November 2015
Pg. 13 Nicholas Ghesquiere : Game changer at Louis Vuitton
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Pg.2 The REAL meaning of body positivity!
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Pg.7 Raf Simons : Who do I shoot for those vinyl boots?
Pg.12 Fashion reports from around the globe!
Mai bhi fashion blogger hoon! Every second girl I know considers herself a fashion blogger. You’d think this is the case simply because I study in a fashion school and in a fashion media course but no. I can’t even count the amount of people I’ve met who think they are bloggers. Where did this obsession even emerge all of a sudden? Possibly the growing attachment to the internet or the increased awareness of people about platforms other than facebook and instagram to talk about themselves. There, I said it. I think 90% of the so called fashion bloggers and sadly the people aspiring to become fashion bloggers are just doing so to feed their narcissism. This might sound like a far out, extreme assumption but I wish I didn’t agree with it either. I have examples that I could use to support this statement but I’d rather not because 1) Most of these bloggers I know go to Pearl and 2) I’m not THAT mean. Just a tad bit. I wasn’t always so pessimistic and rigid about this issue, this opinion only developed a couple months ago when I happened to stumble upon one ‘fashion blogger’ to another each simply calling themselves that to make another gallery of their own photos and gain some sort of reaffirmation about the fact that they possess super human qualities of knowing what to wear with a pair of jeans.
with heels and a necklace. It’s about actually having a voice when it comes to fashion. Whether you choose to do it by showing your creativity in how you put together your looks or you simply talk about fashion. But I’m sorry, if you think I’m going to sit here and call some bored 19 year old girl Some of these blogs actually made me a fashion blogger because she’s cute laugh while some had me wondering and has the ability to buy clothes, I what the internet has done to us. Being will block you. a fashion blogger is not about your outfit of the day’s where you “teach Everyone knows how to wear clothes, I your followers” how to wear a dress don’t need you to tell me what to wear
to college and how. I’d rather want to know how to pull of a sari with a shirt. Can you do that? I want to read blogs that give me a different point of view on fashion. If everyone is happily agreeing that it’s a good decision that Alexander Wang left Balenciaga, I want to be able to read someone’s views on why it wasn’t.
individuality. I don’t see why anyone who doesn’t think they have an individual style will even want to create a platform to feature their looks unless of course they’re just hungry for likes and followers. So please, it’s a humble request to all those people making these blogs out of pure boredom or narcissistic pleasures, if you refuse to think before calling yourself a blogger, These days blogging is just about do not pop up near any of my actual putting on your outfits and finding a blog suggestions or I might actually reason to take over edited photos of tell you the truth. yourselves when it should be about
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The real meaning of body positivity : Mindy Kaling Lately there’s been tons of talk about confidence and body positivity especially for girls by some of the most sought after celebrities and personalities. But not all of them make actual sense. I mean sure, you could say that Jennifer Lawrence is ‘brave’ for coming out and saying that people in Hollywood call her fat but she couldn’t care less because she loves her burgers and fries. Or you could listen to some other not as skinny woman tell you that it’s your choice if you want to be fat or skinny and you should absolutely love your overweight bodies regardless because you’re beautiful.
If you agree with either of these two women, allow me to burst your bubble about what you think it means to be body positive, by introducing Ms.Kaling. Mindy Kaling is a 36 year old Indian-American actress, comedian, writer and overall life goals rolled into one awesome as hell package of glitter. Unlike the typical attention seeking or social media PR move making woman, she does not claim to be perfect as she is. Neither does she encourage people who look up to her to think this. She’s about a size 10 and in her hilarious show considers herself ‘constantly fluctuating between chubby and curvy’. It is her complete honesty and transparency that allow so many girls to relate to her. She doesn’t say be fat and love yourself.
