Foodhall @ Palladium Welcomes Holland in Mumbai

Dutch Pancakes

Dutch food may not be as well-known as French or Chinese cuisines but it is worth experiencing the delight at least once. Foodhall, India’s premium lifestyle food superstore is kick-starting a week-long festival ‘Holland Meets Mumbai’ – enabling its patrons to experience the culinary flavours of Netherlands.

Dutch Apple Tart

Dutch cuisine has gained popularity amongst food connoisseurs across the globe owing to its simple and straightforward flavours. This food festival will take you to the orange land with some of its most enjoyable savouries such as Stroop Waffles – a waffle made from thin layers of baked dough with a caramel-like syrup filling and world famous cheeses such as Edam and Gouda. The fiesta ends on June 6, so all you food lovers in Mumbai, rush now!

Harley-Davidson brings the rebel attitude to Myntra

Harley-Davidson casual merchandise

Known for rebellious design and bold urban styling, Harley-Davidson motor clothes have inspired riders and passengers for generations. Harley-Davidson casual merchandise will now be available through an exclusive online store on Myntra. Launched today, the online store offers a range of Harley-Davidson casual outerwear, sportswear, denims and accessories. Harley-Davidson merchandise and accessories are also offered through the brand’s dealership network across 17 locations in India. Through this alliance Harley-Davidson merchandise will now be easily accessible to over 12,000 pin codes in India.

Harley-Davidson casual merchandise

Rajiv Vohra, Director Sales and Dealer Development Harley-Davidson India commented at the onset of the alliance, “We are extremely pleased to enter into this alliance with Myntra, helping us to become more accessible to customers across the country. Owning Harley-Davidson merchandise is a great way for customers to free their inner rebel, and we are glad to offer them this opportunity.”

Harley-Davidson casual merchandise

Being the leading online fashion platform associated with over 25 top global brands in India, Prasad Kompalli, Head – Ecommerce Platform, Myntra expressed excitement on this alliance stating, “It has always been our continuous endeavor to enhance our portfolio and provide our shoppers the latest and widest collection from the best of brands. This alliance will help us cater to Harley-Davidson aficionados by enabling easy access to the brand’s lifestyle merchandise.”

Harley-Davidson casual merchandise

The collection spreads across Harley-Davidson jackets, denims, shirts, t-shirts, caps, wallets and other accessories. To view the entire offering, download the Myntra smart phone app today.

Regal Watches for Brides-to-be

Titan Raga

This wedding season gift yourself a stunning watch from Titan Raga. It will be the most outstanding bridal ensemble. Designed for the woman who embodies her bridal role with poise and élan, each timepiece crafted by Raga portrays perfect balance of sensuality and elegance.

Titan Raga

The selection of timepieces by Titan Raga is exquisitely designed, drawing inspiration from pearls of the ocean, incredible cities, flora and fauna. Studded with Swarovski crystals and pearls, the watches are enhanced with intricate enamel work. The timepieces are an ode to the graceful, confident and sensuous Raga woman.

Titan Raga

There is an elegantly designed timepiece for every bride-to-be by Titan Raga, making the bridal attire flawless for each wedding ritual. The watches are priced between Rs. 5495 to Rs. 15995. These watches are available at World of Titan and Helios stores as well as leading multi-brand outlets like Lifestyle, Shoppers Stop, and other authorized dealer stores.

Royal & rooted – by Aditi Maheshwari

Rohit Bal

Rohit Bal, one of the most sought after fashion designers, popularly known as the ‘master of fabric and fantasy’, gets candid and talks about the current fashion industry and his journey as a designer

What is your design philosophy?

For me, the most important word is elegance. I also give importance to certain styles that are understated, craft based and extremely Indian. Nothing that I do has any western influences. Everything I do has a very strong soul of India; so my design philosophy says that I am an Indian and I like making Indian designs; also, all my designs are hand crafted and at the end of the day, the soul of India should be represented in my collections.

What new techniques and materials are you using?

We are using the opposite of new techniques. We are focusing on age old techniques—those that are long forgotten. We are reviving techniques that used to be an important part of Indian subcontinent. So instead of doing something new, I am using techniques that were used many hundreds of years ago. I am trying to bring back what is lost to India.

Rohit Bal’s bridal collection for Wills India Fashion Week SS’15

What does fashion mean to you?

Fashion for me is a very integral part of lifestyle. Fashion doesn’t mean wearing fancy clothes. It’s about the way you live, your lifestyle, your home, the food you eat, the car you drive, the life you lead; it’s really about your entire life. Fashion is in fact, a necessary evil.

During your formative years, who has been your muse?

When I started out as a fashion designer, I was influenced greatly by a very dear friend, Rohit Khosla. He was my inspiration and my muse.

Most fashion designers are now diversifying into other areas besides fashion. What’s your take on this and how important is it to diversify for creative expression as well as to scale up the business?

I might have been amongst the first ones to have done that. The reason why you do this is because you want your creativity to be experimented and expressed in other mediums rather than what you normally do with fashion. A creative person absolutely must do as many creative things as possible; whether it is designing homes, cars, product designs, etc. A designer should give his creativity another platform. It is a natural progression and extremely important.

