New Delhi has been courting glamour with the 69th National Film Awards being held at Vigyan Bhawan on October 17th, 2023 and the Netflix series, Fabulous Lives kicking off filming in the capital for its third season next week. The third edition of the series has a new cast from Delhi added to the original cast from Bombay. Haute talk between the Mumbai and Delhi wives? Let the heads roll right into the tea spills!
NEW DELHI: Actors Alia Bhatt and Kriti Sanon won their first National Award for Best Actress – a joint honour for both with separate trophies of course – at the 69th National Film Awards at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi on October 17th, 2023. Bhatt won a very well-deserved award for her portrayal as the self-assured protagonist in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Gangubai Kathiawadi and as did Sanon for her performance in Laxman Utekar’s Mimi. Sanon and Bhatt received their awards from President Droupadi Murmu, the former wearing a custom Manish Malhotra sari at the felicitation, and the latter, her ivory and gold wedding sari. India’s elegant beauty and legendary actor, Waheeda Rehman was conferred with the Dadasaheb Phalke Lifetime Achievement Award at the award ceremony. Interestingly, Allu Arjun made history by becoming the first Telugu actor to receive a National award for Best Actor for his performance in Pushpa: The Rise.
NEW DELHI: The third season of the Fabulous Lives Of Bollywood Wives started filming in Mumbai this week with its original cast of the Bombay wives. Next week, it’s Delhi’s turn to take to the lights and cameras. This season of the series will see the glamorous and beautiful Riddhima Kapoor-Sahni, daughter of Rishi and Neetu Kapoor, alongside other Delhi wives added to the mix of the original Bollywood wives. The first and second editions of the Fabulous Lives aired on Netflix in November 2020 and September 2022, with actor Neelam, Bhavna Panday, Seema Sajdeh and Maheep Kapoor headlining the series, and Shah Rukh and Gauri Khan making a coupled cameo. Will we see Ranbir Kapoor make an appearance on the show for his sister? Maybe. There is also talk of Netflix renaming the show to just Fabulous Lives this season as the Delhi wives are not Bollywood wives. It could be very well be called Fabulous Lives Of Glamorous Wives, but then again, not everyone is glamorous or a wife in the cast this season. Glam damn! There’s still time to name it as the series is set to air in the second half of 2024.
MUMBAI: Malaika Arora, the Khaleesi of sexy, in body and brain, struts a fashion runway like no other in India. She has been walking the walk for years now, carrying off every imaginable kind of garment with styled and poised ease. No season of fashion week, pret or couture, is complete without her panthera walk. And she definitely knows how to make coin, seducing the cameras with her sharp fashion face. A trained ballerina, Arora danced her way into every Indian’s heart with her graceful moves in Chaiyya Chaiyya atop a moving train in Dil Se, 25 years ago, and her ways and sways have been fire since. She does love the F word when it comes to her investment portfolio – Food, Fashion and Fitness. She has since evolved from dance numbers to crunching fiscal numbers in fashion (The Label Life), fitness (Diva Yoga) and food businesses as an investor and owner.
MUMBAI, INDIA – MAY 06: Malaika Arora attends the Chivas Glassware Alchemy 2023 Event on May 06, 2023 in Mumbai, India. (Photo by Rubina A. Khan/Getty Images)
She celebrates yet another age-defying birthday on October 23rd, making it a very Malaika Monday. Interestingly, she shares her birthday with British actor, Emilia Clarke who played Khaleesi on the Game Of Thrones.
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It’s been a high baller of an October weekend, from New York to Mumbai, both island cities where concrete skyscrapers rise high, but not higher than their corridors of power. Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce hard launched their love in styled ease on Sunday night, and on Saturday Night Live in New York, with her Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour that released on October 13th becoming the highest-opening concert film of all time. In Mumbai, Prime Minister Narendra Modi emphatically expressed a desire to host the 2036 Olympics in India at the International Olympic Committee on Friday, October 14th, in the presence of eminent personalities from the worlds of sport, politics and entertainment. It’s just the power eras we live in!
MUMBAI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the 141st International Olympic Committee (IOC) session at the Jio World Centre in BKC in Mumbai, on October, 14th, 2023. This is the second time India has hosted the IOC after the 86th session was held in New Delhi in 1983, 40 years ago. “India is eager to host the Olympics in the country and will leave no stone unturned in the preparation for the successful organization of the Olympics in 2036. This is the dream of the 140 crore Indians,” said the Prime Minister in his inaugural address. Thomas Bach, the President of the International Olympic Committee and members of the IOC like Nita Ambani, Abhinav Bindra, Neeraj Chopra, Bajrang Punia, PR Sreejesh, PT Usha, Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone from the worlds of sport, politics and entertainment were in attendance. The Prime Minister also congratulated Team India on their ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 win in Ahmedabad stating, “I congratulate Team Bharat and every Indian on this historic victory.”