Make up or fake up? Make up is the art of using cosmetics. Lately this use of cosmetics is more than simply subtle. There’s different techniques and methods that have come up which to some people sound fake while for others has been somewhat life changing. One of the most common techniques you’ll hear about in the current time is contouring. Contouring is the art of using product lighter than your skin tone on areas of your face you want to highlight like the T zone of your face and using product darker than your skin tone on areas you want to cast a shadow on. It creates the illusion of chiseled jawlines and makes bulbous noses look thinner. It’s actually been used for ages in television and theater but lately it’s gathered speed in the daily routines of many women. This is ofcourse thanks to endorsement by current icon Kim Kardashian of this very technique in her day to day looks among other celebrities. But the point is, do we really need such things to be confident or feel good about ourselves? A kim kardashian is in the limelight every minute of everyday and she probably needs that level of precision and perfection
when it comes to her looks because that’s pretcause that’s pretty much how she makes how she makes her life’s earnings. But I strongly disagree with the idea of making such heavy transformation ideals our standard of perfection even as normal women who live non celebrity lives completely out of any kind of limelight. Unless you consider instagram limelight. Ofcourse it’s okay if someone wants to do it and it helps them feel good but it shouldn’t become a horrible beauty ideal that all women will be scrutinized for not following because they have more important things to do. To begin contouring, follow these tips and use these guides to contour your face You’ll need two shades of foundation, one 2 shades darker than your skin and one 2 shades lighter.
She isn’t promoting an unhealthy lifestyle in telling people to stay overweight unlike most such celebrities these days. The ghastly amount of diseases and health problems that come with obesity are something no one considers while spreading unhealthy so called “ body positivity” messages around. Kaling claims she does want to be a few pounds lighter but she doesn’t kill herself if she misses a couple workouts due to her exhausting schedule as writer, actor and creator of her super hit show. She reminds us that it’s completely okay to want to look and feel better but we don’t need to base our self esteem on simply that. According to her, confidence only comes to those who work. You can’t possibly feel confident and great while sitting on your ass and doing nothing. Because when you do that, you don’t feel entitled to success or weight loss or anything for that matter. And that’s important if you want to live your life loving yourself. Mindy Kaling comes as a breath of fresh air in this suffocating and utterly misleading world of body positivity endorsed by skinny girls claiming to love junk food and not so skinny girls claiming to love cellulite and laziness.
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Capturing ethereal Capturing different moods and expressions with minimum fuss. I used a one light set up (beauty dish) to shoot these beautiful models in fabulous au naturel looks. The idea was to photograph a variety of different looks through simple beauty shots.
Photo credits : Ria Dhingra
November 2015
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November 2015
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I’m not ‘sundar’ and this is why it doesn’t matter
Since childhood, we’ve noticed a strange but quite evident obsession people around us have with a certain specific idea of “beauty”. Whether it’s our parents or our relatives, there has always been some point in our life we have either had our “flaws” pointed out or been told how pretty our eyes or our nose or *insert body part here* is. Now, that isn’t a bad thing. Appreciation is never a bad thing we should all take pride in ourselves. But is it really necessary to look a particular way? I’m going to try to define this particular version of beauty now, no offence intended. Beauty through the eyes of the average Indian human.. Perfectly slender nose that only enhances the face when decorated with a stud, plump lips, big eyes to hold nice amount of kajal and scare the bejeesus out of anyone who dares to look right into them, long thick hair (preferably down to the bum), and FAIR skin and no trace of any hair all over the body.
Not even a tiny one that the parlor wali might have missed while inflicting mummy-reminding pain upon us. “ Nai toh ladke pasand kaise karenge? “ (how would you attract any boys?) As much as we adore our aunties and uncles, no one really likes the interfering and constant slapping of opinions on us. And we especially do not need it when it comes to how we look now. Alright, I’m calling bullshit on this whole being beautiful thing. It’s downright unhealthy to be told that the body and face you were born with is flawed. I wouldn’t want my future daughter to ever hear such comments. I don’t care if it’s my sister who tells her how her nose is too big or there’s too much hair on her face, who is SHE to tell the little girl how she should look? I clearly remember being about 10 years old and meeting some relative of my mother who almost
How to UP your fashion knowledge game! VogueRunway If you’re a
fashion student like me or an individual who likes fashion in general and would like to increase their knowledge, I have here a list of ways you can achieve your fashion education goals!
