RUBINA’S RADAR | BOLLYWOOD ACTORS DEEPIKA PADUKONE & RANVEER SINGH’S NOVEMBER WEDDING IN LAKE COMO

Bengaluru girl is marrying her Bandra lover boy for real. Bollywood actors Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh (Bhavnani) are getting married on November 14/15 in Lake Como, Italy. The couple announced the wedding dates, sans any other details, on instagram around 4pm on Sunday evening, sending the 42 million people following them, and more, into a ‘gramming, tweeting and whatsapping hysteria. Padukone and Singh have worked in three films together, all of which were directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali – Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela (2013) Bajirao Mastani (2015) and Padmaavat (2018) and have since become a haute favourite with audiences as a reel couple. Padukone, now an international actor having played the lead in xXx: Return of Xander Cage alongside Vin Diesel made it the 2018 Time 100 List as one of the 100 most influential people in the world and Singh is one of the highest paid actors in Bollywood and a hopping favourite with brands, both national and international. Their real life coupling as Mr and Mrs Bhavnani in November is only going to intensify their celluloid net worth. Together, they’ll make money move, and how! Congratulations you two!

Where there’s a wedding, there’s always jewellery in the known universe. And jewellery advisor Arundhati De-Sheth knows that and more. After graduating from the ESSEC Business School in Paris, Sheth was selected to the Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy program to specialize in Luxury Brand Management, leading her to a working stint at Cartier Dubai. Mumbai-based Sheth pulls diamonds, rubies and emeralds from jewellers for a living, and loves it. Sheth, Mumbai’s first ever jewellery advisor, or perhaps India’s first, hosted a pop-up of jewels curated by her at Le Mill in the city recently. “I am very passionate about jewellery and the art of making it. In my role as a jewellery advisor, I work with a small group of handpicked jewellers from Mumbai that each specialise in diamonds, coloured gem stones and Jaipur jadau. I source jewellery from them on request, but I also approach other jewellers for a request that fits them. I’m not working with large brands at the moment, only private jewellers who work in a very organised and professional manner,” says Sheth of her distinctive job profile.

I think fashion stylists in India are so focused on pulling clothes for their celeb and bridal clientele that they never seem to get the accessories, or the jewellery accents right. It’s always too much or too little, never just right. Jewels can play up an ensemble majestically as can the most exquisite diamond look stunning on one individual and most unsightly on another. But then again, Sheth gets paid to tell you that as your personal jewellery advisor on call. The allure of beauteous, blinding bijoux is where Sheth steps in, nudging you towards bespoke sparkles befitting your persona, awakening your latent personal style in the process, all for a price of course.

Mumbai’s culinary landscape is as multifarious as it’s ad-interim. Relevance, consistency and popularity make for a rare threesome in the newly-opened bars and restaurants in the city. Kode, a freestyle bar and kitchen in Kamla Mills, Mumbai that opened in June 2017 is where it’s at with contemporary flavourful fare, theatrical cocktails, speak-easy design spread across 4000 square feet of industrial ground and Friday nights as a thumping lounge with a dance floor that 500 people shimmy and shake on.

The Burrata accompanied with a Tomato Foam, Melba Toast, Rocket Leaves and Balsamic Vinegar was great. The Turkish Flat Bread, Asparagus and Gruyere Quiche, Avocado Carpaccio with Crackling Spinach, Edamame and Tofu Thai Curry with Garlic Rice, Vietnamese Rice Paper Rolls, Beurre Blanc Chargrilled Prawns, Sweet Potato Crisps with a Green Pea Truffle Oil Dip make for my favourites from the expansive menu led by Chef Momin. And there’s still desserts and cocktails! The White Chocolate French Toast with Mango looks like a sunny-side up egg but it’s anything but, despite the mango “yolk” running over. It’s like a Westernised and very elegant Shahi-Tukda so to speak. Beloved by all, the Deconstructed Black Forest Cake with Maraschino Cherries is addictive. The theatrical presentation of the food and cocktails, like the cinnamon stick on fire in the Bird’s Nest Cranberry Passion Fruit Vodka Cocktail or the crushed rose petals that go into making the exquisite Forgotten Petal Sour Gin Cocktail replete with a Campari Soap, Australian Champagne Tea Foam and Cotton Candy or the White Chocolate French Toast, does not take away from their intrinsic flavours. It just adds to the drama and fun of drinking and eating out in a city that went from being a Bombay that never slept, to a Mumbai that sleeps way too early.