NEW YORK: Pop superstar Taylor Swift and Kansas City Chief’s tight end, Travis Kelce hard launched their love in New York on Saturday night, early Sunday morning. The couple made a surprise appearance, albeit separately, in the sketches, on the season premiere of Saturday Night Live, Season 49, on October 14th in New York. Kelce made a cameo at the end of the first sketch, where the SNL cast mocked the NFL for focusing on Swift during the games and Swift introduced the musical guest, Ice Spice, who she’s collaborated with on her song, Karma. This was Swift’s sixth appearance on SNL. After weeks of making football stand appearances with Kelce’s mother, Donna, Swift is now in her official Travis Kelce era as of October 15th, and everyone is making a song about it, except Swift herself, who is known to express herself vividly through her songwriting and music. Her date night Versace corset was very 2017 Reputation-esque, the album that she is yet to re-record. Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour concert film made between $95 million to $97 million during its opening weekend, according to the distributor AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc, USA, making it the highest-opening concert film of all time. Interestingly, you can get paid to be a devoted Swiftie given USA Today and the The USA Today Network’s newspaper, The Tennessean, have been actively seeking a uniquely skilled journalist to fill a new role: Taylor Swift reporter, since September 12th. “Swift’s fanbase has grown to unprecedented heights, and so has the significance of her music and growing legacy. We are looking for an energetic writer, photographer and social media pro who can quench an undeniable thirst for all things Taylor Swift with a steady stream of content across multiple platforms,” ran the job post. If the position hasn’t been filled yet, you know where to apply for it as it is a legit paying job!
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – OCTOBER 15: Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift arrive at SNL Afterparty on October 15, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Gotham/GC Images)NEW YORK, NEW YORK – OCTOBER 15: Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce have dinner at Waverly Inn on October 15, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Gotham/GC Images)
MUMBAI / ITALY: Straight from 10 Via Carlo Goldoni in Milan to the island of Mumbai, Dolce&Gabbana Beauty is coming to India very soon, but not without their sacred heart. Their fragrances have always been popular with Indians right from the very first one they created in 1992, Pour Femme to The One, Pour Homme, Light Blue and the Dolce collections. D&G will make a fabulous addition to the growing luxury beauty market in the country with their makeup collection of lipsticks, mascaras and illuminating face powders, and, their new fragrance for women, Devotion. The campaign for the Devotion Eau De Parfum is fronted by American singer and songwriter, Katy Perry. The Devotion collection is slated to launch in India by the end of November, early December this year. Founded in 1985 in Legnano by Italian designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana, Dolce&Gabbana presented their first women’s collection in Milan in 1985, with Stefano Gabbana attributing Dolce&Gabbana’s escalating success in menswear over the years to the power of celebrity, especially David Beckham. He said, “David was the start – a hot, straight, family man with kids. He made it possible for men to approach fashion without fear. Men felt if he can do it, I can.”
They have gone on to turning into ‘the’ Dolce&Gabbana since, but not without their dramatic controversies over the years, one of them causing a major hit to the brand in China. Dolce&Gabbana is still trying to recover in China, a market they had it pretty good in since 2006. And to think all this hellfire for the brand in China started with an Instagram conversation!
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India is in the throes of a beauty and fashion brand avalanche in the country, with Rare Beauty by Selena Gomez launching during the summer in June 2023, followed by many more that have launched, and are planning to launch since. But the bigger question here is: When will Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty, Kylie Jenner’s Kylie Cosmetics and Kim Kardashian’s SKKN – all three being coveted celebrity owned and fabulous beauty brands – come to India? Beauty is a business to make money in, especially in India!
MUMBAI / JAPAN: Actor Tamannaah Bhatia’s skin is always in, making her the first Indian brand ambassador for the Japanese cosmetics brand, Shiseido. This ambassadorship in India is a collaboration with Shiseido’s Indian distributor, Baccarose Perfumes & Beauty Products Pvt. Ltd. founded by the late Hemansu Kotecha in 1984, in a landscape nascent of luxury beauty in India. “I am absolutely thrilled to be associated with Shiseido, a brand that has consistently set the standard for excellence in beauty for over a century,” says Bhatia. She makes an excellent poster girl for Shiseido in Asia with her flawless skin and personable countenance. Shiseido was founded in 1872 by Arinobu Fukuhara as Japan’s first Western-style pharmacy in Ginza, Tokyo. Fukuhara, the son of an Eastern herbal medicine doctor, was a trained pharmacist, educated in Western medicine, who rose up the ranks to Chief Pharmacist in the Japanese Navy. The name Shiseido comes from Chinese Yi Jing, the Book of Changes from the Four Books and Five Classics of Confucianism meaning, ‘Praise the virtues of the Earth, which nurtures new life and brings forth significant values.’ Translated into English, Do means ‘house of’, and Shi Sei means ‘where everything is born’. The first non-pharmaceutical product Fukuhara created was a cake of toothpaste in 1888 that sold successfully at eight times the price of regular toothpaste. And 151 years on, Shiseido is not just a global leader in the beauty business with its skincare, makeup and fragrance lines today, it is a lasting legacy of the Japanese visionary. Shiseido’s presence in India so far has only been online via Shopper’s Stop, Parcos, Sephora and Nykaa. But the brand is set to open its first brick and mortar store in India on October 18th, 2023 at the Inorbit Mall in Malad, Mumbai, with their skincare trio regime being unveiled by Tamannaah Bhatia.
