Anita Dongre – A Busy Bee Dressing-up Bollywood Starlets

Anita Dongre is one name Bollywood swears by. This gifted designer from Mumbai is known for her bold and colourful designs. Her creations are chic, classy and fearless with lots of colours and heavy embroidery works. She specializes in bridal wear as she brings out the best of both worlds by blending vintage craftsmanship with contemporary silhouettes.

She never holds herself back from experimenting with bright hues like pinks, sunshine yellows and royal blue. She has a signature style of using traditional gota patti in her ensembles that are high on aesthetics. Let’s trace down the top Bollywood dresses by Anita Dongre.
Royal Blue Lehenga wore by Dia Mirza
The very pretty Dia Mirza chose none other than Anita Dongre’s creation for her Sangeet Ceremony in 2014. Anita Dongre has always been a go-to designer for Dia Mirza. And she dolled her up for her Sangeet. The actress looked dream-like in her Royal Blue Lehenga with golden embroidery.

Royal Blue Lehenga Set by Anita Dongre

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Gota Patti Lehenga wore by Sonakshi Sinha

The talented Dabang actress Sonakshi Sinha, wore a gorgeous off-white and golden gota patti lehenga by Anita Dongre on her brother’s mehendi ceremony. Sona looked elegant in her attire with subtle colors perfect for a daytime function. This Jaipur-inspired royal lehenga is definitely among the top Bollywood dresses by Anita Dongre.

Brocade Cream Lehenga Set by Anita Dongre

 

Pretty in Pink Juhi Chawla
Anita Dongre’s fan-list also includes the name of veteran actress Juhi Chawla. The actress is seen wearing her creations many a times. But what caught our attention was this pink floor-length suit with heavy gota patti upper bodice. Perfect for a formal evening!

Pink Embellished Jersey Gown by Anita Dongre

Sunshine Madhuri Dixit Nene
Madhuri’s beauty knows no bounds. Whatever she wears looks fabulous on her. And when it is Madhuri’s beauty and Anita’s ensemble, it makes a deadly combination. This is what we witnessed when we saw Madhuri wearing a sunshine yellow suit with embroidered neck designed by Anita Dongre. Look it to believe it!

Icy Blue gown wore by Vaani Kapoor
If you are wondering what to wear for a cocktail evening, take a cue from Vaani Kapoor’s icy blue gown with plunging neckline. This Anita Dongre’s design is indeed a hit for formal dinners or cocktail parties. Don’t wonder if heads turn at this pale blue cool evening gown. Without a doubt, this gown makes to our list of top Bollywood dresses by Anita Dongre.

Sonam Kapoor in Hot Pink
Sonam Kapoor is a goddess of style. She is a true trendsetter and makes statement with everything that she wears. And recently, Sonam hogged the limelight as she donned Anita Dongre’s hot pink embroidered attire. She made the onlookers go wow! And why not, after all it was Sonam-wears-Anita’s creation moment!

Pink Net Brocade Flair Gown by Anita Dongre

Prachi Desai in White
As soon as Prachi Desai posed for the shutterbugs at Vogue Bridal Studio in her simple yet stylish Anita Dongre’s western dress, everyone admired her for her perfect choice of dress for the occasion. The actress flaunted a minimalistic white crop top with crocheted paired with a midi-skirt at the event. We loved her dress to the core and believe it to be one of the top Bollywood dresses by Anita Dongre.
Light Yellow Net Brocade Dress by Anita Dongre

Vidya Balan in Anarkali
Vidya Balan is not only famous for her acting skills, but also for her choice of ethnic wear. Be it a sari or a suit, she does complete justice to the dress. This voluptuous beauty was recently spotted wearing a white floor-length gotapatti embroidered anarkali suit by Anita Dongre. Do we need to say more?

Chic White Georgette Suit by Anita Dongre

Aditi Rao Hydari in maxi dress
Aditi’s latest outfit made us fall in love with this petite actress all over again! She wore a strapless ivory maxi dress at a soiree. This Anita Dongre’s creation suited her skinny frame like second skin. Her maxi dress screamed simplicity but with the touch of class. And those chand balis are to die for! Call it Aditi’s stunning looks or Anita’s finesse of design, the dress was surely a winner. And this is why it is among the top Bollywood dresses by Anita Dongre.

Timeless Gota Pati Gown by Anita Dongre

Karishma Kapoor in off-white anarkali
The ever-stunning Karishma Kapoor looked regal in her off-white and golden anarkali suit that she wore on Arpita Khan’s reception ceremony. She looked whimsical in Anita Dongre’s timeless creation.