I can hear the regulars grunting at the obvious. But honestly, it’s possibly the biggest resource on everything related to fashion. After the end of style.com and the birth of VogueRunway a couple of months ago, the wide and massive archives of fashion shows dating back to the early 2000’s are now property of Conde Nast and this in turn benefits a user to wants to read more about fashion because in addition to fashion show reviews you get suggestions of related interesting articles which lead you to vogue.com which has a bigger variety of related content.
gasped in disgust when she saw me because I had my acne phase going on due to this VERY GENERAL thing called puberty. She went on to tell my mother all these remedies and ointments that could help me and as upsetting as that was for me, it didn’t seem to surprise anyone around including my mother and my naani. It sounds quite off-putting now but I’ve seen such episodes happen again and again and not just with me. Why do we simply accept whatever nonsense we’re told simply in the name of “respect” to our elders? If our loved ones really loved us I don’t think minding one’s own business about certain things should be much of a problem. After all we’re not loved because of how we look. But it’s not just our elders or our relatives that set these notions for being beautiful. It’s us too. As much as we would love to deny this and parade around celebrating everything as beautiful, we do classify things and people as pretty or ugly on a daily basis. Whether it’s subconsciously or
consciously. How can we sit and crib about how society is horrible and it promotes skinny, photo shopped girls as the only category of beautiful or hot when we are the ones to accept it in the first place? The skinny photo shopped girls are gorgeous nonetheless. But the curvy girl with the curly hair that sits next to me in my culture studies class is a bombshell too. So is the girl I saw in the cafeteria yesterday with her hair tied up in a messy bun and a daring shade of lipstick. The boy with the fedora who I met at the stationery shop was quite smart too. There’s obviously stuff we like and dislike about people but everyone is unique. As clichéd as it sounds, we all are beautiful. And we shouldn’t be so easily brainwashed by what the media says about the new size “0” or whatever measurement of a body part’s in style. None of this would change unless we stop being followers and start developing our own opinions instead.
Business of Fashion
CR Fashion Book
Might sound boring by the name but it’s quite a rich website full of informative articles that will make you sound smart as hell. And also increase your fashion knowledge if you’re not simply interested in the superficial! A lot of the articles on the site are about profits and sales and numbers but really isn’t fashion about just that these days? With the amount of pressure companies are putting on their designers for creating super hit collections while staying within the very tiny budget restrictions, it is essential to understand how and why it’s happening to begin with. And business of fashion provides just that.
Even though I will NEVER suggest anyone to actually order this magazine online because they’re too cool to actually go through with your order and they will steal your money, CR fashion book is a magazine that former Editor in chief of Vogue Paris, Carine Roitfield came up with and it’s quite the sartorial bible. I actually log on to their blog crfashionbook. com quite often because a lot of the articles they feature in their biannual, exclusive magazine are featured on it. And news of a lot of avant garde fashion designers and models pop up on here more often than anywhere else.
November 2015
Wannabe
Why don’t you Would you delete something you posted on any social media account because it didn’t get enough likes? According to a small questionnaire I surveyed, 8 out of 10 people would. Now it may not sound like much of a big deal to a lot of people. It’s just a post after all, no big deal. Except that NO it is NOT just a post. It is a symbol of time and life. These days, if you don’t put up something online, it didn’t happen. Like that pretty plate of mini cupcakes you claimed to have had yesterday. I know you had it. I can see it from the size of your tummy. But is it on instagram? No? what about snapchat? Not there either? Facebook? Eh. Sorry. You’re a liar. On a more serious note, if we were to actually think of social media as real life, would you take it so lightly if we could erase a certain amount of time or a particular day simply because we didn’t look good or because not a lot of people chose to agree with us? I mean sure it would be great to never let anyone else remember the day you tripped on your ass in front of the whole class but how are you supposed to grow old and laugh about it later if you don’t remember it? Or what about feeling absolutely flawless on a day out while you’re wearing a dress and have your hair down but deleting the photo you posted in pure happiness which reminds you of that great day simply because it didn’t get enough people’s double taps? REALLY? Did your great day become not so great when you saw 3 likes for a photo that YOU feel great about? Of course it did.
