Quick Updates for Lakme Fashion Week

Lakme Fashion WeekTwo days to go for the Lakme Fashion Week to commence at the Grand Hyatt, Mumbai. I am sure a lot of fashionistas must be waiting excitedly for the event to begin!

Here are some quick updates about the event,

  • The event will be focusing on ‘Resort’ wear as opposed to the usual focus on Summer wear.
  • Opening is by our Mumbai fashion diva, Queenie with designer Rocky S (Read More)
  • A ‘Picture Perfect’ Award will be given to recognize brilliance in photography. Selections will be from photographs of LFW. 5 nominated pics everyday will be displayed at the venue.
  • The event will focus on e-commerce as a way for designers to increase revenue. (Read More)

Stay tuned for more about Lakme Fashion Week right here on Amara! You can also connect with us on Facebook and Twitter.

Interview: Varija Bajaj on Design and Fashion

At the launch of her new collection ‘Summer Bride’ I got a few words from Varija about Design and Fashion.

Is there anything you would like to tell people interested into fashion?

Don’t follow fashion blindly. Its very important to know what suits you. Its the role of the designer to tell you what suits you. Often there is a fashion trend going on like the Anarkali or some particular color that is ‘in’, and everybody is wearing it. This is where a designer comes in, they tell you what you should wear and what suits you.

How do you feel at the beginning of a new launch?

Its still sinking in. Getting good feedback, meeting people, talking to them. There weren’t so many weddings in November, so there are lots of weddings this summer. So this launch is for those brides to be and its called ‘Summer Bride’

What excites you most about design?

My customers satisfaction and the number of compliments that they get. When someone calls in to say that they received a lot of compliments in my outfit. Design has a lot to do with emotions, so if you can do that well then you can make some good designs.

Do join us on Twitter and Facebook for more updates on designers, fashion, style and Amara!

Celeb Pics

Amara has celebrities visiting to take a look at the newest in fashion quite often. Some of them are Raageshwari, Dimple Kapadia, Salman Khan, Mandira Bedi, Juhi Chawla, Gul Panag and a whole lot more..

Some snaps for you to get a dekho of them,

Leading Fashion Photographers of Mumbai

Ashay Kshirsagar

Worked for brands like, Ambuja, Arrow, Barista, Jet Airways, Kaya Skin Clinic, L’Officiel, Onida, Visa etc..

Website

Atul Kasbekar

Atul has been the face of the professional division of Canon in the country for the last two years and been the honorary chairman of the Photographer’s Guild of India since its inception. His works have appeared in Cosmopolitan, Elle, l’Officiel and Vogue on a regular basis.

Website

Hemant Kedar

After winning prestigious P.I.E.A. award from U.S.A., Hemant was honoured by Girish Mistry as top fashion & portrait photographer of the year , & also the best themetic photographer of the year …

Website

Joy Datta

The world pauses for the works of Peter Lindbergh, Nick Knight, Jean-Marie Perier, Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh M, Irving Penn, Paolo Roversi, David Montgomery, Herb Ritts, Helmut Newton in fashion immemorial. I must add that Joy Datta did slow time for us with this cover of Tamara Moss in Chanel pre-fall 2008

Website

Ritam Banerjee

I sometimes wonder, whether life itself has now become a procession of images for me. For over a decade now, all that I have been doing is to turn negatives into postives.

Website

Sanjay Kumar

Sanjay Kumar has worked on fabulous portfolios for models and cinestars including for ‘Nabeel Perfume – Dubai’, Miraj Soap (with Smt. Hema Malini), Sawree Sarees, Indrani Silks etc…

Website

Sandesh Jaykar

Master craftsman of the Year 2004, Award winner, He is trained to specialize in advanced Professional photography assignments around People, Fashion, Glamour including advertising and editorials.

Website

Vikram Barwal

A professional shutterbug who has captured nights in the lid and soul of the innovative, fashionable and elusive personalities across India. His photographs exemplify stark simplicity whether he is shooting celebrity portraits, fashion or still life. He is also the co founder of a Mumbai-based pharma advertisement agency—Ally.

Website

Vikram Bawa

Has worked for 300+ magazines including Elle, Hello, L’Officiel, Femina, Hi Blitz, Marie Claire, Verve and more..