Anita Dongre is one designer that ensures that a garment needs not to be over-the-top or too loud to catch the attention. It is the finesse; minimalism and simplicity that makes it stand out!

Image Sources: www.pinterest.com, vogue, www.fashiondaily.co.in, www.strandofsilk.com

Famous Indian designer duo Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla to Unveil Lakme Fashion Week!

Get set for another fashion odyssey as Lakme Fashion week winter-festive 2015 is about to begin on 26 August 2015. The show will be held at the Hotel Palladium. Lakme Fashion week completes its 15 years of running this year. And to celebrate this grand moment, none other than renowned designer duo Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla are all set to open the show. 

Abu and Sandeep make a fantastic designer duo and have earned recognition for their outstanding work. This pair has dedicated their 20 years to the fashion industry and has emerged as the unconquered kings of the fashion fraternity.

Together as a team, they have worked their magic wand and have created masterpieces. No wonder why every celebrity loves to wear their designs! Apart from Bollywood biggies, international icons such as Freida Pinto, Maggie Smith and Judi Dench are also big fans of their striking designs.

Their forte lies in bringing the best of both worlds by combining old world charm in terms of craftsmanship with the contemporary designs. They have revolutionised and reinvented the famous embroidery works like zardozi, mirror-work and chikankari and gave a personal touch to these age-old works of art. Also, their love for embellishments is very much prevalent from their lavish and royal bridal wear collections.

Along with the revival of traditional embroideries, this famous Indian designer duo has also restored Indian textile and fabrics. They believe in keeping the old tradition alive and introduce it in the modern-day designs. Being the veteran designers, they have been an indispensable part of many fashion shows and have wowed the audience every time with their spectacular creations.

This year too they are going to repeat the history by showcasing their youthful collection as they open Lakme fashion week winter festive 2015. They have dedicated this yet- to- unfold collection to the free-spirited present- day women.

In a joint statement the duo said, "We are absolutely thrilled to be back at Lakmé Fashion Week to open the upcoming celebratory season. This platform brings back many cherished memories for the both of us. Expect a befitting opening act, this season, as we reinvent the traditional to present an exciting, fresh take on fashion deemed fit for the youthful, modern day diva celebrating her harmonious, republican spirit,”.

I’m sure the upcoming five-day extravaganza will sweep you off your feet and why not when its Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla are doing the opening act!

Highlights of BMW Fashion Week 2015 and What to Expect

The BMW India Bridal Fashion Week is a high profile bridal couture show held with grand bridal wear displays from the crème de la crème couturiers of the country. BMW is partnering for the second consecutive year with the India Bridal Fashion Week, taking the premium show a notch up. The BMW Fashion week also promotes trade of bridal couture wear and offers a platform for the designers and the buyers to link up through the Bridal Luxury Couture Exposition. This trade show displays, bridal women’s wear, men’s wear, jewellery and accessories from leading as well as emerging designers in a large set-up, over three days.

In 2014, the BMW Fashion Week was held at the DLF Emporio, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi between Aug 7 and Aug 10. This year, looking resplendent in a pink Suneet Verma bridal lehenga and jadau jewellery, Sonakshi Sinha, the face of BMW fashion week 2015, gave us the first look of the event on 29th May 2015. 

This preview gala of the event held at New Delhi, offered an insight into what we can expect at the upcoming show. The BMW Fashion Week 2015 is an initiative of Fashion One International and the unique factor about the show this year is that it will be travelling across the seven cities of India, including Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Chandigarh. So it has a much larger platform of demonstration as well as trade this year, reaching out to buyers from every nook and cranny of the country.

Here is the schedule of the BMW Fashion Week 2015 

Some of the designers who will be presenting at the event, displayed a preview of their collection at the launch. The designers’ showcase that we will witness at the show includes:

Abu Jani – Sandeep Khosla: Abu Jani – Sandeep Khosla will be opening the show at New Delhi on Aug 7th 2015. The designer duo are bringing forth “the Varanasi” collection at the BMW Fashion week. Their line of Banarasi weaves is interspersed with georgette and khadi. The runway will see more of pinks, reds, oranges and yellows taking inspiration from the bold colours of the holy city.

Suneet Verma: The New Delhi show’s Finale will be at the DLF Emporio under Suneet Verma. The designer has given a glimpse of intricate embroidery on navy blue saree and lehenga, which will be up on Harpers Bazaar Bride too and also a peek of mirror worked red bridal attire.