Rohit Bal’s bridal collection for Wills India Fashion Week SS’15

What is the future of couture in India?

I think the future of fashion in India is couture and nothing else. In India there are enough international brands. But what we designers do is very up market and occasion wear; whether it is weddings or parties. So, I think couture has a great potential in India.

What was your first design? Do you have any interesting anecdotes in the making of your first piece?

The first design I ever did was for men. The first person who wore those was my friend, Rohit Khosla. The first thing I ever made was a gold tissue bandhgala for men. At that time, such designs were very contemporary and avant-garde.

Way back when you were a student, what inspired you? How did you decide upon this career?

Some very fashionable people used to come visit my college when I was a student. I used to observe some amazing style icons, see their beautiful clothes and get inspired by the likes of them.

Rohit Bal at the grand finale show for Wills India Fashion Week SS’15

How does the business of fashion look like today?

Encouraging. The industry is also getting a little more organised. Earlier this entire industry was very haphazard and not very focused. But now, fashion has become a very important industry.

P.S- Aditi Maheshwari, the author of this story is an avid lifestyle writer who runs a popular decor blog www.pobox9.in

Furla launches #TagToGo

Furla #TagToGo

Furla launches a new exclusive project, bringing together the value of personalization with the culture of craftsmanship, which has always distinguished the brand as an emblem of Italian style in the world. #TagToGo is the name of the new service, which lets the customer personalize her bag on purchase in the store, with the application of an attractive nappa tag and choosing from different colours and subjects, such as a heart and teddy bear.

#TagToGo Alice Red Bag, Furla

The tag can be decorated with a date not to be forgotten, the customer’s initials or an emoticon in the shape of a heart, a star or a smiley, heat-embossed in gold or silver, using a special monogramming machine. Asia Pacific will be the first region to launch the #TagToGo service, which represents an extremely significant project for Furla—it is the first time that an Italian premium lifestyle brand completes its shopping experience with a customer-oriented service.

A child’s soul in a writer’s body

 

Tushar Upreti

While people his age love to get high on money and all things worldly, writer and blogger Tushar Upreti believes in getting high on life. His mission is to take small steps to a happy world, and in the process, he’s been working for the cause of children from the underprivileged backgrounds and helping them make the most of their ‘Days of Childhood’, which is also the title of his first self-published book, whose Hindi version ‘Chhutpan ke Din’ is the winner of India Media Festival’s Special Achievement Award in the category of bestseller in Children’s Literature.

Photo Credit: Flickr

“You will never change your life until you change something you do daily.” This quote of Mike Murdock is the way of life for Tushar Upreti. A graduate from Hindu College, Delhi University, Tushar went on to pursue Mass Communication from Indian Institute of Mass Communication, and went on to do regular 9-5 jobs in top media houses (both print and electronic), only to realise soon that his real calling was somewhere else. Tushar always wanted to do something for the society, but the turning point came when he met a group of underprivileged children at a friend’s NGO, who got the wheels moving.

Photo Credit: Flickr

Tushar ran from pillar to post, did days of research, and met hundreds of street children to understand what ails them and what can be done to make them live the days of childhood, happily. A great writer, orator and story teller that he is, Tushar started spending quality moments with street children both in Mumbai and Delhi. A series of story-telling session and constructive activities went on to finally take shape of a project called ‘Chhutpan ke Din’, which later became the title of Tushar’s first story book for children. The book was translated in English soon as ‘The Days of Childhood’.

Photo Credit: Flickr

Talking about the book and the process of writing, the writer, who has also written scripts for a couple of commercial movies and serials, says, “Although I did venture into commercial writing, the writer in me was more content and happy writing books for children. So, I decided to write stories from the life of you, me and people around. The book turned out to be an edutainment book, comprising of series of five stories revolving around life of children, across all states, cultures, religions and countries. The names may change, but the issues related to a child’s life are same across the globe, and that’s what makes this book have a global appeal.”

The Days of Childhood

The five stories in the book are not fantasy stories; they address pertinent topics including, health & hygiene, man-animal conflict and issues related to childhood. The book was named ‘The Days of Childhood’ for a reason. Explains Tushar, “The days of childhood are the best days of life; we all want to relive them. And at the same time, as elders, we want that the childhood days of our children are nothing but the best. At a personal level, when I would see a child begging on streets, it would ache my heart. I wanted each and every child, irrespective of his social or financial background, to have a happy childhood. And thus I decided that my first book would be an ode to children; I wanted it to be a book of the children and for the children. And that’s why without focusing much on the visual appeal, I tried to bring out the best content that I could provide to each and every child – content comprising of stories that would make children, smile. I want this self-published book to reach out to as many children as possible, and would feel honored if it made a difference in the life of children.”

Book Review

Penned straight from the heart, this book will make an instant connect with anyone who wants to relive the childhood days. The experiences shared by the writer through each story cross barriers of language, culture and age, and take the reader to a world of sheer happiness! An easy read, the stories focus on passing on life skills and healthy habits to children through interesting characters that stay with you even after you have read the book!