Website

Vineet Modhgil

A photographer in Mumbai is an alumnus of the prestigious Shari Academy and Triveni Kala Sangam. He has assisted well known photographers like Vikram Bawa and Amit Mehra.

Website

Comment and let us know of any other leading fashion photographers you want to add to this list!

An Intro to a Fashion Artist, Varija Bajaj

Varija Bajaj is a famous fashion designer of India based in Delhi. Her pieces usually include ethnic stuff including lehenga – cholis and dresses. She is one of the few leading designers who have not studied the art.

She holds a diploma in advertising and an MBA. What she has to say about being in the fashion and design industry is,

I think designing has a lot to do with a sense of aesthetics. I may not be able to sketch well but I have a great sense for color balance.

This color balance can be easily seen through her fabulous work that has been showcased often at Amara. Some more pics for you to feast your eyes on her work.

Amara’s Annual Sale

Amara’s Annual Sale just got over last week (17th Feb). It included designers like Namrata Joshipura, Rajesh Singh, Anuradha Vakil, Swapan & Seema, Malini Ramani, Raghuvendra Rathore, Nakul Sen, Manish Arora, Surily Goel and many more! It went really well, thanks to the Mumbai fashionistas. We saw some interesting trends from our customers.

We found that people were buying bigger designer works in large numbers as well as the smaller stuff. Even accessories, hand-bags and shoes were being picked up in gusto. A lot of customers couldn’t resist our non-discounted range and lot of those pieces were picked up too along with the sale pieces.

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Amara launches “Summer Collection”

A late update on an evening filled with vibrancy that would be par with nothing less than the vivacity of the rainbow. Amara hosted a rather spectacular show, Thursday evening, 4th February.

Nichiket Barve’s intricate ensembles, Neha Agarwal’s bling bags & accessories and Cherie D’s vibrant clothing line made it the perfect fashion stop. The event witnessed the presence of Payal Asnani, Arpana Sarup Punjabi, Ashika Puhoomal, Kajal Fabiani, Jay Danani, Sharavanya Rao, Ami Patel, and numerous others.

Deepa Dholakia, owner, Amara said, “it’s a pleasure to have such talented designers showcasing at our store. All three have their own unique style and stand strong in what they create.”

Ami Patel, commented on Nachiket Barve’s fabulous collection saying, “Nachiket is known for intricate styling in his attires. But this time he has taken it to another level, its different, he has worked on smaller areas making the collection even more special. ”

As the evening passed along with cheese and wine as accompaniments for the guests who interacted about every bit from the vibrant designer collections to their individualistic fashion sense, it was indeed an interesting evening.

Varija Bajaj at Amara

This 25th February Amara brings you Varija Bajaj with her new collection exclusively at our Kemps Corner Shop in Mumbai. She herself is going to be present at this event to entice you with her wit, customized style tips and ofcourse her fabulous lehenga-chaulis, heavy dresses and ethnic wear! In fact we dug up some of our old pictures of one of her events at Amara last year,

Look forward to a night filled with celebrities, fashion, design, style, media and Glamour (don’t forget the Cheese and Wine!)

You can RSVP for this event on Facebook!

Fashion Design Colleges in Mumbai

BD Somani Institute of Art & Fashion Technology
Address: GD Somani Memorial School Cuffe Parade, Mumbai – 5
Phone : +91-022 22188818, 22155731, 22187102
E-mail : fashion@bdsomani.com
Website : http://www.bdsomani.com/

CEPZ Institute of Fashion Technology
Address: Plot F-11 & 12, MIDC. Marol, Central Road, Opposite Seepz, Andheri (East) Mumbai 400093
Phone : +91-022-28207842 , 28370738
Email : sameergupte@cepz.co.in
URL : http://www.cepz.co.in

JD Institute of Fashion Technology
Address: Hemu Arcade, Opp. Vileparle Station (W), Mumbai – 56
Phone : +91-022-26154949, 26137777
E-mail: jdinstitute@vsnl.com
Website : http://www.jdinstitute.com/

L. S. Raheja Technical Institute
Address: Adarsh Nagar, Near Century Bazar,
Opp. Bldg. No. 38, Worli, Mumbai-400030
Phone : 2422 3467 / 24364375
Website : http://www.lsraheja.com/