J J Valaya: The pro bridal wear couturier will present his collection “Bolshoi Bazaar” at the BMW Fashion week, so we expect to see some Russian inputs to the Indian elegance. Nitya Arora, the accessory designer behind Valliyan has confirmed that her headgear will be seen on the models wearing Valaya’s collection.

Tarun Tahiliani: The 2014 show had an apt opening runway performance called “The Modern Mughals” under the helm of Tarun Tahiliani. This year he is going to present a myriad of colours at the BMW fashion week 2015. His sneak peek keeps the colours under a wrap, displaying a sheer rhinestone studded dupatta.

Ashima – Leena: Ashima - Leena's “Dakshna” will be a South Indian Bridal attire revelation. The hint of the bride with decorated braid and crown jewellery will become a reality soon.

Gauri and Nainika: Gauri and Nainika will be displaying cocktail wear at the BMW Fashion Week 2015. Their teasers reveal addition of texture to fabric through ruched floral petals arranged in patterns.

Shantanu and Nikhil: The designers' preview of bold red couture invites us to indulge in their collection. They will be presenting “the Mahal” collection at the BMW Fashion Week 2015.

Rina Dhaka, Jyotsna Tiwari, Falguni Shane Peacock and Sulakshana Monga are the other couturiers who will be displaying their bridal fineries at their absolute best.

Last year the BMW Fashion Week saw lot of eminent Bollywood personalities gracing the runways as showstoppers. These well known faces included Shraddha Kapoor, Nargis Fakhri, Aditi Rao Hydari, Esha Gupta and Kangana Ranaut. The BMW Fashion Week 2015 will see Lisa Haydon walking for Tarun Tahiliani. Sonakshi Sinha, the brand ambassador of the event will grace J J Valaya’s show.

The magic of BMW India Bridal Fashion Week begins today, and its mystery will be unravelled leisurely across the seven cities of India over a period of time, finally ending in Chennai on November 22, 2015.

Image Source: Designer' twitter, India Bridal Fashion Week facebook page and www.bmw.in

Mother of the Bride - Indian Aunty Sarees

A wedding affair is mostly all about the bride. However, the mother of the bride ensures that her daughter does not stress out for her big day and irons out all the creases cropping up at the event. So this lady needs an outfit befitting a queen when she is bidding adieu to her princess.

The famous Indian designers like Neeta Lulla, Manish Malhotra, Ashima- Leena, etc. offer an amazing collection of Indian aunty sarees that the mother of bride can pick from. She can follow these guidelines in choosing one of the Indian aunty sarees:

Go Pastel

When her daughter is going for bold colours she can opt for paler hues. Very light tints of blues, greens, beiges, peaches and pinks are great choices for the mother of the bride.

The fabric can be sheer or opaque with crystal embroidery or applique work. The light tones of Indian aunty sarees do justice to the age of the wearer and glorify class and grace at the same time.

Hema Malini in pastels

Easy on Embroidery

Indian aunty sarees with lighter embroidery work on just the borders and the pallu is a nice choice for the mother of the bride. On these lines, the website Strand of Silk offers an amazing collection of sarees from the Indian designers, for the mother of the bride.

 

Neon Pink Saree by Anita Dongre

Gold and Off-white Saree

Like Mother, Like Daughter

The mother can match her saree with her daughter, by choosing a common colour theme. She can go few shades lighter in the colour choice. When the bride is going for lehengas with bare midriff, the mother can go for sarees in similar colour and same type of lighter embroidery.

Hema Malini with Esha Deol

Aishwarya and Jaya Bachchan

Tread the Tradition

The mother of the bride can go for the traditional Indian aunty Sarees like Kanjeevaram, Banarasi, Chanderi, Sambhalpuri, Bandhani, etc. Each of these sarees, uses traditional Indian weaves, prints or fabrics. The traditional Indian sarees always look amazing on elderly women and brings culture to the traditional wedding affair.

 

Paithani saree

Kanjeevaram Sarees

Blouse it Up

The Blouse for Indian aunty sarees should be one that gives coverage to the arms and adds drama to the saree. For leaner arms the mothers can go for sheer fabrics with borders and shorter sleeves.

For heavier arms a more covered look with opaques and embroidery depending upon the saree is a way to go. The veteran actress Shabana Azmi is seen a lot in full sleeves or three-quarter sleeves and she looks very classy wearing sarees with longer sleeved blouses.

