The Summer Bride By Anita Dongre

The Summer Bride By Anita Dongre

As we stride into a resplendent summer, Anita Dongre brings to life yet another fairy-tale through her latest collection, ‘The Summer Bride’. The collection reminisces the quintessential moment of the big day in the life of the modern Anita Dongre bride, beautifully portrayed by her muse and the enthralling ‘Jaipur Bride’ – Nayantara.

The Summer Bride By Anita Dongre

The Rajasthan-inspired collection takes us through a series of visual affairs that emblazon Nayantara’s journey of the bride she aspires to be. It takes us down the sartorial memory lane to the instant that led Nayantara to realize that she had found her frameable moment of radiant love, the portrait of her happily ever after. It wasn’t just a mere tryst of destiny, but a striking black and white portrait of her strong grandmother that stayed with Nayantara for decades. A vision she treasured through her growing up years.

The Summer Bride By Anita Dongre

Renowned for her splendid couture designs teeming with romantic details, each Anita Dongre ensemble is an ode to femininity, a celebration of dreams. Dreams in hues of summer comprising of nude, blush and dusky shades that work up to navy blues and crimson for a finale of more dainty ruffles, crystals and embroidered gowns. Their sparkle is magical, the colours melt together, and the handcrafted threads of love are superimposed in an incredible impression of lightness. The collection explores elements of its symbolic significance and design creation, as the final flourish of bridal resplendence and delicate elegance.

Dorothy Perkins presents Spring/Summer 2015

Dorothy Perkins

UK’s most famous high street brand Dorothy Perkins announces the launch of its Spring/Summer 2015 collection, available exclusively on India’s leading fashion destination, Jabong.com. The spring summer collection of Dorothy Perkins embraces the key trends for the coming season with a return to the seventies and Sports Luxe.

Dorothy Perkins

The collection will be available on Jabong.com for its discerning customers from March. Jabong.com believes in bringing the latest and best trends forward for the customers. The latest summer collection from Dorothy Perkins is inspired by the 1970’s.

Dorothy Perkins

The dresses are longer, the skirts are A-lined and the trousers are cropped. Materials are a mixture of textures with knits and crochet, leather and suede – the chocolate brown suede shorts and jacket are key drifts. These rich textures are combined with denim – one of the star fabrics for spring summer.

Dorothy Perkins

Colours are a combination of muted pastel shades with pops of coral and indigo. Soft ruffle detailing and feminine prints, which take inspiration from the orient, create a seventies romantic bohemian look. Oversized peasant blouses are teamed with button front denim skirts and bell bottom jeans, matched with high platforms and felt hats creating a classic seventies silhouette.

Dorothy Perkins

For SS15 culottes are in pink leather and trousers are loose and wide – creating a new elegant shape. A fresh and modern feel updates this season’s Sports Luxe trend. Clean, simple lines create the look for the utility nineties inspired collection. Minimal boxy, cropped jackets in a variety of fabrics and textures – from neoprene to sheer and mesh – mixed with the cigarette trouser creates a sleek look.

Dorothy Perkins

Asymmetric tops and tunics add to the new season silhouette. Colour for this collection is exciting with poster paint shades of blue and green. Colour blocking leads the way – whilst the all-over whites we’ve seen in past seasons have returned. Florals are big and bold and are on full looks – on dresses and across short suits.

L’Opéra launches ‘Salon de Thé’

L’Opéra launches ‘Salon de Thé’

Décor: One of the very first French pastry and bakery enterprises in India, L’Opéra, brings forth the brand new concept of Salon de Thé to its Epicuria outlet at Nehru Place, New Delhi. I went there on a very cold afternoon and a cup of warm cappuccino, served as soon as I reached the eatery, comforted me deeply. Salon de Thé means the tea room; and with all its whims and fancies, this place looked like a page from Alice in Wonderland. Quaintly cornered, with pistachio green chairs placed contouring a patch of moist green lawn—this place was so soothing for the eyes. A transparent sheet outlined the space to give it a private feel and cut it off from the rest of the food mall. A staunch Victorian lamp stood with much pride at the centre of the outdoor area and a romantic Parisian terrace blanketed us with much French concoction. The setting only got dreamier, with classical French music floating in the backdrop. Basically, the ambience and décor had me at hello!

Cheese Croissant at Salon de Thé

Food: Apart from its array of mouth-watering cakes and pastries, this outlet serves light meals and assorted bite-sized pastries and snacks. These include the well-known Vol au Vent, flaky pastry enveloping delightfully fresh ingredients such as chicken or assorted vegetables, with France’s much-loved Béchamel sauce or the similar Feuilleté, filled with select cheese. I loved the quiche that they served; crusty pie with a filling of chicken and cheese. There Feta cheese salad served with toasted homegrown bread with a touch of fennel was another super hit!