MUMBAI: A fresh-faced beauty from Juhu, Paloma, made her debut as an actor and not a star, in a film called Dono last Friday. And I say this because Paloma can act, and not everyone from the Juhu zip code in Mumbai can! She did not break character for a nano-second with her succinct and able performance in her portrayal of a regular working girl dealing with a red flag of an ex boyfriend in the film. Her zephyr-like body language and her perfectly made-up face (big ups to her makeup artist) express the emotions of her character in a manner most beguiling. Her dialogue delivery is well-timed and she speaks Hindi clearly, without any affected accents and pretentious colloquialisms like some of her ilk. I see Paloma making big strides in acting roles in films and headlining fashion and beauty campaigns in India with her arresting eyes and lithe body. Though what I’d really like to see her in is in a gripping Netflix series because that will make her shine internationally. Daughter of the beauteous actor, Poonam Dhillon and film producer Ashok Thakeria, Paloma has done the work that goes into the making of an actor, and if she keeps honing her innate acting skills, stardom will be hers.
MUMBAI: NARSCosmetics launched in India on October 10, 2023 with its bestselling Cruella Velvet Matte lips, Tinted Moisturizers, Light Reflecting Collections and so much more just an “Add to cart” away for Indians. “Don’t be so serious, it’s only makeup” said François Nars, the founder and creative director of NARS Cosmetics. But who should know better than Nars, a makeup artist and photographer, that beauty is a serious billion dollar business that’s been making him coin since he founded NARS Cosmetics in 1994. NARS Cosmetics started with twelve lipsticks created by Nars, that were sold at Barneys New York and has gone on to create multi-use beauty and skin products since. Born in Tarbes in the South of France, Nars assisted some of the top makeup artists in Paris, and graduated from the Carita Makeup school in Paris subsequently. He worked with fashion’s very best – the legendary photographer Steven Meisel and hairstylist Oribe Canales when he moved to New York in 1984.
NARS Cosmetics is a subsidiary of Shiseido since 2000 after it was sold to the Japanese company, but Nars remains the artistic director, copywriter and in-house photographer for the brand he created.
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There’s always something new happening in Mumbai. And when it’s sweet and delicious like cupcakes and macarons and green like forests, the only way to describe it is by saying, “You’re doing amazing, sweet and green Mumbai!” like Kris Jenner would. Except Jenner had said “You’re doing amazing sweetie” to her daughter Kim Kardashian posing for a Playboy magazine shoot, circa 2007 – a cult sentence in pop culture since.
MUMBAI: New York’s Magnolia Bakery is finally opening in Bandra, Mumbai on November 1st, 2023, five years after marking its sweet presence in India. Magnolia first opened in Bangalore in November 2019, expanding to four locations in the city since, and opened its fifth outpost in Hyderabad in November 2022. The first Magnolia Bakery was opened by Jennifer Appel and Allysa Torey in New York in 1996, but went on to change a few hands in its ownership over the years. Magnolia Bakery’s delicious cupcakes and frosted desserts became so popular that it started the cupcake craze in the 90s, with starring pop cultural mentions in the hit television series, Sex And The City and the film, The Devil Wears Prada, and many other film and television shows. The mention of the bakery on an episode of Sex And The City gave it immediate fame, so much so that it became a tour bus stop in New York. Magnolia’s first outpost outside the US was opened in Dubai in 2010, followed by one in Abu Dhabi in the UAE and in countries like Qatar, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and of course, India. Since 2021, Magnolia is owned by a private equity firm co-founded by Hudson Yards developer, Stephen Ross. I have only ever had Magnolia in New York, so bring on the deliciousness!
MUMBAI: The 161-year-old French patisserie, Ladurée Paris is also opening in Mumbai at the Jio World Plaza Mall in November, around Diwali, to make the festivities in the city even sweeter. Headquartered in Paris, France, Ladurée is an ambassador of Parisian macarons with their exquisite pastry art. Ladurée Paris first opened in India about two years ago in New Delhi’s Khan Market in September 2021. In 1862, Louis-Ernest Ladurée opened a bakery called Maison Ladurée in La Madeleine, but had to reinvent it as a pastry shop following a fire in the Paris Commune uprising in 1871. The Parisian macaron, as we know it today, was created by Parisian pastry chef, Pierre Desfontaines, second cousin of the creator of Maison Ladurée, who had the ingenious idea of assembling two macaron shells, with a tasty ganache. And voila, the beloved double decker macaron came into existence. It is said that 15000 Ladurée macarons are sold everyday around the world, and the sales in Mumbai will definitely add to that count. 2023 is the year Ladurée celebrates and honours Empress Eugénie, wife of Napoleon III, also known as Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, with a macaron called Eugénie. Can’t wait to try the Eugénie macaron with a crunchy biscuit and a melting centre coated in chocolate, and my forever favourite, the Barre Chocolat.