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©Rubina A Khan 2018

RUBINA’S RADAR | A LITTLE GLAMOUR NEVER HURT NOBODY

RUBINA’S RADAR

The Beyoncé of the beauty business is celebrity makeup lines. Everyone’s got one or wants one, not Bey of course. Lip Kits, Kyshadows, Kylighters and what have you for that Calabassas glow-up by the 21-year-old billionairess on the block, Kylie Jenner and her company, Kylie Cosmetics, founded in 2016 to Kim Kardashian West’s KKW Beauty and fragrances that launched in June 2017 to Jennifer Lopez’s 70-piece limited edition collaboration with Inglot in April 2018 to Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty line that dropped in September 2017 – every girl in the world is obsessed with these race, gender and colour inclusive beauty products that make you look like the glam goddesses pushing them. Not only do they make you look and feel beautiful, they’re selling out in seconds globally with every new collection drop! It seems like everyone wakes up to makeup with these celebrity lines!

It’s taken India a while to get on the collaborative beauty carousel aside from the passé promotional posts on Instagram where everybody’s an advertorial beauty advisor, trying to Kontour like a Kardashian. As if! Lakmé India’s stepped up its beauty game by dropping its first ever celebrity makeup line with Bollywood’s most original and enviable pout – Kareena Kapoor Khan in August 2018. Taimur Ali Khan’s haute mom’s limited edition collection – Shades Of A Diva, the Kareena Kapoor Khan Signature Lakmé Absolute Range celebrates Indian skin tones and beauty vivacity with Pout Definers (duh!), Face and Cheek Contours, Waterproof Lip Definers and the works. What’s missing though is a definitive Khan Kajal for our beauteous Indian eyes. At least some of those ghastly makeup video wanna shines can now Kontour like Kareena or Pout like Poo, with a makeup range designed for Indian skin tones, curated and endorsed by a Bollywood star, the biggest magnet of all. Let’s see if this celebrity collection is a blockbuster in the beauty market and the kind of numbers it pulls in with her name.

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Kareena Kapoor Khan | Lakme

India’s grand couturier Rohit Bal’s giving “Are you wearing Rohit” a whole new essence ever since he dropped his own fragrance line for men and women in February this year. Bal launched an Arab essential, Oudh and Aab for men and Vana and Oas for women. Bal is known to experiment with his inherent talents, having collaborated on an exquisite home decor line with Good Earth in November 2016, an extension of his 2015 Husn-E-Taairat couture collection. In keeping with his indomitable spirit for artistic excellence, Bal’s velvety, luxurious fragrances add another dimension to his creative pursuits marking an impressive debut in the beauty business. Bal’s Oudh is enchanting and as seductive as the Arabian originals in the Middle East. What’s a desert country like Dubai without the exotic Oudh wafting through its architectural modernisms anyway? Wearing Rohit Bal apparel and couture is de rigueur, but the fragrance line has taken Bal to another level of luxe altogether. What’s next? A makeup collaboration?

Whilst on all things glamorous, flying to exotic locales is quintessential to fashion forwards worldwide. The Wadia Group’s domestic airline, Go Air, is all set to go international come October 2018 with direct flights to two of the world’s most fashionable and luxe destinations – Male, Maldives and Phuket, Thailand from Mumbai and New Delhi. Go Air’s direct flights to both Male and Phuket from Mumbai will definitely put an end to the stretched nights spent at the Mumbai airport flying into Male via Colombo at unearthly hours on SriLankan Airlines. In this demonetised Indian economy, I had to read the tempting introductory fares twice over to believe them. The Wadia Group launched Go Air in November 2005 as a low-fare domestic airline operating over 230 daily flights across 23 destinations. Taking flight as an international airline in October 2018 after 14 years of domestic operations, is a great move forward for the company and one of great pride for India.

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Go Air | Photo: Rubina A Khan

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©Rubina A Khan 2018

RUBINA’S RADAR | THE FIRST WEEK OF 2018

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2017 ended with a thunderous affirmation of Salman “Tiger” Khan being more than just alive with ₹300 crore and counting at the box office with Tiger Zinda Hai. 2018 opened with a worldwide reverberation of Oprah Winfrey’s acceptance speech, in Atelier Versace in Time’s Up black at the 75th Annual Golden Globe Awards in Los Angeles. Add a celebrated Sri Lankan/Japanese masterchef to that and the first week of 2018’s been all about film, fashion, food and fiercely female.

