I was going through Monday morning blues after a very hectic weekend. So I dragged myself out of bed not knowing what to expect, but what came out of the day was a huge surprise. Feeling a little less energized than usual I landed up at the lakme salon at the fashion week just to have a look. I was taken aback by all the services they were offering and was immediately made to sit down to be rejuvenated and spruced up. A head and back massage, manicure, wash and blowdry later I felt like a diva again and ready to go. I bumped into a face I see everyday who makes me smile guaranteed everytime. He is the boy with the coolest job this fashion week. He walks around like a warning bell, 10 mins before every show playing this little instrument to alert us all that the show is about to begin. Backstage I met Gautam Kalra who is the official stylist for fashion week along with Kelvin Harris who flies down from Australia everytime to style each show. I watched him giving his finishing touches to the dressed up girls before they went on ramp. This is the only fashion week in the country that insists on having stylists on board. Its called to attention to detail. They start work weeks before fashion week even starts by collecting sketches of each designers collection and helping them style up their show. During fittings they play an important role in handing out the garments to the right model depending on body type, colour, gait etc making sure the garment is given full justice. The whole collection is accessorized and tweeked by them including inputs in the make up and hair department to complete the look. And on show days, they are a blessing in disguise to the much overworked and stressed designer as they check each girl before show starts, giving the designer a breather to enjoy his own show. This is the best thing that came out of the wardrobe malfunction that happened years ago. So now each show looks properly styled with all strings tied! Another person that always brings a smile on my face is Nikasha Tawadey. She always has this calm, clean energy and a feeling of peace in her demeanor. I watched her show and was speechless with goosebumps. It was the most beautiful show I have seen so far this fashion week. I could feel all her energy had transferred into her show, ten folds over. The clothes, the music, the feel, everything was so perfect and so feminine. I walked out with a sense of peace in me and wanted to celebrate being a woman all over again.

The rest of the evening was super racy and fun. It felt like bollywood week. Akshay kumar walked in to walk for the levis show and all the models were giggling at rehearsals at the whole concept of Akshay unbuttoning his fly in public and thought it was a bit cheesy. I just hoped that he was wearing a nice underwear. All the stars were in full attendance for Manish Malhotras show. Shahrukh Khan was bang on time looking like a million bucks(though im sure he s worth a lot more!) even in his sling which was also designed by Manish. His show was a perfect high end to such a spirited day. Everyone, including all the stars moved to Manish s after party and were all seen celebrating. Manish made sure he had Shahrukhs favourite DJ play for the party. He played a fabulous set and no bollywood music. Im not surprised as all these actors live and breathe bollywood anyway so they too need a change. For once, I had had a fabulous Monday.

          

          

It turned out to be quite a lazy Sunday even though a lot of meaty shows were lined up. It wasn’t a very busy looking venue as I had expected but the din picked up towards the evening. Day 3 started nice and easy with the Gen Next show showcasing the future of India going into Rimzim who had some fabulous surprises emerging on ramp this time. Neeta Lullas ‘chiconomics’ showcased very wearable couture, a great way to stay afloat in todays times. Priya Kataria Puri opened her own show. Beautiful opening garment and she carried it fabulously. “She is such a stunning face, she deserved to be up there showing off her creation” said Viveka Babajee who is Priyas dear friend and still looked fresh even after a hectic partying weekend. Someone walked down the ramp straight after Priya did and apart from a few socialites in the front row who cheered her on, no one else knew who she was. I noticed a lot of puzzled faces around me and whispers inquiring her identity but even I didn’t have the answer. My curiosity took me backstage straight after the show and found out that the mystery girl was Shatrugan Sinhas daughter. I don’t blame people for not recognizing her. “She could have had her hair done differently from all the models then maybe she would have been noticed as a special guest walker and not blended in the show” I heard them say. The only reason I noticed that she wasn’t a model was that she was too fat to be one. Anyway I’m glad that atleast I am recognized around these parts of the world and am magically welcomed at all restricted areas of the venue even without my ‘all access’ pass. Its like my face has become a pass in itself, not that Im complaining, it saves me the trouble of hanging this badge thingy around my neck which I consider a serious ‘fashion faux pas’. The atmosphere was pretty stressed backstage just before the last show as Vipul Bhagat had 30 faces to make up and heads to dress and had only 2 hours to do them all. But he s like a magician with his brushes acting like magic wands and so he managed just in time. Marc has been training his Miss India finalists so a bunch of his girls were chosen to walk for Vikram and Nanditas show. “It’s the girls first ever professional show today but I am very confident about them since they have been going through strict trainings since a month now” he said. I sat to watch the rehearsal and noticed Vikram phadnis personally putting name tags on all the seats for his guests and I thought it was quite sweet and dedicated of him to personally supervise everyones seating. Now who all attended his show you have probably already read in the other pages so let me leap ahead and tell you that Shahrukh Khan walks the ramp tomorrow for Manish Malhotra.