Laduree’s Barre Chocolat photographed by Rubina A Khan
MUMBAI: The Indian Hotels Company Limited opened a new hotel in Mumbai, Taj The Trees, in Pirojshanagar, Vikhroli on September 19th, 2023. Spread over eight acres in the eastern suburb of Vikhroli along the Eastern Express Highway, Taj The Trees has views of the Mangrove Forest on one end and a Sculpture Park on the other. The hotel has 140 rooms and 11 suites, a spa and wellness centre with an infinity pool and 3 restaurants – Shamiana, Nonya and a rooftop bar on the 12th floor, The Mangrove Bar. Taj The Trees is the coming together of two of India’s greatest business legacies for the first time – the Tata Group and the Godrej Group. The hotel is owned by Godrej Properties and is managed by the Indian Hotel Companies as a luxury Taj hotel. Pirojsha Godrej, Executive Chairperson at Godrej Properties said, “We are happy to open our first hotel, Taj The Trees, in partnership with the Tata Group, as we aim to deliver quality and sustainable luxury in a green, connected, and vibrant neighbourhood.” The green mangrove trees and the languid shoreline make for great visuals in a city where the skyline is dominated with concrete towers and buildings. It remains to be seen what kind of efforts and policies have been adopted and adapted by IHCL towards making this a green forward hotel, aside from glass water bottles and linen changes that are the bare minimum in every luxury hotel worldwide. Taj The Trees is quite a tongue-twister, so T3 is what I think it will soon be called, not to be mistaken as a new airport terminal in Mumbai though. Along with the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower, Wellington Mews, Taj Land’s End and Taj Santacruz, Taj The Trees is the fifth hotel under the Taj brand to open in Mumbai.
It is rather unimaginable to think of Mumbai as green, where grey concrete is a defining colour, but the idea of waking up to verdant forest views feels calming and energising.
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In India, October heralds the celebratory season of shimmer and shine, with odes to the divine. October is Bachchan month for me, as the superstar turns 81 on October 11th this year. The Indian SS24 fashion week starts on October 11th to October 15th 2023 in Delhi’s Pragati Maidan even as Paris Fashion Week closed the international season of the Big Four on October 3rd, 2023.
LONDON: Artist Ambika Hinduja-Macker and businesswoman Sangita Jindal, two Indian women will take centre stage at the Victoria and Albert museum in London with the unveiling of Harmony Of Nature – A Concerto Of Art, come October 18th. Hinduja-Macker has envisioned and created a piano in glistening shades of champagne and gold, made of bronze, privately commissioned by Jindal. This is her first independent work of art to be exhibited and that too at the V&A. It is to be seen and heard, live! This evening sounds like it will be music to one’s ears and an artistic sight to behold. Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, the Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office will be gracing the cocktail evening, alongside London’s minted and intelligentsia.
Ambika Hinduja-Mackerphotographed by Rubina A Khan
PARIS / MUMBAI:Christian Louboutin unveiled his Spring Summer 2024 collection at the Grand Amphitheatre of La Sorbonne in Paris during Paris Fashion Week SS24 on September 28th, with The Loubi Show. The show was an amalgamation of human artistry and technological wizardry, with Belgian–Moroccan artist Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui choreographing the live performances. Cherkaoui is known for his collaborations with some of the best theatres in the world, including the Paris Opera Ballet, and global artists like Lady Gaga and Beyoncé. The world’s first bionic pop star, Viktoria Modesta, wearing custom Louboutins, opened the show alongside sixteen talented performers that moved through a series of contemporary dances on a musical interpretation of an Arabic love poem, celebrating the designer’s Egyptian heritage. The Loubi Show was red haute with a lot of heart and fiery soles! Hot off the heels of The Loubi Show, Louboutin will be showcasing a special India Wedding Edit on October 20th, 2023 with 18 pieces at the flagship store in Fort in Mumbai with a collection that speaks to bold gold dominance.
Louboutin’s Astrilarge boots (L) and Christian Louboutin (R) photographed by Rubina A Khan
MUMBAI: Nita Ambani, Director of Reliance Industries Limited, is hosting a fashion show on Tuesday, October 31st, showcasing the works of multiple Indian designers at the launch of the new Jio World Plaza luxury mall. Situated within RIL’s extensive $1 billion business and cultural core, the Jio World Centre in the Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) in Mumbai, Jio World Plaza will house luxury brands like Dior, Hermes, Cartier, Gucci, Balenciaga, Tiffany, Bottega Veneta, Versace, Burberry and Rimowa. The fashion show is slated to exhibit the designs of India’s finest designers that Reliance Brands Limited has a stake in, to over 2000 guests in attendance at the gala. Given it is also Halloween on the day, there might be some sightings of Halloween costumery on the red carpet. The first fashion show ever held at the Jio World Centre was Manish Malhotra’s bridal showing on July 29th, 2022 with two of Bollywood’s most popular actors, Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh, walking the show with the best struts and poise.
Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone and Manish Malhotraphotographed by Rubina A Khan
And, there’s more to come!
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2023 is the year of fashion for India and the growing presence of Indian designers and models at Paris Fashion Week only confirms that Indian high fashion is being served haute, worldwide! Paris Fashion Week is a powerful and dominant player in the haute couture stakes that determines and forecasts fashion industry trends. Fashion shows have been taking place in Paris since 1945, but Paris Fashion Week was only launched in October 1973 by the French Fashion Federation.
2023 commenced with The Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode Paris (FHCM) inviting Indian designer, Gaurav Gupta to the Paris haute couture calendar, where he showcased Shunya, his SS23 debut showing at Paris Haute Couture Week at the Palais de Tokyo on India’s Republic Day. The collection, with the deep indigo blues and stark blacks, whites and grey, had the world lauding his genius that’s intrinsically Indian, yet imaginatively international in style and spirit. And he followed it up with his AW24 showing, Hiranyagarbha with a fresh, popping green in Paris in July.