But why is this happening? Moreover, why are we letting it happen? For as long as we’ve been on facebook, we’ve had the like button. Now this little monster has caused problems far, far bigger than anyone could’ve seen coming. Thanks to this stupid button, we have now started evaluating our self worth and our beauty through the numbers we see below our photos and posts. Do you want to let social media manipulators run your life? No? So stop falling for this trap of false acceptance. Here’s a hint to the point of this whole article : YOU DON’T NEED ANY APPROVAL. I’m sure it’s easier said than done my friend but would you really let instagram followers dictate the choice of your filters? Would you really not wear your amazing ripped jeans because everyone else’s wearing zara jeggings? What kind of belonging are we even looking for with such instances, it’s not like buying the same pants from zara symbolizes some sort of eternal bond, just wear whatever you want as long as it makes you happy. And come on, would you really limit that thousand watt smile to a mere hundred watt one because according to certain idiots, you look better that way? Well here’s some cheesy advice which may or may not have been taken
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me?
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Raf Simons : Who do I shoot for those vinyl boots?
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f I’ve realized one thing after my relatively new obsession with Raf Simons, it’s that he is as good a designer as he is a businessman. Having been put in a box that could possibly have been labeled “make art not profit” for almost 20 years which comprised of a 7 year tenure at the helm of Jil Sander along with designing for his own label Raf Simons since 1995 and a game changing move of taking the reigns at Christian Dior in 2012, Simons has officially proved to doubters that he can damn well sell without stepping away from Dior’s DNA and his own aesthetic. And how could he not sell? If I take Dior’s fall 2015 collection for example, the one with the sultry, animal vibe, tell me which ordinary human being would’ve expected to see something as elegant and refreshing as the collection turned out? I know I wouldn’t. I mean, I don’t think there was even one piece of clothing with a generic animal print. When I hear the words “animal inspired clothes”, images of Cavalli prints pop up in my head. Or worse and quite devastatingly, thanks to being a resident of the most exhibitionist city in India, I see absolute tacky and eye sore-ing clothes and bags “inspired” by shers , kuttes, billis etc. and usually found in a very particular area of the city ( Hint: It’s not north, east or south. )
often overwhelm me. But I don’t think I have till date found a designer or even a fashion house that used color in a way that resonated with me and intrigued me as much as Dior did after I came across the Pre-Fall 2015 Dior Tokyo show and all that followed after. Especially the couture show with the razor sharp pleats and the latex boots, oh it was exhilarating all that color and sheen. I would kill for the boots I swear. I absolutely fell in love with this man and I’ve been obsessing over his work since. In my opinion, the fact that he used to be a designer pretty much only interested in the arty side of fashion and the conceptual aspect of clothes till only a few years ago, has worked in his favor in a major way. Because of his incredible artistic sense and over 17 years of experience in making clothes worthy enough to have been showcased in an art gallery next to a full-page artist statement, his clothes now possess a quality that most designers’ that have always been commercial don’t. Because he’s been at a place in his career where clothes didn’t necessarily need to be a hit among consumers as much as with critics.
He has lived for the meanings and concepts for a long time. And after a change of heart mostly inspired by M. Dior himself, he realized he always did have an urge to be able to simply design for beauty and not necessarily for explanation one My point is, no one quite does day. Either way, he’s bloody good clothes like Raf. I’m the kind of at both. person who pretty much wears only black all the time and colors
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t’s no secret that I fangirl over Raf the same way a 15 year old girl fangirls over one direction. After the release of the documentary, Dior & I, I went mad trying to find a way to watch it but to my disappointment I couldn’t. Until almost a year later a couple days back and I can’t even begin to describe the feeling I was left with. My reasons to watch it to begin with were to simply know more about Raf ’s journey at Dior knowing how different his kind of clothes were at Jil Sander and his namesake label. I was intrigued even at the idea of a documentary being made for a designer who had only just been handed the throne to a house as legendary as Dior. They wouldn’t make a film for just anyone recording the very first minute he stepped into the CD atelier. As I watched the film, it was evident that it wasn’t sugar coated. There was admiration, desire, stress, anxiety, anger, all sorts of emotions to be seen. From Raf ’s growing knowledge of similarities between M.Christian Dior and himself to the premieres of the atelier having to live upto the expectations of the new creative director within the shortest of the deadlines. There was love and there was pain and there were tears. Including mine. Even though Raf recently resigned as creative director for personal reasons, I think what he did for the house in his 3 years will remain iconic. And we will all be remembering his thigh high vinyl boots and Sterling Ruby printed garments even when we’re older. No matter who is given the punishing task of handling this house, these past 3 years of the house will remain synonymous with Raf and his sublime aesthetics. And I will shamelessly also state that my opinion on this genius of a man is also clouded by his raw emotions throughout the film. I should possibly thank the director for that.