        

         

Today s day was dedicated to mens fashion. Ever since Lakme fashion week introduced this dedicated day to mens wear, I always wake up excited that day. For 2 reasons. Firstly backstage is full of these gorgeous hunks all day and secondly yes we do need to concentrate on mens fashion very seriously in our country. Troy Costa is one such designer who always blows my mind in that department. “I don’t do Indian wear on purpose because every other designer does that and we have a lot of great Indian wear to choose from. But very few concentrate on western ensembles for men” Troy said. I totally agree with him and thank god for designers like him who makes classic as well as very funky outfits, the kind we women like to see men in. He was particularly very proud of his quilted ties in this collection and also said they were very hard to do. Narendra Kumars had a live band play through his show as his boys walked down the ramp. Farhan akhtar couldn’t stop grooving to the band as they rocked the whole atmosphere. He still looked like he was still in the mould of his character from ‘Rock on’. Shair N Funk played away nonstop and the lead singer even ran up and down the ramp causing a stir every now n again.

Backstage was abuzz with a whole lot of celebs for the Mai Mumbai show. Done for a noble cause and a very thoughtful venture, all the clothes were later being auctioned to help the victims of 26/11. Priety Zinta raved about Anamika Khannas creation to the hilt. But I wonder if she bought it later for the cause?? Vikram Phadnis seemed a bit upset that no one knew that the opening garment worn by Naomi Campbell was his as no announcement was made but his name flashed up on the A/V screens as she walked but most people missed it. Ritu Kumar felt that the international designers did not do justice to the cause. ‘There was no soul in the garments sent by the international designers, unlike us Indian designers who can relate to exactly what happened and put our heart into it’. Said kumar. Naomi Campbell opened the show after a brief introduction made by the dishy Rahul Khanna. Thereafter there were a host of celebs who walked and completely overshadowed even the existence of a Naomi Campbell. Towards the end they all walked down in T-shirts made by all our designers stating ‘Mai Mumbai’ just after Deepika Padukone breezed in and out wearing a stunning gold gown. All in all it was heart warming to see so many of us get together to support Mumbai. And it totally faded out all the wannabe Delhi-ites in the house!

         

        

Lakme fashion week commenced with our favorite fashion icon- Barbie. Ok Im not plugging this in, I really mean it. Come on all you girls, we all know how much we looked upto her in our growing up years. She was always sexy, sassy, beautifully dressed and had the perfect pair of legs I ve seen till date. Is nt that exactly what we look for in fashion? And besides she was always ahead of her time. For me, the best part of the show was to see how it gave some of our young and very talented designers a chance to showcase their skills. Very cleverly put together, we had young designers for a very young audience. Yup we had a bunch of kids in the audience this time who had a complete blast. For them it was like santa claus had just granted them their wishlist, but ALL ALIVE. Marc Robinsons baby girl walked the ramp too and up in the music console he looked like the happiest, proudest father I have seen, after my own father ofcourse.

Proud mothers were not too far behind. We had Neeta Lulla cheering for her daughter Nishka as her creation emerged on ramp for the first time. Arti Surendranath sat in the front row with her sister and her little daughter. While Sharmilla Khanna sat in the front row with her daughter for the next show.

Asmita Marwa deserves every bit of applause. Her collection was easy, earthy and very bohemian. A lot like her actually. Free spirited. She had her whole gang from hyderabad come down to support her. Nagarjuna and Tabu walked in together causing heads to turn and mouths to whisper but sorry,I am just about to burst your bubble. I have known this whole gang for a while now and no there is absolutely no extra marital affair happening here. Naag, as we lovingly call him is still happily married to Amla. And he and Tabu are great friends. 'Amla is in Australia at the moment visiting our son Akhil who is studying there' he said to me. So all of you who are being wrongly informed that somethings going on, I am telling you the truth first hand. Tabu left soon after the show while the rest of the gang from Hyderabad decided to stay on and sip a few cocktails to celebrate Asmitas success. There was Ash Chandler and Anjala Zaveri with Tarun Arora too who joined the gang later.

We had the usual celebs at Manish Malhotras show which was quite expected. So I sat backstage fooling around with the boys watching Sabhya sachi ever so lovingly put up his clothes for his show which was the last for day 1.

I am off to touch up my hair and makeup and skip off to Naomi Campbells welcome party. She walks the ramp tomorrow. For Mai Mumbai. For OUR Mumbai.

         

       

       

Wendell Rodricks New Collection