Shabana Azmi at Lakme Fashion Week

Pull an Additional Pallu

An additional stole added to the other shoulder without pallu (saree pleats on the shoulder), with matching embroidery and colours gives a regal and commanding look. It adds dimension to the saree and takes it to a different level.

 

Waheeda Rehman with the extra Pallu Saree

The Indian aunty sarees are definitely a more popular and suitable choice for the mother of the bride over lehengas and anarkalis. The mother of the bride’s saree does not intend to take the limelight away but it subtly speaks for the woman behind the girl, who has begun a new journey in womanhood.



Image source: www.bollywoodvogue.com, www.designerblouses.co.in, www.indianweddingsite.com, www.metromela.com, bawree.com, bollyspice.com

Popular Indian Casual Wear for Summer 2015

The Indian casual wear has gone through huge transformation. The picture of Indian wear today will be very different from what people used to wear a hundred years ago. Today’s Indian casual wear has borrowed from western fashion heavily and what we see are attires which have Indian embroidery, techniques and cuts, but they give you the flexibility of western wear. When you walk down any street in a city in India, and observe people, you will see them in ethnic casual wear or western casual wear.

Let’s first have a look at the ladies’ Indian casual wear. The ethnic casual wear for ladies includes casual cotton and synthetic sarees or salwaar kameez. You can never go wrong with a saree because a saree is the most versatile piece of attire in India. You can wear it casually, formally or to a red carpet event as well. It is a very common casual wear for women in India especially the elderly prefer it. Saree is also more popular in the southern states and the East. Traditionally people in the north used to wear salwaar kameez.

However, nowadays it has found acceptance across different regions, cultures and age groups due to the ease of movement that it offers. Western casuals are more popular with the younger crowd. In colleges of the major metropolises in India, we can see the latest western trends. The western casual wear will include skirts, summery dresses, jeans, tops and tunics. These days we can see women donning very Indian tunics with western stretchable leggings and skin tight jeans.

Purple hand-woven saree

Sea green Tunic 

Red Checks top 

Orange pleated skirt and top

From the days of dhoti/ lungi the Indian casual wear for men has evolved a lot. Today his casual ethnic attire will be mostly a kurta with churidar or cotton trousers/ jeans pants. The kurta itself has lot of modifications; it can be long or short. If the kurta is knee length, has pockets across chest and is worn with salwaar, it is called a ‘pathani’.

The Indian Islamic men are commonly seen in Pathanis but others in general are also open to adopting it as casual wear or as an outfit for semi-formal events. The modern Indian man is mostly seen in western wear, which includes a shirt with a pair of trousers or a T-shirt with denims. Lot of international brands are entering the Indian market due to the huge demand of casual as well as formal western wear. We can see Allen Solly, Van Heusen, Arrow, Polo, Marks and Spencer and many more in the men’s fashion segment.

Source: projectfashion

Source: Jabong

Casual Kurta

Pathani Source: Lakme fashion week facebook

When we move away from the metropolis, to the interior rural India, we still see more traditional outfits worn by men, women and kids. The rural Indian casual wear has still kept our roots alive by using lot of traditional weaves and crafts, which find its way into our modern wardrobe. The modern day Indian designers also take a lot of inspiration from the village casual attire like mirror work, etc.


Today’s Indian casual wear is a perfect blend of old ethnic charm and modern day versatility in carrying out our daily activities. The cottony Indian casual wear cools you off in the tropical summer heat of the country. Maybe this comfort factor makes our Bollywood shake a leg on a whim!

Reinterpretation of Traditional Textile Art by Indian Designers

For Indian women, the garment is the most used and popular women’s wear and we can find it by different ways small and big ones, across all the country.

But the Indian fashion designer Rimzin Dadu to “reinvent” Indian textiles took almost two years to finish her silicone Jamdani saree. Jamdani, one of the finest muslin textiles comes from the Bengal region in India and Bangladesh. This textile is also using a labour-intensive handloom and can be decorated by grey and white motifs that are woven on the loom.

The Indian designer used silicone sheets because it’s a very delicate and elastic material to weave her Jamdani saree. This work that Rimzin Dadu has been doing is for an exhibition called “Fracture: Indian textiles, new conversations” held at Devi Art Foundation. This exhibition wants to reflect a definition of Indian craft for global and domestic audiences. 

Indian textiles are appreciated and well known for their craft all over the world. The purpose of this exhibition is to send a message that these textiles are beyond compare because of their incredible diversity in techniques and aesthetics. They recover the multiple genres of design, arts and manufacturing.