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Hate you like I love you ? : Masaba A
s a 20 year old girl, I’m well acquainted with the name Masaba Gupta. Her’s were the first sarees I ever wore for teachers day in my school and for my 12th grade farewell. Because at the time, the idea of wearing a typical heavy sari was boring as hell. And if I was going to be wrapped in 9 yards of fabric and uncomfortably walking in heels for a whole day I wanted to at least wear something that was me and not loud indian wedding. And at the time, most of my friends were going to don somewhat heavily embellished sarees anyway which was a horrifying thought to even consider. So I chose a lemon and pink colored saree with a camera print blouse for teachers day and an off white silk saree with an orange border with a black blouse and a dark grey net pallu for my farewell. Was I happy with both my choices? Oh yes. And I made good decisions because unlike most of my friends I was way more comfortable since I wore light fabrics. because unlike most of my friends I was way more comfortable since I wore light fabrics. The prints that Masaba’s store stock looked scrumptious whenever I’d walk in. Affordable price tags dont hurt either! But after a while my attachment with Masaba started to
subside when I wanted to wear my yellow and pink saree again and I took it out of my closet to see that the camera print blouse had faded in several places. It was quite surprising to me why a designer would make such horrible quality clothes, it came as quite a shock. I’d only worn it once for half a day after all! Another instance was when a printed jacket I bought from her with the sleeves rolled up and stitched literally started to look worn out just after one wear. The off white color with black print actually turned yellowish. It became clearer to me why her prices weren’t as high as other designers and I felt stupid to have even spent any money on her clothes eventually. This is not saying that she isn’t creative because she was probably the first designer to come up with such quirky prints and make them a hit, atleast in the beginning. And it’s definitely not easy to be so successful since the age of 18. But really, how good is a designer if a girl can’t wear the clothes twice?
Bloggers that rule my world Who doesn’t love a bunch of
stylish fashion snobs with a sense of humor? Giving blogging a twist and stepping out of the mainstream fashion blogger genre are these two awesome bloggers who will give you your daily dose of fashion information and inspiration while making you laugh!
Manrepeller Started by Leandra Medine based on the concept that it’s name suggests, man repelling. She was a mere 21 year old journalism student when she founded the blog in 2010 but she didn’t imagine it would take off as fast and hard as it did. Her USP till date, remains her unique man repelling concept. It merely means fashion and style that women love but men hate. Not set in stone yet embedded in the DNA of the blog. Being a feminist and an acclaimed fashion critic now, she’s developed a website which isn’t just the blog on your next window. She has 8 contributors on her blog who each have their witty, quirky take on high fashion that you won’t find anywhere. Especially not in Vogue. She’ll make the modern, smart woman fashionista or not fashionista, want to visit her website daily for a fresh take on fashion and lifestyle and everything beyond.
Bryanboy
Ideally, he would’ve been the first on this list since he was the first blogger I started following but his relevance is in no way compromised simply because of this list. Neither will his place as the ‘queen’ of the blogosphere. The web developer turned blogger has come a long way from his parents’ home in Manila where he started this blog in 2004. He is now one of the most important names in fashion so much so to have a Marc Jacobs bag named after him and a front row seat reserved for him at every major show. His main USP is his explicit honesty and his fearless opinions on everything to do with fashion. Ofcourse his sartorial level being a full 10 doesn’t hurt his repertoire. It has gained him utmost fame and taken him to the very top of the hierarchy of fashion bloggers. I mean ,how many more bloggers have you seen co-judging on America’s Next Top Model? This just went on to further establish his niche in the industry and a declaration in itself that Bryan boy is a big deal and he’s here to stay. About his business model, this queen right here makes more than a wooping $100,000 a year. He told NYmag that he makes most of his revenue from advertising on his blog and now that he’s a huge success he charges for events he chooses to appear at. Making it clear that he isn’t materialistic and will not charge people he supports, he says it’s more important for him to get his content.