Sri Lankan chef, Dharshan Munidasa of the famed Ministry Of Crab in Colombo, Sri Lanka, is finally bringing his restaurant to Mumbai in May 2018. Munidasa, of both Sri Lankan and Japanese descent, owns Ministry Of Crab, one of the World’s Top 50 Restaurants 2017, alongside business partners and cricketing legends, Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakarra in his home country. The masterchef was in the city for a day with Jayawardene to announce the opening of the restaurant, in collaboration with Gourmet Investments Pvt Ltd at the newly opened, The Runway Project, in Phoenix Mills. The signing of the partnership amidst flashbulbs was rather unfashionably Trump-esque, but aside from that, it was a mirthful evening. There’s always a story behind everything and everyone famous today, including Munidasa. India’s best known wine connoisseur, Sanjay Menon, chanced upon Munidasa’s culinary skills at his standalone Japanese restaurant, Nihonbashi in Colombo, about a decade ago, when Ministry Of Crab did not even exist. Menon is a friend Munidasa values highly as his word of mouth, and a private pop-up dinner at the ITC Parel that he organised with Munidasa in the kitchen some moons ago, created the Munidasa magic that subsequently led to the opening of the first Ministry Of Crab. Mumbai will be the second outpost of the restaurant, the location of which still being a classified secret, and the third is slated to open in Bangkok, Thailand later this year. Mumbai is ready for some “crab excellence” Munidasa style, this summer.

A new resto-bar, Mashhad is opening this January at a first-of-its-kind location in Mumbai. Mashhad is situated right inside the entrance corridor of the Taj Santacruz hotel at the city’s domestic airport in Santacruz. Comprising of Persian-Lebanese-Indian cuisine, it is an unusual spot to open a fine-dining, only by reservation, restaurant and lounge. Mashhad was scheduled to open on Salman Khan’s birthday on December 27th, with him as the guest of honour, but it had to be postponed to January due to unforeseeable circumstances. Khan will be at Mashhad on opening night, supposedly on the 10th of this month, alongside a smattering of celebrities and wannashines who’d like to reaffirm their own existence in the presence of the elusive Tiger.

And the United States created fiercely female history that stands testament to the fact that America is a land where dreams and aspirations come true. Oprah Winfrey received the Cecil B. DeMille Award Lifetime Achievement Award at the 75th Annual Golden Globes in LA with an acceptance speech that will reverberate for years to come, not to mention the long standing ovation she received from everyone in the room at the Beverly Hilton. Winfrey is the first African-American woman to receive this award, bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association for “outstanding contributions to the world of entertainment”. “In 1964, I was a little girl sitting on the linoleum floor of my mother’s house in Milwaukee watching Anne Bancroft present the Oscar for Best Actor at the 36th Academy Awards. She opened the envelope, and said five words that literally made history: ‘The winner is Sidney Poitier.’ Up to the stage came the most elegant man I had ever seen. I remember his tie was white and, of course, his skin was black. And I’d never seen a black man being celebrated like that. But all I can do is quote and say that the explanation in Sidney’s performance in Lilies of the Field, ‘Amen, amen. Amen, amen’. In 1982, Sidney received the Cecil B. DeMille Award right here at the Golden Globes, and it is not lost on me that at this moment, there are some little girls watching as I become the first black woman to be given this same award. I’d like to thank the Hollywood Foreign Press Association because we all know that the press is under siege these days, but we also know that it is the insatiable dedication to uncovering the absolute truth that keeps us from turning a blind eye to corruption and to injustice, to tyrants and victims and secrets and lies. I want to say that I value the press more than ever before as we try to navigate these complicated times, which brings me to this: what I know for sure is that speaking your truth is the most powerful tool we all have. And I’m especially proud and inspired by all the women who have felt strong enough and empowered enough to speak up and share their personal stories,” said Winfrey on stage.

If the rumblings of Winfrey running for the US Presidency 2020 are true, and she does run, I will be the happiest girl in the world. I too, was once a little girl, watching The Oprah Winfrey Show every chance I got, being mesmerised by her work, her kindness, her humour and laughter and her unflailing faith in the fabric of humanity. I learnt a lot from her talk show – right from serious issues plaguing the world, exposes on the macabre practices of mankind, every fun fashion and makeup item on her favourites list, what books to read, Maya Angelou poems, her philanthropic work across the world and every celebrity I should know of, and wanted to meet, through her show. She made me believe I could do anything I wanted to, and in the greater tomorrows to come.