We all know that India has a magnificent heritage of textiles and craft. However, it’s the time to have some fresh and modern perspective of it. This exhibition is a perfect occasion to find out what more people can do with this Indian’s heritage. The main message is to tell everyone that India is not just a manufacturing hub but also creating their own innovations to compete with the world.

For the ones who lives on London, you will get a chance to see the exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum, it will be called “Fabric of India”

Big names of Indian Fashion will also be part of it such as the Indian designers Rajesh Pratap Singh, Manish Arora, Aneeth Arora, Rahul Mishra and Kallol Data. It’s important to have these masters of Indian fashion participating at this exhibition because their work is also important to modernise and re-invent this textile's art history. It will open new ways of appreciating Indian textile history and heritage.

Of course, there are a lot of designers and artists that can help to reinvent Indian textiles but we have also the weavers from different places.

Thanks to this exhibition, people will see the skilled nature of all the work that artisans and weavers do in India.

Anita Dongre: A Powerful Fashion Businesswoman

Anita Dongre is nowadays one of the most famous Indian Designers. She built an authentic fashion empire with three design labels: her signature label Anita Dongre, AND, Global Desi.

Recently, she has been nominated for the Woman Entrepreneur of the Year Award by Ernst & Young. 

How did she become a businesswoman of Fashion?

Since, she was a child, she always wanted to become a designer in the fashion industry. She used to spend time in her grandmother’s house in Jaipur and she was seduced by Rajasthan with these colourful markets, architecture and the people. The place created an impact on her and a love for design and fashion. Just after graduating from SNDT College in Mumbai, she started supplying ready-to-wear to small stores in the city.

Then, she began to create a collection of clothes that she really liked. Obviously, the collection resounded with the young women who were open to experimenting with new outfits: western outfits. However, like every new designer, she encountered some problems with the shops that she supplied to - a lot of them were not open to the concept and the collections. So, she decided to start her own business. This Indian designer began to work at home designing for friends and supplying to little shops until her father offered her the possibility to start a small factory of her own which had grown more and more.

For Anita Dongre, the most important was creativity because it means constantly re-inventing and innovating herself and her creations, while keeping her signature design aesthetic. Her ideal fashion design is understated elegance and always offers the consumers “accessible luxury” inspired by Indian things and techniques, and by Rajasthan.

To succeed, she always stays organised, creative, and runs her fashion labels like one would run a corporate business - taking into account that fashion is very dynamic, with new trends and new styles coming every day, so she has to be a step ahead in the game. Also, another important key of success for her is to be passionate about what you do and to remember that creativity is constantly work in progress.

Anita Dongre has been successfully doing it right by opening a flagship in Mauritius and expects to realize her dream project - to move the brand headquarters to a bigger facility in Rabale, Navi Mumbai. This would make her company the first Indian fashion house to have its own centralised production hub.

Tarun Tahiliani Bridal Couture Insight

Tarun Tahiliani first launched his design studio in 1990, which has now lead to an extremely popular career in fashion design. His distinguishing signature style has since developed as a combination of intricate textile detail, sophisticated luxury, and extremely detailed tailoring.

The Tarun Tahiliani Design Studio creates unique couture, diffusion and prêt-a-porter, which are all very traditionally Indian in their sensibility, but international and contemporary in their appeal.

The rich heritage of the garments is reinvented as modern and on trend high fashion through the mastermind of traditional Indian craftsmanship, with the finest of Indian textiles; along with detailed Italian pattern cutting and new hi-tech technologies, such as digital textiles printing. His unique and beautiful combination of historical lavishness and innovative contemporary chic also lend themselves to Indian couture.

Tahiliani, who graduated with a degree in Business Management from the Wharton School of Business, then gained an associate degree from the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. He then gained the status of the first Indian fashion designer to be requested to showcase his designs at Milan Fashion Week.

The Tarun Tahiliani brand sets out to produce the definitive "India Modern": Combining Indias most loved traditional techniques with todays current fashion trends and innovations such as western cuts, construction and finish whilst being crafted with Indian heritage and craftsmanship.

Tarun Tahiliani's new stunning couture collection embodies these elements by borrowing from India's rich and popular cultural roots, drama, and complexity and infuses it with subtleness paired with a fun playfulness.

His newest collection consists of a burst of shimmering gold, soft hues of pastel tones and a distinctive whimsical bubbliness that is suggestive of a past era of charisma and elegance. Tarun Tahilani's key purpose within his collections is to create beautiful couture that preserves distinguishing Indian crafts, whilst investigating visions of sparkling crystals that reflects emotions for beautiful brides to be.

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