November 2015
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From Style.com to Voguerunway
For every fashion follower, july
bugged with reality and stupidity of human beings in in general, I knew which site to log onto to forget all the crap. Style. com was the friend that was there for me when this interest in fashion first sparked up in me. In 2012 when I was freaking out before boards, I would take breaks and log onto the site to Whenever I’d read a Bazaar or a take my mind off numbers and W, if I had no idea what a certain balance sheets. fashion reference was about I had style.com’s archives to count I vividly recall surfing through on. When I’d see Bryanboy put the chic, black colored website up a photo on instagram with shamelessly critiquing Olivier the new Loewe bag, I knew it Rousteing as if we were was the PVC box clutch because Blanks & Phelps ourselves Style.com featured it. When I was while on the phone with my 2015 would have proved to be a painful period. After the painful news that style.com was coming to an end, it felt as if an old friend was breaking up with me. No I am not delusional. Style.com was the kind of friend who was helpful, fuss free and reliable.
If you’re a fashion follower, you have this man
to thank for helping you understand what the clothes in the Commes Des Garcons show actually mean. Without his fast, comprehensive reviews on styledotcom more than half the fashion following population would be clueless at the sight of fashion season. No he is not the only fashion critic in F town but he’s possibly the only one that matters at this pivotal moment in fashion where the second an outfit is sent out on the ramp it is onto our phone screens and we need to know what it’s all about. For me, Blanks has been the reason I started understanding clothes and collections at all and his reviews are ones that have challenged my vocabulary to no end. He was born in Auckland, New Zealand and was fond of reading throughout his childhood. He had never consciously read a fashion article or review but one writer he recalls is Kennedy Fraser of the New Yorker. He had a 17 year stint
dispensing style advice on Canada’s Fashion
best friend. Style.com there for me when I needed it. And now it’s gone. Bought over by Conde Nast and turned into VogueRunway, the archives still stay. Blanks’ reviews and throwback Thursdays still stay, even though he didn’t. Phelps still stays. But my all black comforting friend is long gone.
the most fashion-rich magazine in my access, I miss my old friend. I do go to BOF now to read Tim Blanks’ reviews and I don’t spend as much time on voguerunway as I did on Style but maybe in time, I will. But until then, I’ll keep typing style. com in my browser window no matter where it leads.
Now when I type in style.com to understand a show, I’m lead to a comparatively brighter website on which if I click on certain things I’m lead to vogue. com and that just irritates me. Even though it’s been months, and I do like vogue because it’s
Profile : Tim Blanks
where he reviewed and recorded interviews
of designers. Following which he worked at many successful magazines such as GQ , the financial times, Vogue etc. He also came up with a series called the Master series which were hour long interviews of the most important designers. In 2006, he became the editor of Style.com, a fashion news website which gave him utmost freedom to write as he pleased. He claims that he loved the working environment of Style and it was an important part of his career. Though now he’s moved onto Business of fashion since july 2015 when style.com was officially bought over by Conde Nast and made a part of Vogue as VogueRunway. A lover of Cristobal Balenciaga and a curious man in general, he loves fashion inside out and it shows in his writing. His style of writing remains the same even though he is now onto a site which is more about business and less about the clothes. In his words “The fact is, my voice is my voice. I’m not going to suddenly start talking in a Donald Duck voice,” Well said, Tim. We wouldn’t want that either.
November 2015
Balenciaga: Emperor to emperor
Wannabe
My eternal attachment to the Balenciaga motorcycle bag
After having spent the past month I lay my hands on an anthracite delving into the archives of the fashion house that made me fall in love with inanimate things like the velo, I realized that I’m not exactly ecstatic about it’s current position. Although I’m a huge fan of Alex Wang, I don’t think he’d done what I’d call justice to a house as historic as Balenciaga.
While going through collections of the past decade I’ve found myself gaping at the absolute genius of Ghesquiere and his creations for the house. Gutsy as ever, absolutely fearlessly designed yet remaining so respectful to M.Balenciaga and his incredible silhouettes. I am even more ecstatic with what Nicolas is doing at Louis Vuitton but after having gone through this overdose of Balenciaga’s recent past, I’m having a hard time dealing with reality. The reality that is the house of Balenciaga may never be as breathtakingly risqué and beautiful at the same time again. It’s been about a month since we heard about Wang’s departure from the brand and the appointment of Demna Gvasalia of Vetements in his place and I won’t lie, I had no idea who he was. Given that his name remained hidden in his years at Margiela as one of the few undisclosed ‘secret’ designers before Galliano last year and his modesty even at the helm of a fashion house that was recently nominated for the prestigious LVMH prize, I feel a sense of nostalgia. Wasn’t this exactly how everyone felt in 98 when Ghesquiere was brought in as a temporary replacement after a barbaric show the previous season?