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©Rubina A Khan 2018

RUBINA’S RADAR | SHOBHAA DE’S BOOK LAUNCH IN MUMBAI & A CELEBRATORY FASHION MILESTONE IN LUTYENS DELHI

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The magnificently restored Royal Opera House a historic address in Mumbai since its inauguration by King George V in 1911 and India’s only surviving opera house relegated to redundancy in the 90s, is now open to the culturati. It is no longer just a geographical landmark on the Uber app, but a live destination that’s marking up newer glories contrasting from its original, sepia-toned ones today. This vintage Baroque edifice was where author and columnist, not to mention “ready-to-be-lynched-for-anything” Shobhaa De launched her latest book, Seventy And To Hell With It on a fine December evening last Wednesday. At the garden gathering amidst family and friends, De was on fire, as a discerning hostess in a cobalt blue, custom couture blouse by Abu Jani-Sandeep Khosla and a real zari Jaipur Kota Doria sari greeting her guests, with her luminosity lighting up the de riguer photo-ops and selfies. She then went on to breathe fire in her role as a celebrated author on stage, in conversation with journalist Barkha Dutt and Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut.

The conversation revolved around sex, the celebration of age and beauty in every stage of a woman’s life, the empowerment of women and the power of speaking up, changing the patriarchal guard and living your life wholly on your terms to a full (Opera) House. De’s quintessential ability to turn anything on its head without so much of an arch of her eyebrows or her “De resting face” with a diverse point of view that could swing from radical to pure nonchalance is what makes her one of the most read and heard “Made in Mumbai” voices in India. Had I been in conversation with her about the book on stage, my opening question would have been “How is sex at seventy, Shobhaa?” because her immediate response would have been far more entertaining and memorable than the latest Bollywood film!

In Delhi, designer Ashish N Soni celebrated a milestone in the fashion business, with a Lutyens lawn gig at The Lodhi. The mannequins looked exquisite in Soni’s all-black Spring Summer 2018 line in a contemporary hard-metal open-air installation tent, alongside a white garment installation which was as enchanting as it was dreamy, exhibiting his structured and minimalistic design ethos beautifully.

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Ashish N Soni SS ’18

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Yuvraj Singh and Ashish N Soni

There was Artificial Intelligence to talk to Soni nd Saif Ali Khan (Taimur’s father!) about all things fashion which was interesting, but the Glam-Cam was a monster fail. A garden gig on a Saturday night in the freezing cold temperatures of Delhi surprisingly brought out the warmth in all its glamorous guests, well, almost all. To attend an alfresco cocktail event like this is a Game of Thrones gamble – you either winter wing it in Uggs and cashmere or you whinge all night about the cold, over endless drinks, which is rather unfashionable.

©Rubina A Khan 2017

RUBINA’S RADAR | FDCI’S INDIA COUTURE WEEK 2017

RUBINA’S RADAR 

The 10th edition of the Fashion Design Council of India’s (FDCI) India Couture Week 2017 (24th-31st July), was a splendacious celebration of India’s fashion vanguards at the Taj Palace Hotel in New Delhi. India Couture Week has earned its laurels for the past decade of being the best in the country with its marked excellence in fashion. And what’s a fashion week in India without some Bollywood stardust thrown in? ICW 2017’s couture catwalk had actors like Alia Bhatt, Ranveer Singh, Aditi Rao Hydari, Shilpa Shetty and many more walking for the participating couturiers.

TARUN TAHILIANI | Tarakanna:
Tarakanna was an alluring experience with an “evolved vocabulary of design” befitting the legendary status of Tahiliani and his majestic consummation of couture. His design constructs were fluid, almost seamless, in silk, velvet, brocade, Italian tulle and georgette, in hues of burnished rose, gold, olive, black, ivory, midnight blue and the de riguer bridal palette of red.  The unparalleled artistry of Tahiliani’s craft shone on the runway. As the models glided on to the breathtaking autumnal leaved set, designed to semble the end of autumn, Central Park in New York perhaps, the earthy tones came alive with the shimmering Swarovski crystal-embellished ensembles, all 85 of them, taking over the runway. The line alluded to a bride’s lightness of being, akin to her dancing in the glory of her marital coupling in bespoke designs, fitted not just to her body, but also to her soul. Scenographer Sumant Jayakrishnan’s visual aesthetic lent itself beautifully to the magnificent confluence of the Tarakanna line and the buoyancy of the human spirit it embodied. Throughout its duration, the show appeared to have suspended the audience in the most exalted place of happiness and wonderment, that stayed on long after it had ended. 

