevard after police pulled over a vehicle in which she was a passenger, and officers discovered 0.8 grams of cocaine in her purse.

Earlier this year, Paris was arrested in June in South Africa after marijuana was allegedly found in her possession. However, the charges were later dropped.
IANS

Amitabh, who was Barve’s guest for the evening, was dressed in a grey suit and white shirt. He left the shutter bugs and the audiences in a frenzy as he entered the venue with Jaya, who was dressed in a black saree with a colourful border designed by Barve.

“I have always shied away from Indian wear because I felt it should not look like someone else and have to have my own stamp and a distinct visual language. It was the first sari I have made and it was for her (Jaya Bachchan),” Barve told IANS.

The Bachchan couple commanded such an aura among the guests present at the at the show, that when they entered the main show area to get seated, the people present broke into an applause. Later the two were seen thoroughly enjoying the Indian line of Dayal and the western collection of Barve and quickly left once it was over.

Barve was humbled by Amitabh’s presence and said: “He has attended any fashion week for the first time today. It was a very humbling experience and I am super glad. He has seen my work privately but it was very nice of him to grace the occasion.”

“Even before my best of gen-next collection, two weeks ago, I was panicking…(I) didn’t know who will give me the right opinion. So, I had taken the work to Ms. Bachchan and she had given the feedback,” he added.

Dayal’s collection opened the show with traditional garments mainly lehengas, sarees, anarkali suits, shararas and kurtis.

“It started with the visit to a museum of Mughal jewels in Singapore. I saw the jewels and the beauty of the jewels completely blinded me and inspired me to do the first ever Indian bridal collection. This as much celebrates craftsmanship and colours, it also celebrates the colour of the Indian women,” said Dayal, who has done an India inspired line for the first time.

Models sashayed down the ramp wearing designs that were in beautiful hues of red, green, orange, pink, peach and white. Gold work and Indian motifs like paisley and floral designs were predominant.

The fabrics mainly used were net, crepe, velvet and even satin. The collection highlighted the festive mood and brought to the ramp a deluge of colours.

On the other hand, Barve’s line was purely western with Moroccan and Turkish patterns mainly created for the globe trotting woman of today.

“The collection was called Magpie, a bird that steals shiny objects to decorate his nest. It had a very direct inspiration from the past,” said the designer.

“It’s like putting together the collective DNA of Nachiket lable, what a Nachiket Barve client wears…what is the lifestyle and then put together things which are very reverse, a motif from Morocco, a colour from Turkey and a detail of fabrics from Russia,” the designer said.

“And these things come together and make a magic mix. It’s for the Nachiket Barve client be it anywhere across the world,” said the designer.

The line showcased clothes made of fabrics like chiffon, georgette, crepe, shot silk, organza and lurex and the colour palette ranged from cranberry, orange, burgundy, turquoise, plum, purple, blue and green.

The designer used textured thread embroideries and hand embroidery using silk and glass beads to give an edge to the collection comprising layered dresses.

IANS