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to be a whiny baby about it either. Except for certain occasions one of which was seeing a navy blue City in Emporio carried by some aunty who probably can’t even pronounce the name right. Yeah, that was a hard day. Tears may or may not have been shed.
classic velo about two years ago and I was hooked. Although the responsible spender in my head didn’t allow me to pick it up that day, I popped up at Holt Renfrew 24 hours later panting and excited, ready for my first ever mindless splurge. But to my bad fortune, I’d missed it. It was gone. I cursed the person who must’ve bought it and left with my head hung. Now I’m very responsible when it comes to spending money. Even when I do spend it, I tend to overthink later on. So I’m not one of those people who’s haunted by the things they don’t buy. Except this time, I swear to you I lost my MIND. I pushed the disappointment way back into the “do not bother thinking this” area of my mind but every now and then I was reminded of it. The feeling of supple, exquisite leather on my hands and the way it hung off my forearm complementing my offensively norm core outfit of
jeans and a T shirt. I wanted it so bad. No, I needed it. It was the most beautiful thing I had come across in any store and it had to be mine. This wasn’t normal though. I’m talking about a BAG. Not an ex. I was aware of that. I think. But I had to shut up about it, I was back in Delhi and there was barely anyone here who even knew about Balenciaga let alone a retailer. There was no way I could have it except for ordering it online plus 30% tax. Which was not happening. I had to find peace and learn to wait. I wasn’t going to lose hope but I wasn’t going
No one had any idea who this new kid was. He was even fired after that very show but the roaring response to the all black, grunge chic collection guaranteed him a place at the house. fired after that very show but the roaring response to the all black, grunge chic collection guaranteed him a place at the house. The complexity that Ghesquiere brought to the clothes even while
using packaging boxes and sleeping bags, will forever be unmatched. And I will never, ever forget those badass robot-medieval goddess hybrid boots from SS 2007 that are right up there next to the Alexander McQueen armadillo shoes on my all time favorites list. But the hard truth is, Ghesquiere has moved on and for good reason. As for Balenciaga, it’s a new dawn. Even though the designers at Kering (and most others
Eventually I started getting more and more fascinated with the house of Balenciaga. I read a lot. I watched a lot. I fell in love with the structure of Cristobal’s clothes and the silhouettes, oh just exquisite each old photograph I came across! I was overjoyed just looking through archives of images on the internet I cannot imagine the agony I’d go through if I were to ever touch them or –dare I say it- wear them. I don’t know how and I cannot fully explain why but I developed a deep, deep appreciation and admiration for this magnificent house and it’s only been growing ever since. And ofcourse, through this walk down past collections I ended up falling in love with two designers. Nicolas Ghesquiere and Alexander Wang. thanks to fashion design turning into a bloody selfish profit driven fiasco) a bloody selfish profit driven fiasco) are known to be put on a tight leash financially, I have a strange feeling that Gvasalia might just have the X factor to stun them and the world. Here’s hoping my intuition holds true.
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What’s trending across the globe! SHEARLING
GOTH With crafting lace into dramatic shapes at Alexander McQueen with ruffles and collars while Wang goes heavy metal with ball chain details
Valentino
For styling this trend, opt for a minimal outfit and pick the shearling as a statement piece in the form of a snood or a skirt. Go daring with a jacket only around New Year’s if you’re in Delhi or you’ll start to sweat through! Fur boots would be a fun option too
Alexander Wang
Preen
Marco de Vincenzo
House of Holland
Shearling dyed at Roksanda, patchworked at Marco de Vincenzo. While it was put in bold stripes at House of Holland and in as cuffs and collars everywhere.
Alexander McQueen
You can never go wrong with black. Layer up as much as you’d like! A sexy way to incorporate lace into your ensemble without looking risqué would be to wear a lace knit which is stocked up in every major high street store at the moment, and to layer on with darker shades. Even a subtle hint of the lace would give a nod to goth but while being wearable!