MONISHA JAISING | Opera:
Sexy is a vibe Jaising shoots for consistently, and her Opera collection wasn’t left wanting in the least. The clothes were tantalising and edgy, and a tad theatrical too, primarily made in lamé, velvet metallics, Italian organza, banarasi brocade and metallic satins. The light and set design of the runway didn’t really take you into the world of operatic tenors and high octaves that inspired her line this season, as the models walked in her evening dresses and gowns, cocktail saris, crop tops and ball skirts. The multi-faceted actor-turned-businesswoman-turned-yoga-guru, Shilpa Shetty – a flawless showstopper who nails it every single time, tripped on the brocade train of her gown, not once, not twice, but four times, as it kept getting caught on the runway floor. To say that the runway nailed Shetty, rather than the other way around, would be an understatement here. Shetty of course, let it slide and slayed it forward on the runway, with a strut only her enviable body is capable of, coupled with the radiance of her persona.

ANITA DONGRE | Tree Of Love:
Anita Dongre is a relatively new entrant in the Indian couture and bridal wear landscape, having started her couture line, Bridal, only six years ago. But, she is a veteran player, and a very successful one at that in the prêt-à-porter business of fashion for the last two decades, with her labels – AND, Global Desi, Pink City and Grassroot. Dongre opened her first Grassroot store in Manhattan, New York, recently and will be opening the doors to her Bridal store there subsequently. Her Tree Of Love collection was inspired by the Bishnoi community and their spiritual reverence for nature. Dongre married her “love for trees, rich Indian craftsmanship and music into one joyous collection” with dominant shades of blue, green and red. 
Beautiful SEWA (Self Employed Women’s Association) embroidered tabards, paired with tulle skirts, mushroo and hand-embroidered tea-length dresses with gottapatti lehengas, obi belts, embroidered flat shoes and cross-body potli bags made up the very desirable contemporary bridal line. The uncut diamond jewellery from her Pink City line as stunning. Dongre’s runway felt like an Indian summer wedding, with the metallic trees adding dramatic flair to the aureate mood board.

GAURAV GUPTA | Moondust: 
Gaurav Gupta’s knows how to haute couture the runway up. Structure and form are Gupta’s forte and he plays that well, like a consumed installation artist, with “blurred boundaries of traditional and modern couture”, choosing to “sit on the cusp of both worlds”. The Moondust collection is Gupta’s interpretation of a surreal ball Cinderella went to, in sculpted ensembles created from translucent textiles in pale tones of grey, blue, green and teal, playing with shadow and light. Handcrafted embroideries and silhouettes accentuating one aspect of the body – either the legs, the back, the arms  or the shoulders – but never all at once, kept the collection elegant and sassy. Though he was going for an immersive experience with this line, it was anything but immersive. Aditi Rao Hydari was Gupta’s showstopper and surprisingly, she was one of the best ramp walkers in the lineup of Bollywood stars.

MANISH MALHOTRA | Sensual Affair:
Manish Malhotra’s exceedingly mirrored runway for his Sensual Affair collection, seemed to be asking, “Mirror mirror on the wall, on the ceiling and on the floor, Who is the grandest couturier of them all?” Satin organzas, silk tulles, satin velvets made up the fabric for Malhotra’s lehengas, sherwanis, voluminous skirts and gowns with trains and the gorgeous fitted corsets, in ivory, soft grey, vintage rose, burgundy and teal tones. The models swirled around on the gleaming catwalk, left, right and centre in a fast-paced, synchronised rhythm, showing off 85 ensembles, with not a second to breathe. It left you wanting to see more of the clothes, with just a little bit of stay. Rapturous glamour is what Malhotra does best, be it sensual, sexual or unusual. There is no one grand couturier of them all, but t
he grandest finale to a decade of couture at the India Couture Week 2017 was undeniably Malhotra’s, with Alia Bhatt and Ranveer Singh walking for him. The raucous screams that erupted throughout the show area were deafening and most definitely burst an eardrum or two amidst the audience in the excitement of it all. Tears were shed at not meeting Singh, who seems to be the star, no, superstar of Delhi. Sure he’s popular, but really? Bhatt was an enchanting delight on the runway as always, looking like the Bollywood belle of the ball. 

Disclaimer: Any part of the content on the rubinaakhan.com website cannot be reproduced without prior permission and crediting the website and the author.