Dior marched into India with a majestic Pre Fall 2023 show, an ode to the exquisite hand artistries and the rich textiles and colours of India by Dior’s Creative Director, Maria Grazia Chiuri, at the Gateway of India on March 30. The show’s scale, grandeur and execution in India were unparalleled, and in step with Dior’s new landmark energy, with FRF flying in for one of the biggest shows to be held in India, including Delphine Arnault, who made her first appearance in Mumbai after being appointed Dior’s Chairwoman and CEO in February, 2023.
The launch of the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre (NMACC) on the first day of April in Mumbai was a veritable runway, showcasing the best of Indian fashion and Indian designers for three straight days. Almost everyone at the launch wore an Indian designer, but it was Gigi Hadid in an Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla sari who was the cynosure of all eyes with her ‘Golden Goddess in India’ energy.
August has got to be the most important month this year for Indian design with Beyonce wearing Gaurav Gupta thrice on her highest grossing Renaissance tour. She wore a bespoke Infinity Crystal Bodysuit in North Carolina, the Athena Sari gown in Atlanta and the Moondust Crystal Orbit gown in Atlanta again on August 15th, both of which were from his AW 24 Hiranyagarbha collection. Beyonce is releasing a film, Renaissance World Tour, that hits theatres on December 1st, documenting her ‘very liberating’ tour from its beginnings in Stockholm, Sweden on May 10th, 2023 to its conclusion on October 1st, 2023 in Kansas City, Missouri. It goes without saying that Gupta’s designs will be watched on the big screen by another pool of Beyonce fans, making fashion history not just for himself, but for the Indian design and craftsmanship fraternity. He is the only Indian designer that has been accepted by the world for his modern Indian and Western silhouettes. Who’d have thought Beyonce would wear a Gaurav Gupta sari gown on tour? No one, yet she did. Indian representation at its finest!
Beyoncé (wearing Gaurav Gupta) performs onstage during the “RENAISSANCE WORLD TOUR” at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on August 11, 2023 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/WireImage for Parkwood)
Indian designers have been expanding their businesses with prominent Indian investors like Reliance Brands Limited (RBL) and Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Limited (ABFRL) and opening more stores across the country and overseas. And those that are not opening internationally are retailing through department stores around the world. The first quarter of the year saw Anita Dongre opening her largest store in Mumbai in Kala Ghoda on February 4th, followed by Gaurav Gupta on March 3rd, Shantanu and Nikhil on March 17th and Sabyasachi on April 16th – all in the Kala Ghoda district. Anita Dongre was the first Indian designer to open a flagship store in New York in May 2018, which was followed by her first store in Dubai this March and a second one on West Broadway in New York in May. Manish Malhotra is set to open his first international store in Dubai in December. The Middle East can’t get enough of him after Rekha’s fire and desire Vogue Arabia cover, a first for an Indian, looking resplendent and ethereal wearing his designs and jewellery. It’s a historical Indian cover and a collectible at that, given she did one after 15 years. Never has an Indian actor on the cover of a foreign fashion magazine created such a blitzkrieg around the world with the clothes, the quintessential Kanjeevarams, styling and jewellery. And, her flawless face! You can’t read her even if you know every language in the world because Rekha only speaks Rekha, but you could see the Rekha you wanted to in the majestic Indian clothes, as could the world.
And as Indian designers seek foreign presence, international luxury brands are reciprocating the fervour by vying for real estate to mark their presence in India, with Parisian department store, Galeries Lafayette, scoring a great location in Fort, Mumbai. Lafayette is being brought to Mumbai by the Aditya Birla group and hopes to open in the city 2024. The Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Limited (ABFRL) has also incorporated a new company in partnership with Christian Louboutin SAS (CL) in India, making it a fantastic addition to their fashion portfolio in the country.
From the days of Gandhi giving us khadi, Indian designers have moved into the haute couture era of Indian fashion around the world with exquisite and incomparable Indian craftsmanship and handiwork. Every luxury brand is handmade in India, but Made In India is never mentioned on the labels. Well, the time has come when Indians do not need the validation of a mere label because Indian designers are telling the world what Made In India stands for in design, vision, aesthetic and craftsmanship. And they are are being worn around the globe.
All the talk of millennials and zillennials will come to nought if they are not bought, but I see Indian designers turning their millions into billions very soon.
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Mumbai is where the fame and glamour games are at, but since March 2023, an almost impossible party métier seems to have been set in basalt by the city, upon itself. The bar was raised irrevocably by the magnitude and magnificence of French fashion house, Christian Dior’s pre fall 2023 runway show held at the Gateway of India on March 30, so much so that no one remembers or wants to remember ABCD – A Before Christian Dior era! Mumbai shows no signs of tailing off the money shots any time soon, with Chivas Glassware Alchemy 2023 shaking up the city’s May calendar with its beguiling arrival.
MUMBAI, INDIA – MAY 06: A general view of the music stage at the Chivas Glassware Alchemy 2023 Event on May 06, 2023 in Mumbai, India. (Photo by Rubina A. Khan/Getty Images)
The fourth edition of Chivas Glassware Alchemy 2023, called the Kaleidoscope of Time, was held on Saturday, May 6th in Mumbai at Snowball Studios in Worli. Time as a construct cannot be contained, but it can certainly be felt, such was the ubiquitous theme of the haute summer night. Oscillating between the then and now, the alluring blue-hued night reiterated the universal infinitude that today’s new is tomorrow’s vintage through fashion, art, music and food in a manner most luxurious.