Nirmala Nikethan
Address: College of Home Science, 49, New Marine Lines, Mumbai- 400 020
Phone : +91-022-22076503
Email : nnchsc@mtnl.net.in / info@nirmalaniketan.com
Website : http://www.nirmalaniketan.com/

National Institute of Fashion Technology
Address: NIFT Campus, Plot No. 15, Sector – 4, Kharghar, Mumbai 410210
Phone: +91-022-27584000/4100
Website : http://www.mumbai.niftindia.com/

Premlila Vithaldas Polytechnic
Address: Sir Vithaldas Vidyavihar, Juhu Road, Santacruz (West), Mumbai-400 049
Telephone : 6608676, 6608493, 6608462, 6606648 Extn. 253
Email: pvpelex@mtnl.net.in , pvpsndt1976@yahoo.com
Website: www.pvpsndt.org

Raffles Design International
Address: Raheja Centre, Linking Rd & Main Avenue Santacruz (W), Mumbai 400 054
Phone: +91-022-65726711 / 22
Email: rdi-india-enquiries@raffles-design-institute.com
Website: www.raffles-design-institute.com

Sophia Shree B.K. Somani Polytechnic
Address: Bhulabhai Desai Road, Mumbai – 400 026
Phone : 022- 2351 3157, 2351 4147
Email: sophiapolytechnic@sophiacampus.com
Website : www.sophiacampus.com

Sasmira – The Synthetic and Art Silk Mill’s Research Association
Address: Sasmira Marg, Annie Besant Road, Worli, Mumbai – 400025
Phone : 9820490844
Email: sasmira@vsnl.com
Website: www.sasmira.org/

SNDT Women’s University
Address: Nathibai Thakersey Road, Mumbai 400020
Phone: 022-2203 1879, 2203 2159, 2203 2328, 2203 2025
Website: http://sndt.digitaluniversity.ac/

University of Mumbai,
Address: Vidya Nagari, Kalina, Vidya Nagar, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400098, India
Phone: 022 26526226‎
Website: http://mum.digitaluniversity.ac/

VNF Institute of Fashion Designing
Address: 6, Shanti Niketan, Dr. Ambedkar Road, Matunga (E) Mumbai – 400 019
Phone : +91-022-24113331 / 24144292
Website : http://www.vnffashioninstitute.com

Lakme Fashion Week

Are you gearing up for the Lakme Fashion Week? Well if not here is some info that should really get you excited!

Lakme Fashion Week happens twice a year and this Summer/Resort event is all set for the 5th to 9th March at Grand Hyatt, Mumbai! A total number of 61 designers will be presenting their collections at this event (wow!). Some of them are Manish Malhotra, Sabyasachi Mukherjee, Shantanu & Nikhil, Anand Kabra, Rimi Nayak, Nandita Thirani, Lina Tipnis, Anita Dongre, Babita Malkani, Digvijay Singh and Pria Puri!

British Councils ‘Designer of the Year’ Cristopher Kane will be presenting his Summer Resort 2010 collection exclusively at this event. It is one more step towards integrating India to the global fashion scenario!

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Cristopher Kane Spring Collection 2010

“For me Lakmé Fashion Week is about experiencing the excitement of all the
aspects of a different fashion culture. When TIGI approached me about coming to
India I was thrilled. We already have a relationship with the country, via our fabric
and embroidery specialists and to be involved even more closely with this major
global market is fantastic. This will be my first time in India, its going to be very
exciting,” says Kane

Globally renowned designer Suneet Verma will be concluding the event with the theme of
Night Fever! This is what he has to say,

“Colour has so many moods – you have muted colour, dramatic colour and then you have the confident colour, a statement of individuality, passion and subtle panache that women will indulge in when wearing the Lakmé Grand Finale Look this summer.

I can sense women re-discovering the excitement of getting
dressed up for the night, be it a night out on the town or a simple coffee with friends.”

A creation by Suneet Verma  at the Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week (AP Photo/Pankaj Nangia)

A creation by Suneet Verma at the Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week

Stay tuned we will definitely be bringing you more about the Lakme Fashion Week, right here!

(source: Lakme Fashion Week Website)