©Rubina A Khan 2017

RUBINA’S RADAR | FROM RED SOLED LOUBOUTINS IN NEW YORK TO THE CANNES RED CARPET IN THE FRENCH RIVIERA

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Fashion’s boldest bodies and brains know how to work the fiery haute month of May, especially on the French Riviera. The 70th annual Cannes Film Festival at Palais des Festivals in Cannes, France is on fire, the summer temperatures notwithstanding, with beautiful and glamorous women walking the red carpet in breathtaking couture and bespoke jewels at the world’s biggest playground for photo-ops. Cannes is truly all about women, with men in tuxes running behind them, holding up their dresses and patting and settling them down to picture perfection. And what’s the most photographed fashion parade in the world without a wardrobe malfunction, inadvertent or otherwise? Day one saw Bella Hadid in a champagne Alexandre Vauthier gown with an underwear flash that was blinding. Eating an icecream cone in the gown after her red carpet strut, cemented Hadid’s nonchalance at the gaffe, that seemed more designed, than accidental. The red silk “barely there” gown, by Vauthier again, that she carried off so elegantly on the red carpet last year, clung on to her like second skin, with no slip up. That’s the reason Hadid stole the show primarily because nothing happened to the dress that everyone thought, or was hoping rather, would fall off her, and it pushed the fledgling model’s career forward the way it was orchestrated to. Just like this year’s “malfunction”.

Bollywood’s most poised actor, Deepika Padukone made an absolutely stunning debut at Cannes this year as part of L’oreal’s international glam girl squad. On opening gala night, Padukone looked fresh and completely at ease as she worked the red carpet statuesquely in a jewel-toned Marchesa gown with a seductive glimpse of her derrière and legs through the sheer of the fabric, for the screening of Ismael’s Ghosts (Les Fantomes d’Ismael). The following day, she wore a dark green Brandon Maxwell one-shoulder gown with a thigh-high slit for Loveless (Nelyubov) and Wonderstruck. With bold green eye makeup, green velvet heels, and her hair in an updo, it was impossible not to love her chic style, despite being head-to-toe in one solid colour.

Cannes’ most beautiful habit for the last fifteen years, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan seems to have gotten her fashion game on this time around. She pleased everyone, well almost, as she walked the red carpet in an icy blue Michael Cinco ball gown from his Impalpable Dream of Versailles collection, looking effortlessly flawless! But interestingly, about two weeks ago, Cinco, a Dubai based designer with an atelier in the Dubai Design District, was in fittings with the Swarovski heiress and singer, Victoria Swarovski for the same dress in the exact same colour, so it wasn’t exactly a couture debut on the Bollywood star. Though, Bachchan took Cinco’s creation from mere princess level to Disney queen, if there ever was one in the fairytale kingdom of dreams. Her daughter Aaradhya must have loved seeing her looking like a beautiful Elsa in the ball gown. Bachchan was definitely in a royal state of mind given her wardrobe choices thereafter, with her engine red Ralph & Russo gown on day four of the fest. It was just another red dress with frills and stones, with a clumsy fit on the sides, sans any custom couture attributes, aside from the famous face wearing it.

While in New York, Fern Mallis the award-winning creator and organiser of New York Fashion Week and now a Director of the Fashion Institute of Technology Foundation, interviewed Paris based shoe designer, Christian Louboutin. The conversation took place at the prestigious 92nd Street Y on Wednesday, May 17th, for her Fashion Icons with Fern Mallis ticketed series. Needless to add, it was a sold out event that was live streamed as it always is, for those who want to listen in. This conversation will undoubtedly find its place in Mallis’ second edition of her first book, Fashion Lives: Fashion Icons with Fern Mallis, published by Rizzoli in April 2015. It was a marvellous interaction between Mallis and the shoes designer of Egyptian and Lebanese descent, wherein he talked about his soul, and his famous red soles.

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Christian Louboutin and Fern Mallis | Photo: Michael Priest Photography

Expelled from school at age 16, Louboutin went to work as an intern at the famed Parisian cabaret Folies Bergère and did odd jobs for the dancers, but the one that fulfilled his dream was making shoes for them, he told Mallis. “I was all about shoes; I was not about fashion. I had cinema and music but not fashion. When I first started I wanted to design shoes for showgirls. But it was a very good way to learn about shoes because for showgirls, they’re very important. They have very little costumes in general, so shoes are a strength, a weapon, a posture,” he said. He was curious why all the dancers ate veal carpaccio, and he was told by them, “You’re so stupid. We’re not eating it. We’re putting it in the shoes,” rolling it up for cushioning, explained Louboutin.