Five virtuosos played host in previous years at Chivas Alchemy, expressing themselves through the five senses of Sight, Sound, Smell, Taste, and Touch, but this edition had eighteen this time around, dix huit being the magic number of the award-winning Chivas 18 whisky blend.
The night was separated by rooms, each echoing the spirit of the artistry exhibited in it. Eleven design minds, ranging from established Indian designers to emerging ones, showcased their fashion genres through live installations in the main room, ably complemented by the art on the walls, a very busy bar and of course beautiful people like Malaika Arora, Arjun Kapoor, Rahul Khanna, Pulkith Modi, Kunal Kapoor, Narendra Kumar, Rajesh Pratap Singh and so many more at the party. There were almost a thousand people in attendance! The second area had an art installation with a bar right by it and a mezzanine bar above. The third room was where the party was really at with an edible centrepiece and culinary experiences par excellence by Ekaa Mumbai, Koko and Eat Drink Design. Chef Niyati Rao of Ekaa Mumbai is a culinary genius! The live musical act by Delhi businessman Ajay Bijli, and his band, Random Order, had everyone singing and dancing to his dulcet sounds – he’s got some pipes – and DJ Masha from Belarus turned up contemporary beats on her turntable, with yet another open bar led by mixologist, Giovanni Depergola from Dubai. Four open bars raising the party bar in Mumbai!
The interpretation of the night was yours, and yours alone, whether you loved the vintage, heritage vibe or the modern, hedonistic one. Everything in Mumbai is now evaluated in an AD (After Dior) parameter and that’s a tall order in itself, and I think that Chivas Glassware Alchemy 2023 was a wicked success making it one of the top three events in the city so far – it was mounted and orchestrated on a lush scale, with an attendance as bold and seductive as its whisky blends!
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The Dior Pre-Fall 2023 show held at the historic Gateway of India in Mumbai, on March 30th, 2023, was an ode to the exquisite hand artistries and the rich textiles and colours of India by Dior’s Creative Director, Maria Grazia Chiuri. Dior’s affinity with India and its craftsmen dates back to its founder Monsieur Dior, to Marc Bohan to Chiuri now. Overlooking the Arabian Sea, dotted with ferry boats, the 26 metre high and 15 metre wide basalt Gateway of India constructed in the Indo-Islamic architectural style, turned its 99-year-old vintage self into the Diorway to fashion in a manner most extraordinaire on Thursday night. The Gateway of India was built to commemorate the arrival of the Emperor India, George V and Mary of Teck, Empress consort, at Apollo Bunder, Bombay on December 2nd, 1911, the first visit of a British monarch to India. The protected monument has been the very essence of the island city, ever since it was inaugurated almost a century ago on December 4th, 1924. Dior’s pre-fall 2023 showing had 99 styles on 23 models from India, 33 Indian models with international backgrounds and 43 international models. Interestingly, 99 was the glorious number of the night.
The show’s scale, grandeur and execution in India were unparalleled, and in step with Dior’s new landmark energy, taking over the facade of Harrods in London in November 2022 to the men’s pre-fall show at the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt in December 2022. With the Gateway show, Dior set a new criterion for luxury brands that have a presence in India, and those that are interested in coming to India.
The Dior show in Mumbai had everyone talking around the world, even before the house announced the same on March 14th. And once it was confirmed, the word Dior was heard every day and everywhere, such was the excitement in the city, and country. It was akin to Bombay being dressed up as a bride for its French groom to arrive on March 30th for the wedding of the year! The Dior teams were in residence in the city a week prior, at the Taj Palace Mumbai, which is a mere 280 metres from the venue. Imagine being in walking distance of a fashion show of this magnitude, and the afterparty too – that’s the palace of Mumbai – the Taj Palace for you. The show had Rekha, Christian Louboutin, Virat Kohli, Anushka Sharma, Cara Delevingne, Karlie Kloss, Pierre Casigrahi, Beatrice Borromeo, Simone Ashley, Jeff Koons, Apo Nattawin Wattanagitiphat, Mile Phakphum Romsaithong, and accomplished people from around the world, in attendance. The show also marked the presence of Delphine Arnault, who made her first appearance since being appointed Dior’s Chairwoman and CEO in February, 2023.
Founded by Christian Dior in December 1946, the eponymous French luxury fashion house headquartered at 30, Avenue Montaigne in Paris, France, was acquired by LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton in April 2017 in a $13.1 billion deal by Bernard Arnault, CEO of LVMH, the world’s largest luxury goods company today.
Here are some photos of the Dior Pre Fall 2023 runway, arrivals and the venue, shot by me:
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Pop culture artists in the West have been wearing Indian couturier Gaurav Gupta’s future primitive phantasia collections on the most famous red carpets in the world – Cannes, Time 100 Gala, Billboards, the Oscars and of course the Grammys for the larger part of the past year. Mary J Blige wore him to the Time 100 Gala in 2022, Megan Thee Stallion wore him to the 94th Oscars in Hollywood, Maluma to the Latin Billboard Awards 2022 in Miami, Lizzo, Jennifer Hudson, Kylie Minogue, Bebe Rexha, Luis Fonsi, Ashanti, Thalia, Saweetie – the names read like a veritable Grammy nomination list! And 2023 is looking even better with the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode Paris (FHCM) inviting him to the Paris haute couture calendar, where he showcased Shunya, his SS23 debut showing at Paris Haute Couture Week at the Palais de Tokyo on Republic Day. The collection has the world lauding his genius that’s intrinsically Indian, yet imaginatively international in style and spirit.