Vegetable Quiche at Salon de Thé

Also served on L’Opéra’s toasted house bread, is Brouillade, the velvety, buttery, French version of scrambled eggs, which will give you a taste of food from authentic French Provence region. For those looking forward to binging on light snacks, try their Croque Monsieur; it is toasted house bread with ham and melted cheese—elegantly delectable. Also, its fried egg version, called the Croque Madame is equally worth lusting for. All dishes are served with fresh salad.

Mixed salad at Salon de Thé

Lastly, what left me drooling was Café Gourmand, a selection of bite-size signature pastries and snacks served with a brewing cup of hot coffee. The assortment of mini pastries was like celebrating a mélange of flavours. They also serve select fruit juices; the sparkling apple juice was very refreshing. Also, they have a meticulous choice of selected aromatic teas to soothe your soul. Be here for a sophisticated French high-tea experience! The ambience is unhurried and food is impeccable.

Addressing social issues through Fashion—Gauri and Nainika

Gauri and Nainika for Wills India Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2015

From dazzling wild flowers and leaves to the impersonations of earth and the continents, designer duo Gauri and Nainika brought forth an assortment of nature-inspired motifs in their outfits at the Wills India Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2015.

Gauri and Nainika for Wills India Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2015

The line of clothes comprised of dresses, flowy maxi gowns and mermaid gowns. Smart tailoring showed hints of European-styled clothing. Clean, romantic silhouettes, coupled with innovative, chic prints made the ensembles stand out. The empire-waist dresses, sheath gowns and peplum dresses are to be lusted for.

Gauri and Nainika for Wills India Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2015

The played with a lot of colours, but white stood out well—they used this shade as a backdrop to many bright tones. Also,  radiant red and indigo blue flower motifs, placed intelligently on dresses, wooed me over completely.

Gauri and Nainika for Wills India Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2015

The designer duo  sent out a very powerful message through their design sensibilities. In spite of being high on glamour, the clothes raised awareness about serious grass root level problems—melting glaciers, carbon-di-oxide gas emissions, car dumps, droughts and other catastrophic contributors of global warming.

Geisha Designs by Paras and Shalini for Wills India Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2015

Geisha Designs by Paras and Shalini for Wills India Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2015

Designer duo Paras and Shalini, presented an evening wear collection that takes inspiration from the idea of fossilized flowers preserved in time. The silhouettes were diverse—drapes and pleats, and maxis and separates, contrasted with romantic 50s baby doll skirts.

Geisha Designs by Paras and Shalini for Wills India Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2015

Their choice of colours coupled with breathtaking embellishments and luxurious fabrics, created magic on the runway. Tea-dipped ivories, morning sunshine yellows, apple greens and fossilized blues spoke the loudest against prints of pressed flowers on parchment base.

Geisha Designs by Paras and Shalini for Wills India Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2015

Play of transparencies and opacities, lace like patterns, botanical floral appliqué work and embroidery took the collection to a whole new level. Fabrics were rich and soft—silky taffetas and heavy jerseys punctuated by intricate laser cuts.

Geisha Designs by Paras and Shalini for Wills India Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2015

Lastly, accessories gave the whole look, a somewhat gothic feel. Bold earrings, black ribbons, sprayed flower wreaths, ballerina shoes, knots, lace cuffs and halo-like head pieces added to the rather somber mood.

‘Walk on the wild side’ by Pallavi Mohan

Pallavi Mohan

‘Not So Serious’ by designer Pallavi Mohan presents joyously seditious Spring/Summer 2015 collection. The collection weaves a story around sensuous sheer that flows off the body with a wide array of fabrics—chiffon, silk organza and Georgette. Fine quality and textured embroidered mesh, cottons, knitted and bonded fabrics add a different floating dimension to this line of outfits.

Pallavi Mohan

Interesting mix of pastels and light colours are used for guidance, evoking a calm appeal that is soothing and thriving. Taking its signature style to more edgy this time, ‘Not So Serious’ brings forth fresh, subtle colours—white, acid green, elusive peach, dusty pink, aqua and nude.

Pallavi Mohan

The design elements using patching and high-needle technique dictates delicacy, inflicts refinement, unfold volumes and gives rise to thrillingly juxtaposed silhouettes showing movements turning up the volume with structural shapes in a range of different forms and having a sporty yet romantic appeal to them.