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Christian Louboutin and Fern Mallis | Photo: Michael Priest Photography

At 18, an interview at Christian Dior led him to an internship with Charles Jourdan in the early 80s, wherein he learnt about the business of shoes, followed by design stints at Yves St Laurent, Chanel and Maud Frizon. Along with two of his friends, he opened the first store in Paris in October 1991, with $150,000, including the price of the lease. Louboutin found the inspiration for his trademark red soles in 1993 in red nail paint. The inspiration he describes as “a courtesan living out her life in a circus” turned his surrealistically beautiful shoes into an international success story. Known for his sky-high heels, he thinks flat shoes can be sexy, as proven by the legendary French actress Brigitte Bardot. He went on to tell Mallis that his “Love” flats were created after he saw a photo of Prince Charles staring at Princess Diana’s size 42 shoes.

Today Louboutin also has his own beauty line of nail polishes and lipsticks. “You have to give back to Caesar what belongs to Caesar. The red sole, which is my trademark and a sign of my ambition, started with the nail polish. It’s nice to remember in your flesh exactly where you started,” he said.

Disclaimer: Any part of the content on the rubinaakhan.com website cannot be reproduced without prior permission and crediting the website and the author.

©Rubina A Khan 2017

RUBINA’S RADAR | JUSTIN BIEBER’S FIRST BREAKFAST IN MUMBAI AND HOW HE SPENT HIS DAY BEFORE THE SHOW

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Justin Bieber’s been in Mumbai for roughly 20 hours now, but he has packed in a lot in his itinerary since he touched down into the city earlier this morning at 1AM IST. Given he’s not in the city for more than 30 hours as of now, this is how the Grammy award winning musician spent his day before he enthralled his Indian fans at the Purpose Tour show at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai:

  • He checked out the landmark sights of Mumbai late at night after he landed in the city and saw the Gateway of India, the Haji Ali Dargah and even took a ride in a Victoria, a quaint, but glittering horse-drawn carriage from Victorian times.
  • Justin started his day with breakfast at around 11.30AM at the St Regis Mumbai’s Seven Kitchens restaurant. He ate three eggs over easy with bacon and hash browns wearing the same pink hoodie and shorts that he was wearing when he landed. You’d think he’d order room service, but no, he didn’t.
  • He then changed into a mustard yellow teeshirt and blue shorts and headed out of the St Regis hotel where he is in residence in the Presidential Suite. He skipped the helicopter ride from the Mahalaxmi Helipad in mid-town Mumbai and chose to ride around the city in his Indian security head’s personal SUV, a navy blue BMW, waving to shrieking fans across the streets with his window rolled down.
  • He went to an underprivileged children’s home at Shivaji Nagar, Reay Road and hung out with the kids, and laughed and chatted with them and played football with them. It was endearing to say the least. He looked very happy hanging out with the kids and they looked happier just seeing someone being friendly and nice to them. It is highly doubtful that these slum kids knew who he was but they interacted with him like he was just another friend of theirs.
  • Bieber stood in a queue at the Inorbit Mall Vashi’s Starbucks and grabbed an iced black coffee amidst absolutely hysterical fans at the coffee shop and shoppers in the mall. Cellphones grabbed images and videos of him that have since gone viral on Instagram. It was an impromptu visit so everyone was caught unawares and went bananas on sighting the pop star.

UPDATE: Justin Bieber started the show at 8PM with Where Are You Now and closed it with Sorry to a thunderous applause. The show ended at 10PM after which he left straight for the airport at 10:45PM to fly off to Johannesburg, South Africa in his private jet. He is scheduled to perform at the FNB Stadium there on May 14. His trip to Mumbai barely lasted 20 hours in all.

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©Rubina A Khan 2017

RUBINA’S RADAR | JUSTIN BIEBER LANDS IN MUMBAI FOR ONLY 30 HOURS #PURPOSETOUR #INDIA

RUBINA’S RADAR 

After three days of what seemed like an eternity waiting for Justin Bieber to fly into Mumbai, the pop star finally landed in his private jet at the Mumbai international airport at 1AM with the rest of his security detail in tow. There was a blitzkrieg of flashbulbs as he exited the VIP Gate No 8 of the Mumbai airport at 1.20AM wearing a pink hoodie and board shorts. The waiting photographers that had staked out the airport all day in anticipation of his arrival in the scorching sun with no respite from the heat, got the “money shot” of the star past midnight, much to their relief.

