From March 11 till 15, an online step for Mumbai will be a fashionably tech-savvy leap for India

Now, who wouldn’t want to catch up on wardrobe malfunctions, cat fights, model gossip, trendy designer parties and serious fashion trends, all of this, without physically having to sit on the front row of the fashion week? Good news for fashionistas is that aamchi Mumbai’s going the Big Apple way, technologically that is. In just the way London and New York Fashion Week stream their coveted ramp shows online, Lakme Fashion Week will also go live with LFW TV, that too, real time, from this season onwards.

Mid-March, right from Day 1 of the fashion week, every designer fashion show will be just a click away. This real-time streaming of the shows will enable an all-access virtual pass for the common janta.

Interestingly, Mumbai is the very first city in India to go online, real time and stay ahead of the technological curve, beating other cities like Delhi and Bengaluru.

Spreading access to stylistas in India and abroad, every online enthusiast can feel just as privileged as a Front Row celebrity.

Participating designers Sabbah Khan and Babita Malkani are happy that now their designs can also be viewed by serious international buyers.

And fashion apprentice, Aakanksha Agarwal feels relieved that she wouldn’t have to request for fashion show entry passes any more. “I will be watching fashion shows within the comforts of my office,” she added. Anil Chopra, advisor to the Lakme Fashion Week is naturally excited about this innovative initiative.

The winter chill is over and its summertime with the living being easy. It’s also fashion week time with the Lakmé Fashion Week (LFW) Summer/Resort 2011 kick starting the season. What’s going to hang on the racks around the country will depend on the clever buying for the hot holiday months.

There is a great line-up of designers I am eagerly looking forward to viewing. A record number of 79 are participating with 64 on the runway. Wow, what a hot selling list! Lakmé Fashion Week Summer/Resort 2011 opens with the offsite show at the Tote by Kolkata’s darling Anamika Khanna on March 10.

On the first day of LFW S/R 2011, six Gen Next designers will rock on the ramp from around the world, choreographed by Bollywood’s fabulous stylist, Aki Narula. How Aki and Ananmika have moved up the bestselling charts is amazing! I remember judging Aki in 1994 when he won the Damania Designer Award and in 1995 Anamika took the trophy. Such talent just has to succeed.

For the first time there will be a Japanese fashion ‘Invasion’ with eight designers – three on the ramp. Fashion from the land of Cherry Blossoms is as exquisite and fragile as the beauty of the Geishas. Their creativity, finish and silhouettes are world renowned. Remember Issey Miyake, Yoji Yamamoto and Hana Mori? They were masters of construction. “Tokyoeye” will be a show that will excite the true connoisseurs of fashion.

The Lakmé Studio’s launch of Sleek the New Mystique in partnership with Hyderabad design talent, Anand Kabra is a show I don’t want to miss. It will be a true innovative blend of hair stylists trained by TIGI International Creative team and the vision of Anand Kabra where the look will surely be a trendsetting style direction.
LFW S/R 2011 has an amazing mix of designers from all over the country. The stalwarts are all there – Anita Dongre’s Timeless creations, Anupama Dayal resort wear expert, Bollywood’s Badshah, Manish Malhotra, the sensational Pria Kataria Puri, the styles and elegance of Satya Paul, the creativity of Rocky S, the unconventional collections of Shantanu and Nikhil and of course the incomparable Sabyasachi Mukherjee.

The Grand Finale is reserved for the designing sisters, Gauri and Nainika Karan who are inspired by Lakmé’s latest Fantasy collection. These two young ladies are known for their stunning evening gowns and cocktail dresses that have left women breathless with desire and have been favourites on the Red Carpet with Bollywood beauties.

What makes LFW S/R 2011 a trendsetting event in the world of fashion, are the various fashion’s firsts. There is LFW TV with online streaming of shows. The fourth edition of the Fashion Workshop Series by Digital guru, Neeraj Roy CEO Hungama on March 13 will be an interactive session on fashion trends and use of digital media.

These five days of ultimate intense fashion during LFW S/R 2011 is something I have been looking forward to ever since LFW Winter/Festive 2010 ended six months ago.

Okay folks; don’t disturb me when I am immersed for five days in fashion – my first love. I shall be totally incommunicado during those days and by the way I don’t have passes for any of the shows. This is a message for the line-up of long lost relatives who suddenly pop out of the woodwork on my doorstep. See you on March 16 when I surface after satiating my senses with the best of fashion at LFW S/R 2011.

How difficult is it to decode the word ‘Fashion’? I actually never wondered till I tried to Google up a proper definition. What popped up on my computer screen within a split second were – the latest trends, what’s in fashion, Fashion TV, magazines, portals and so on. May be not knowing this ‘F’ word is totally out of fashion…

But I still wanted to pursue it and probed into the free online encyclopedia specifically for a well churned out meaning.. What Wikipedia calls ‘Fashion’ is that it is ‘a general term for a currently popular style or practice, especially in clothing, foot wear or accessories. Fashion refers to anything that is the current trend in look and dress up of a person.’ (That hardly sounds fashionable to me! Pardon the pun…)

But we do use the word fashion in various contexts beyond the attires and ensembles. For me fashion has always been the ‘wow’ factor in whatever one does – whether it is the way one dresses, the hair styles, mix and match of accessories, the way one talks, walks, the entire persona  and beyond. It may be inspired by trends that are in vogue or the fashionistas one admires but adding one’s own style is what keeps thing exciting for me always. Simply put, fashion is a passion that the young at heart loves to indulge in! And, there are no rules of getting it right, except one – are you willing to experiment?