Jewellery that defines every woman

Women’s Day Collection by Jewelery Designer Ambar Pariddi Sahai of Mine of Designs

Ambar Pariddi Sahai’s women’s day collection is all about the different moods of women. Her adornments promise to make you look effortlessly gorgeous.

Women’s Day Collection by Jewelery Designer Ambar Pariddi Sahai of Mine of Designs

The collection displays feminine side of women that gives you the power to multitask, undergo stress and yet come out in flying colours. This Women’s Day, celebrate the spirit of womanhood with this beautiful collection.

Women’s Day Collection by Jewelery Designer Ambar Pariddi Sahai of Mine of Designs

Mine of Design is a multi luxury design firm dealing in fashion and lifestyle. They deliver perfect solutions for luxury gifting

The varying colours of Indian and Tibetan arts & crafts

Dastkari Haat Samiti 2015

Jaya Jaitly, President of Dastkari Haat Samiti brings the best of Indian and Tibetan art at the 29th edition of Dastkari Haat Craft Bazaar at Dilli Haat, INA.

Dastkari Haat Samiti 2015

The Dastkari Haat Samiti is once again gearing up for its annual display of the finest handicrafts from all corners of India. The hugely popular craft bazaar has an added attraction this year—the intricate and beautiful handicrafts from Tibet, ancient craft handed down through generations of painstaking work and dedication.

Dastkari Haat Samiti 2015

The Dastkari Haat Samiti, now in its 29th year, is the brain child of Ms Jaya Jaitly, a renowned social activist who has dedicated four decades of her life and career to crafts and innovating newer ways to sustain craft and its people. She has also been a founding member of Dilli Haat, a single platform for craftsmen from the remotest areas the country to display and sell their finest wares.

Dastkari Haat Samiti 2015

Hundreds of items, the best of products of Indian and Tibetan artisans have been specially selected for the bazaar. This is also a great opportunity for the artisans to exchange their views at the Tibetan-Indian crafts and skill exchange workshop. The special feature every year is a workshop for International artisans. This time Tibetan crafts persons will engage in work with Indian counterparts from Arunachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

Dastkari Haat Samiti 2015

Visitors will also get to enjoy traditional music and dance performances. Traditional Ramdev folk singers from Kutch, Chhau dancers from Jharkhand and Tibetan traditional dancers will enrich the atmosphere throughout the day.

Dastkari Haat Samiti 2015

What- Dastkari Haat Samiti’s 29th Annual – Dastkari Haat Craft Bazaar

When- 1st to 15th January 2015

Where- Dilli Haat, INA New Delhi

Time- 11.00am -09.00pm daily

Entry- Rs 20

Storendipity – a two day Fashion Pop Up at The Big Door

Storendipity at The Big Door

StoreUntold has served as a virtual spokesperson for an array of ‘untold’ fashion brands and designers from across India ever since its inception. It is time to up the notch by providing them a physical platform and bring together twelve meticulously handpicked labels and designers under one roof.

Storendipity at The Big Door

Storendipity, a two-day fashion pop up presented by StoreUntold at The Big Door, Bandra, Mumbai serves just that purpose. The brands and designers will span over resort wear to beach wear, and eclectic footwear and accessories to couture bridal wear. While you satiate the shopaholic in you, also devour upon sumptuous food over live music sessions.

Storendipity at The Big Door

Mix & match and experiment as StoreUntold shares its expertise on how you can style those clothes and accessories in a versatile manner with dedicated styling booths to one’s rescue. Don’t just buy a scarf; take home various ways to drape it at the live scarf draping session. Want to flaunt a T-shirt designed by you? Here is a chance to explore the artist in you. Suggest a design and see it translate on a T-shirt by the experts – Concept Nation.

Storendipity at The Big Door

December is here, so enjoy the nip in the air. Unfold the mystery of what is behind that ‘Big Green Door’ also known as ‘The Big Door’ tucked in Bandra’s plush Pali Hill.

Casa Pop Fashion by Raseel Gujral Ansal

Casa Pop Store

Raseel Gujral Ansal of Casa Paradox, the celebrated label of design and innovation, unveiled an exclusive fashion line, Casa Pop Fashion at Ambience Mall, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi. The all new showcase from the House of Casa is a composition of design innovations by Ansal herself. This one-of-a-kind fashion concept presents a range of limited edition apparels, jewellery and accessory pieces that ferment the brand’s legacy in vivacious glamour whilst ensuring it caters to consumers from all segments.

Casa Pop Store

Harboring a multitude if creative advancements, Ansal presents design collaborations with Mynah, Swati Uberoi and Dabiri to present an array of fashion apparels comprising of embroidered and Swarovski encrusted stoles, palazzos, silk pashminas and t-shirts along with exquisitely designed blankets, bedspreads, ceramic stools and more. Partnering with the philanthropic initiative of Princess Diya Kumari of Jaipur and jeweled marvels of Ravi Jewels, Casa Pop Fashion also introduces intricately crafted pankhis, shingaar accessories and more.

Casa Pop Store

This initiative also has an amazing collection of pocket squares, cufflinks, sherwanis, and kurta buttons for men; whereas, ladies can lay their hands on an array of tunics, ganjis, potlis, and more.