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Justin Bieber exiting Mumbai International Airport at 1.20am May 10th 2017

Bieber left the airport in a white Mercedes SUV AMG G63 2017 followed by his security, all in Mercedes’, but varying models. The Grammy award winning singer went straight to the St Regis Mumbai where he entered the hotel around 2am, and will be in residence in the Presidential Suite for the next 30 hours, after which he is flying off to South Africa leg of his Purpose World Tour to perform at the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg.

Bieber will be flying to the venue, DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai, where he is performing at 8PM tonight, in a helicopter. When you’re the biggest pop star in the world, you really don’t want to waste time stuck in Mumbai’s snarling traffic jams.

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Photo: Rubina A Khan | Getty Images

As far as the parties go, it is highly unlikely that either Salman Khan, who is filming for Tiger Zinda Hai in Abu Dhabi till May 22nd or Shah Rukh Khan, who is shooting for Dubai Tourism till May 12th will host the Canadian musician in Mumbai. After the show, Bieber intends to party backstage at the stadium with a pop-up bar, replete with skateboards and his favourite tour things, a dossier of which was unethically leaked to the press prior to his arrival in Mumbai. But not before he takes a dip in the jacuzzi specially hauled out for him at the stadium and a massage by a special masseuse flown in from Kerala.

UPDATE: Bieber went out in the wee hours of the morning to see the Gateway of India and Haji Ali and even took a ride in a Victoria, which is a horse-drawn carriage from the Victorian times. He is now on his way to the Helipad in Mahalaxmi to take a chopper to the stadium in Navi Mumbai for his show later on tonight.

For more details on Bieber at the show and after the show, check in here later!

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©Rubina A Khan 2017

 

 

RUBINA’S RADAR | WHERE’S JUSTIN BIEBER SLEEPING IN MUMBAI TONIGHT? #BIEBERFEVER #BIEBERINMUMBAI

RUBINA’S RADAR

Justin Bieber’s hit track, Where Are You Now is the endless refrain of Beliebers in India who just can’t wait to see him perform live for the very first time in Mumbai tomorrow. The Grammy award winning artiste is scheduled to land in Mumbai today for his Purpose Tour show tomorrow evening, May 10th, at the DY Patil Stadium. He was slated to fly in on May 7th but the singer is still in Dubai, partying at Cavalli Club at the Fairmont Dubai, soaking up the sun with pool parties at Zero Gravity (with his security detail in the pool with him!) rounds of football at the Habtoor Grand hotel, dune bashing in the desert and shopping jaunts at the newly opened Apple store in the Dubai Mall. Earlier this morning Bieber tweeted “Dubai is incredible, India you’re next” from Dubai. Bieber is definitely doing Dubai right!
535290970He’s booked in two hotels in the city – the St Regis Mumbai in midtown Mumbai (where his team and tour manager have been staying in since May 7th) and The Oberoi hotel in Nariman Point. Now, it remains to be seen where, (not with whom!) Bieber will be sleeping tonight in Mumbai! But first, can he land in the city already?

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©Rubina A Khan 2017

 

RUBINA’S RADAR | PICTURES FROM THE JUSTIN BIEBER SHOW RECCE AT THE DY PATIL STADIUM IN MUMBAI

RUBINA’S RADAR 

With not even two days to go for the highly anticipated Justin Bieber concert to be held at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai, Bieber Fever is at an all-time high in the city and that is an understatement in itself. The Grammy award winning Canadian popstar is still in Dubai, UAE post his blowout performance at the Autism Rocks Arena on Saturday night wherein he started the show on the dot at 8PM and closed it with his massive hit, Sorry. Bieber went for a spot of dune bashing in the desert earlier this morning and a tech trip to the new Apple store in the Dubai Mall that opened on April 27th. He is expected to fly into Mumbai in his private jet either today or tomorrow. His tour manager and team landed in Mumbai last night to get the gig started before the star arrives into the city.

Here are some PICTURES of the security firm hired to look after Bieber in Mumbai, Tiger Detective and Security Services and its head, Gurmeet Singh Jolly, also known as Shera and Bollywood superstar, Salman Khan’s bodyguard, during a recce at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai today, ahead of the star’s Purpose Tour performance on Wednesday evening:

Disclaimer: Any part of the content on the rubinaakhan.com website cannot be reproduced without prior permission and crediting the website and the author.

©Rubina A Khan 2017