Yes, it is this zeal that makes one watch out for trends, recreate some and set a few new ones…

There are fashion weeks and there will be fashion weeks where many of the big designers showcase their collections. But what makes Lakmé Fashion Week (LFW) unique is the concept of having a dedicated ‘Gen Next’ show every season as a celebration of young talent in the ever evolving fashion industry.

The young budding designers who have been handpicked for the LFW Summer/ Resort 2011 are Shivaji Dutta, Deepti Pruthi, Timsy Kamboj, Manas Dash, Miriam Strehlau, Anna-Liza Ganguly and Anita Walia. They may have enjoyed a lot of applause for their work at inter-college fashion shows or their final year graduation show, but when it comes to LFW, the runway is at a different level all together.

Even if the Gen Next show is usually scheduled as the first show on Saturday morning year on year, the packed house attendance of the audience keeps the expectation level soaring sky high. To state facts, Dr Alka Nishar, the founder of Aza has always loved the Gen Next creations that have found space in her multi-designer stores as well. And it is high-drama at its best as there are no retakes on this stage! So you make it or break it…

Since success stories are what keeps us going … here comes the obvious one! Today Masaba Gupta is a popular name. This young girl in her early 20’s has also launched her dream store in Juhu a while back. Since talent speaks for itself, she got noticed for her colourful, funky fusion line titled ‘Sasha Pataka’ at her SNDT graduating fashion show even before she participated as Gen Next designer in Spring Summer 2010 at LFW. With Summer/ Resort 2010, she became an ‘Emerging Designer’ and viola! the list of Summer/ Resort 2011 Established Designers that include veteran designers  like Sabyasachi Mukherjee, Manish Malhotra, Anita Dongre and the likes, has her name as well! Her success story is out there for all to see.

Moving on from her fairy tale to another one, I would like to say that whoever believed that fantasy and fairy tales are of interest to children alone, needs to watch out. It is the child at heart that the Grand Finale at LFW Summer/ Resort 2011 hopes to entice.  Two young women, Gauri and Nainika have been named as the Grand Finale designers and it comes as refreshing news in itself!

I have always loved the beautiful gowns that this sister duo have created to compliment the feminine grace through rosettes and simple motifs. They of course have a celebrity fan following as stars like Bipasha Basu,  Deepika Padukone and the likes even spot their creations on the red carpets of various award ceremonies. With their young imaginative power, this time they will showcase a Fantasy collection with the ‘Alice in Wonderland’ wonder and everyone is looking forward to it including myself for sure!

When it comes to fashion, age is never bar! In fact, it is the young at heart that can conjuror up the creative best!  Here’s my new found definition of ‘Fashion’ – it is the spirit to welcome change and celebrate the wow factor in it by being different from the crowd!

It’s that time of the month when young aspiring girls who are pretty, tall and want a life in fashion, line up to audition for the Lakme Fashion Week (LFW) in Mumbai. Unlike what many people think. No, they don’t starve themselves, they just keep fit and remain active. And yes, they are well fed and haven’t run away from home to become a supermodel.

So, on Thursday 1 pm at the Grand Hyatt in Santacruz, LFW Summer Resort 11 Model auditions began under watchful eyes of designers Nachiket Barve and Rocky S; show directors Marc Robinson and Lubna Adam; fashion photographer Jatin Kampani, Editor of Vogue, India, Priya Tanna, along with Anil Chopra, CEO – Lakmé Lever and Sujal Shah, Vice-President & Head of Fashion for IMG India.

Evaluating their poise, confidence and talent to endorse designer collections with elegance and grace, 118 aspiring Indian and international female models turned up to audition. After 2 rounds of short listing by fashion industry experts, 7 models – Angela Jonsson, Bryndis Helgadottir, Keylie Bodeker, Lekha Anatharaman, Rikee Chatterjee, Reha Sukheja and Sophia Dgneid were selected.

Sadly, since LFW does not have a dedicated menswear day, no male model auditions are being held this season as well.

Selected Models with the Jury Members

Last Thursday at the Hyatt I felt extremely short. Not only am I 5?5? but also happened to be high heel-less and surrounded by women over 5?9? with 4 inch heels! Yikes! I feel however that I made up for it with tall personality! If you haven’t guessed already, I was at the Lakmé Fashion Week model auditions for Summer/ Resort 2011. This time there were girls from all over the world as well as all over India trying out for a spot on the runway. The panel consisted of the creme of the Indian fashion industry. We’re talking Priya Tanna, Sujal Shah, Anil Chopra, Jatin Kampani, Rocky S., Nachiket Barve, Marc Robinson and Lubna Adams. Honestly, that makes for an intimidating panel. How do these girls do it? Check out the video to see footage from the actual audition, plus a little chat with Sujal Shah and Nachiket Barve. I was lucky to grab Keylie before she got selected, had a little intuition about this stunner form down under!

Models Lining up for Model Auditions

Reha,Bryndis ,Sophia ,Lekha ,Angela,Rikee and Keylie

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