Gaurav Gupta at his atelier in New Delhi, India. (Photo by Rubina A. Khan/Getty Images)
On music’s biggest night on February 5th, the Central Saint Martin’s alumnus’ name was etched permanently in the couture halls of fame worldwide, with Cardi B wearing an electric blue creation straight off his Paris Haute Couture Week runway, from his Shunya collection, at the 65th Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. The gown that electrified the world has its own identity and name since its outing at the Grammys – it’s called the Cardi Blue. And Cardi’s no stranger to Gupta’s indigenous sculpting genius – she wore an ivory ensemble by him, representative of air that lent a cosmic flair to her character standing in a field of roses in her No Love video in 2022.
Cardi B wearing Gaurav Gupta at the 65th Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, USA.
Gupta is undeniably the Indian king of couture artistry today, dressing up pop royals and culturati around the world. Rock stars, pop stars, indie and underground artists in the West introduce and dictate fashion and trends in a way that’s incomparable to the impact of Hollywood stars. Of course the reverse is true for India where fashion is dominated by Bollywood stars and Gupta has dressed every major celebrity in India, the most recent international outing being Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan on the Cannes red carpet in 2022.
“I’m finally home – I was always meant to do this,” says Gupta of the worldwide blitzkrieg around him, and about him. “I have always been a conceptual couture mind and I resonate with my education at Central Saint Martin’s in London very well where I unlearnt to learn. Thirty kids from around the world are picked every year at CSM and I was one of them. My experiences in establishing and owning my label in India since 2004, with my brother Saurabh as co-director in our company, and the love and support my 350-strong team and I have earned over the years have led me to these moments. It was very difficult in the early years to find a balance between conceptualism and commercial viability as we don’t follow any rules, but I stuck to my beliefs and the brand’s aesthetic of future primitive fantasy.”
Gaurav Gupta at his atelier in New Delhi, India. (Photo by Rubina A. Khan/Getty Images)
Indeed, all the world is but a red carpet for Gupta and his non-conformist artistry. Given Gupta comes from a family that owns a steel business, he definitely knows a thing or two about running numbers, despite his artistic bent of mind. He has a well-thought out plan for his expansion in the West, that he kicked off with the very successful cultural collaborations, following it up with Neiman Marcus in the US and Moda Operandi, also in the US, carrying his label. Alongside his e-tail business, Gupta has brick and mortar stores in Delhi, Hyderabad and Kolkata, with his Mumbai store in Kala Ghoda re-opening after a redesign on March 3rd. And when will his MET Gala red carpet moment happen? “Everything has a time and place and it will happen soon.”
DELHI, INDIA – NOVEMBER 05: Couturier Gaurav Gupta works with his tailors and embroiderers at his newly-opened five-storied atelier on November 05, 2022 in New Delhi, India. (Photo by Rubina A. Khan/Getty Images)
Gupta’s international success is a first for an Indian designer on the fashion landscape and he’s changed the couture game in India a second time around, the first being when he transformed couture as a concept for Indian brides that were tied to conservative traditions when he launched his label in 2004. Indian brides started wearing him at a time when only saris and lehengas were considered bridal wear; anything else was just rebellion and anarchy against the cultural traditions of the country. But through his meticulously crafted flamboyant flights of fantasy in cloth, albeit in subdued palettes and nude illusions with some colour thrown in, Gupta, with his unwavering perseverance, brought about a radical change in the way couture was viewed and worn in India, especially at Indian weddings. Today, his contemporary garments are a must on every bride’s wedding wish-list.
“I have noticed that we are driving a non-conformist culture which is abstract, yet liberating at the same time. We nurtured this notion in the country when brides were only wearing traditional clothes, but now brides of all nationalities wear our cultural couture for their weddings. Our white wedding gown is extremely popular with African girls. What is exciting for me is not the gown, but the aesthetic that a woman is like art and she’s wearing live art on the most important day of her life. She’s breaking convention by not wearing what her mother or her sister or her aunt wore. She is celebrating the fantasy of life. I invented the sari gown which is now a staple in every designer’s collection. We pioneered a movement of a new Indian wear culture with our futuristic, contemporary aesthetic, and we make lehengas and saris our way. I like to play around with pre-conceived definitions and redefine them in my own way. I am excited when I can tickle people’s brains with the new fantasies I create – I don’t live for the applause – I live for the gasps of excitement, the goosebump moments. I love sub-cultures and new cultures and that’s really what drives me.”
