The Hindu Business Line : Down the ramp

Lakme Fashion Week Autumn Winter 2007 kicked off at the NCPA's J.J. Bhabha Opera Hall with 22 models sashaying down the ramp wearing a smart new line of pret and couture by Bollywood designer Vikram Phadnis, embellished by glittering baubles from the Gitanjali Group. Equipped with one of the largest diamond and jewellery manufacturing plants in the country, the Gitanjali Group showcased its latest creations on the LFW platform. The company will also launch high-end malls to facilitate the growing luxury retail market in India. Phadnis has dressed Salman Khan, Aishwarya Rai, Sushmita Sen, Akshaye Khanna and the Big B himself; also international cricketers like Jonty Rhodes, Wasim Akram, Glenn McGrath and Andy Flower. This edition of LFW showcased the work of 43 leading designers, plus some 30 budding participants.

Fashion, as fashion historian and author Colin McDowell reminded us, is a pointer to society and the best designers should hone their creativity by soaking in the arts and culture, books, movies, theatre and travelling. Bearing him out was Anupama Dayal whose collection of floral patterned raw silk and knit tunics, dresses, maxis, cropped jackets and trench coats were inspired by the Oscar Wilde story, The Selfish Giant. Dayal's collection was sold out even before her show.

And then, there was Sonam Dubal who sourced inspiration from Tibet, Uzbekistan, North Africa and Australia. Pan-Asian silhouettes such as Tibetan Baku skirts, honju wraps teamed with gold sequined pants and Japanese kimonos complemented each other. Sheer kaftans were tailored in crepe de chine, Bokhara sherwanis were teamed with kantha embroidered wrap pants; and a Bokhara kurta with a Chanderi dupatta.

Greece and Rome provided inspiration for the permanent pleated material styled into off-the-shoulder tunics and togas by Nandita Mahtani who also showed some gorgeous brocade clothing and velvet jumpsuits under her Ananya label. Sanjay Malhotra's collection included some lovely jacket dresses and slim line coats. In the stall area, some Italian buyers were seen admiring young Nida Mahmood's creations. There were GenNext's creations at the Aza show. Aza will extend retail space to the best designer selected by an expert panel at all its stores.

COMMUNICATIONS meet GALORE

Two important conferences were held in Mumbai orchestrated by the Indian Merchant Chamber (IMC) and FICCI. The first organisation held its 5th International Conference on Communications Convergence downtown, while FICCI held its eagerly awaited Frames conference on the entertainment and media industry in distant suburbia. IMC made special arrangements for the first time, enabling viewers to watch the conference live from one's home or office. Speakers Kuldeep Goyal, Chief General Manager, BSNL Maharashtra, and computer evangelist Vijay Mukhi, among others, stressed the importance of wireless broadband services in rural areas for the purpose of e-governance, tele-education, and tele-classroom.

At Frames, the annual FICCI-PricewaterhouseCoopers report was released by Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi. The report states that the country's music industry has been plagued by piracy and has been showing very sluggish growth both in India and globally. However, mobile music and licensed digital distribution services are projected to fuel the recovery of the music industry the world over. The good news is that 2006 also saw the maximum flow of foreign investment in the Indian entertainment and media industry, which secured foreign investment of over Rs 400 crore in the past three years.

Coming together for a cause

For some time now, a group of expatriate women have been volunteering at the Naya Jivan House, Thane, where some 40 HIV/AIDS infected children are being cared for by the Helpers of Mary, a congregation of Catholic nuns. The children will now benefit from a charity event comprising the screening of the critically acclaimed Israeli director Dan Wolman's AIDS feature, Tied Hands; a performance by dancer Ido Tadmor who plays a lead role in the film, and a gala dinner presented by the Israeli Consulate and the Grand Hyatt.

The event was attended largely by the expatriate group that supplies medicines to Naya Jivan every month. The expats hope to support the nuns in introducing the children to enhanced medical treatment and also help them acquire a generator, water tank and pump, and expanded toilet facilities.

Wolman and Tadmor stopped by Naya Jivan with the Israeli Consul General, Daniel Zohar Zonshine, on their way back from Dr Jabbar Patel's Pune International Film Festival where Tied Hands was screened.

`Art' beat

Suswagatam to the latest art gallery to open in amchi Mumbai. Called Point of View, it showcased artworks by Bengali artists. At the Nehru Centre, Tina and Anil Ambani are hosting their annual Harmony show and at the Cymroza, Pheroza Godrej presented the best-selling Vrindavan Solanki. The princely state of Junagadh, the Girnar hills, the flora and the fauna, festivals and fairs, the different communities from the region, and the Rabari tribe in particular have inspired Solanki. Author and social worker Rahul Singh has been Solanki's admirer ever since he bought two of his very early works in 1968 (for Rs 300 each) at a show in the Jehangir Art Gallery. Today, his buyers include large corporate houses such as Air India, the Taj Mahal group of hotels and the Tatas.

Recalls Singh in his foreword in the catalogue on Solanki's new exhibition of acrylic on canvas works, `Black and White 2006', "Vrindavan had sold every single drawing on display, perhaps a record — at least in India — for an artist's first solo show of black ink on paper." Solanki's artworks, characterised by short, fine, brisk strokes, flesh out the firmly outlined figures that are faceless. Like Raza's bindu, Solanki has honed his singular technique over the years. The artist focuses on their attire, limbs and posture, which are in themselves signifiers of emotion. Solanki explains, "I leave the faces blank because people have two faces, of which they show one to the world."