Maluma | Latin Billboards 2022Mary J Blige | Time 100 Gala 2022Megan Thee Stallion | Oscars 2022SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE — Aubrey Plaza, Sam Smith Episode 1836 — Pictured: (l-r) Sharon Stone and Musical guest Sam Smith perform Gloria on Saturday, January 21, 2023 — (Photo by: Will Heath/NBC via Getty Images)
The Delhi-raised Gupta believes that the celebrities who wear his label in the West get attracted to the brand organically. “Everyone who has worn us are all icons and pop culturists in all facets of their lives. Their voices resonate with us and when one is a true artist, the attraction is infinite. I mean Mary J Blige, Maluma, Lizzo, Cardi B, Sharon Stone – they are icons who have changed the world with their individualism and voices. And Sharon Stone wearing our golden gown was live art in the SNL bit with Sam Smith and the choir singing around her! And Paris couldn’t have happened at a better time for me. The love for Shunya has been incredible!”
Relieved is how Gupta feels today, having realised a long cherished dream with his Paris Haute Couture Week SS23 showing in January. “I have been waiting to make this moment happen and I have been ready for it for a while. To be invited by the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode for the 2023 couture calendar is just incredible. Couture culture and the thought process of geniuses makes sense to me. I don’t work with references, time or place but the Paris crew delivered exactly what I wanted for Shunya. Their reverence for my vision was wonderful. I wanted a new hair style for the models because the last new hair that is in my sub-conscious memory is that of Alexander McQueen’s show more than a decade ago. The show’s soundtrack was an original that comprised of the tabla, cello, tribal sounds with an electronic overlay that was specially composed for the show by producers Gaurav Raina aka Grain and Curtain Blue.”
PARIS, FRANCE – JANUARY 26: A model walks the runway during the Gaurav Gupta Haute Couture Spring/Summer 2023 fashion show as part of Paris Fashion Week on January 26, 2023 in Paris, France. (Photo by Victor LOCHON/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)
Gupta is a firm believer in humanitarian acts and is of the opinion that “every public figure should have a humanitarian outlook and talk about justice.” Having met Nelson Mandela when he was a youngster, he tries to bring about active change in his personal and professional life. “The Shunya show had trans models, African models, curvaceous girls – couture shows don’t do that. Togetherness and love is infinite and the image of two models walking down the runway, conjoined by the dress is an image that will stick for years to come. Zinnia, the Indian model, is an anthropologist off the runway and there is so much more to her and the other models than just the physical representations. Shunya was truly an international show. Honestly, in the last 18 years I’ve never been as satisfied with my work as I’ve been with Shunya and working with all these people. It’s wild to hear the Chinese and Russians discussing Shunya and my infinity theme that stemmed from the discovery of zero by an Indian, Aryabhatta.”
From introducing his definitive couture voice to resistant Indians, he’s taken Indian couture that is made in India, by Indians, to the world. His non-conformist expressions with fabric and form on the human body are being lionized globally. Indians have always flaunted Western labels, and now, Americans, Albanians, Puerto Ricans, Colombians, Africans, Australians, Mexicans – people of all nationalities are wearing an Indian couturier with pride on the biggest nights of their lives. Just by standing his ground on his aesthetic of couture, Gupta gave himself to the world in a manner most authentic, and he’s being seen and heard exactly for who he is as a couture artist.
Gupta credits his supportive family for his rise from zero to the infinite possibilities in the world, echoing the theme of his Shunya collection which was all about a zero turning into infinity with a little shake. “I am surrounded by angels in my life – my parents, my brother Saurabh and Navkirat, my soulmate who I live with and all my friends that I meet along my path and my team. My parents and Saurabh have played a very big role in my life as they support all that I want to do. I am full of gratitude for every one that is in my life. Had it not been for Saurabh, I would still be working in Istanbul today, where I was headhunted straight after CSM! This is just the beginning for us – from here to infinity!”
This feature first appeared in Rolling Stone on February 23rd, 2023
The first edition of the India Men’s Weekend 2023 curated by the Fashion Design Council of India was held on January 14th in Goa at a location most unwonted, yet astoundingly beautiful – the state’s former largest prison, Aguada Central Jail. The India Men’s Weekend showcased the works of eleven Indian designers with six ensembles each – Rajesh Pratap Singh, Abraham and Thakore, Varun Bahl, Abhishek Gupta, Arjun Khanna, Ashish N Soni, J J Valaya, Manoviraj Khosla, Rohit Gandhi + Rahul Khanna and Shantnu and Nikhil and Rohit Bal’s Alexander jeans for men.
The jetty of the Aguad Port and Jail Complex in Sinquerim turned into a runway on the river Mandovi’s calm, turquoise waters, with a ball of fire setting the blue skies ablaze with its molten glory, making the India Men’s Weekend show the first of its kind to held in a jail in India. Talk about a crime of fashion that no one could be imprisoned for! Some of the clothes on the runway maybe, and their respective designers!
The Aguada Jail made for a fashionably bewitching scene for the show, and was supported by the Aguad Port and Jail Complex in Sinquerim. The Aguada Central Jail, the largest prison in Goa till 2015, is a part of the famed and impregnable Fort Aguada built by the Portuguese from 1609 CE to 1612 CE. The 17th-century Portuguese structure has been renovated and repurposed since by the Goa Tourism Development Corporation at a cost of approximately Rs 22 crore and is open to the public. It is now a heritage site, that pays homage to the freedom fighters of India, and houses a museum and viewing galleries since the redevelopment. Interestingly, água means water in Portuguese.
The India Men’s Weekend will be an annual event on the FDCI calendar in Goa, and possibly other cities in India December 2023 onwards.
Rubina A Khan 