OP ART
Emilio Pucci
Dior
Optical illusion art is everywhere this season. From Raf ’s dior with eclectic prints and a trippy take on M.Dior’s leopard print to Emilio Pucci’s high voltage, hypnotic zig zags. Incorporate these into your wardrobe this fall with stocking up on all the printed dresses you can find at Zara at the moment. There’s a huge variety of colourful, fun prints which would look so chic worn under a swing coat or even a leather
Balmain
For a simple look, grab a velvet slip dress from any high street store and pair with a luxe jacket or a fur snood to look like a million bucks!
Saint Laurent
Luxe is turned all the way up when designers have decided to send out their models looking like they’re headed for a glitzy 80’s party! With party dresses and power shoulders in jewel tones, who wouldn’t want to take on this trend?
Christopher Kane
PARTYING IT UP
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Black swing coat with abstract animal print in light shades of peach and pink with thigh high grey vinyl boots and animal print aviators.
White jewel
Black A line
neck second skin mesh
dress with
an embellished
knit top and
mesh knit pencil skirt in
black collar,
with thigh high abstract
mud tones.
With brown mid calf
animal print vinyl boots in mud
length vinyl
boots and a dirty yellow small satchel.
brown and
pale green.
Mini jacquard dress, with puffed sleeves and jellyfish print. With pointed white kitten heels.
Bone shade pantsuit including a jacket worn over a sheer white top and drawstring pants, with a black clutch and pointed kitten heels.
Navy blue second skin ribbed knit top and pencil skirt both with fluted hems. Pointed cream colored calf length boots and a small, vibrant purple clutch.
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Nicolas Ghesquiere : Game changer
Till a few years ago, when someone
uttered the words ‘LV’, the first thing that would come to mind was monogram. Having been one of the biggest luxury giants and acquiring a space in wardrobes of all kinds of women in our lives. Even if the speedy round bag in our friend’s closet wasn’t exactly the perfect round and if you looked closely the label on the inside spelled “louise vuiton’, this label has caused enough ruckus at some point in our lives even if we were label haters. 3-4 years ago, I wouldn’t even turn around to look at someone if they were carrying an LV bag. No offence to the Marc Jacobs fans out there, I’m only just starting to acquaint myself with the history of these brands but back then I was quite the mango person when it came to fashion. Let me clarify here that I am in no way degrading these past designs, I know the kind of genius and thought required for designing is very nerve wrecking and exhausting and I have immense respect for Jacobs and his team. All I’m saying is, there’s a lot of brands that we were so used to just ignoring at the first sight of a monogram which are now possibly the biggest shows of the fashion seasons. All this has been made possible thanks to the creative directors that have taken up the soul-sucking, terrifyingly exhausting job of creating designs that will no less than go down in history as game changing moments. One of these sights of a game changing turnaround is at Louis Vuitton at the moment. With the appointment of the most risk taking, innovative designer in 2013, Louis Vuitton proved that it was asking for a change and boy did it get a good one. Having been a directional leader at Balenciaga for 15 years before taking up the helm at LV, Nicolas Ghesquiere managed not only to create designs that had fashion editors and followers hungrily picking
g up everything he sent out the runway, but to also give Balenciaga an entirely different niche in the industry. Although they did not end on very good terms due to the budget constraints that obstructed his creative genius, his appointment at Louis Vuitton only offered him more exciting stuff to do. The first change he made as creative director was to change the logo of LV and make it more rounded and less geometric which symbolised a new dawn at the brand. His idea at LV is to create classics unlike the cutting edge pieces he created at Balenciaga. He says that at Balenciaga, he created for museums but at Louis Vuitton he’s creating for wardrobes. He took his explorative quality and applied it in LV while making some very interesting, attractive, wearable classics. His goal was to make clothes that would simply never allow his clients to come back after a year and say they went out of style. And for the past 2 years he has done an impeccable job of creating some of the most exciting collections that had everyone put LV onto their most awaited shows list each season. Some of his designs included a new and already deemed iconic bag called the Petite Malle which has been inspired by the Louis Vuitton trunks and looks absolutely scrumptious. Nicolas also convinced the leather workshops of Vuitton to start crafting leather for his ready to wear collections which was a first in the history of Louis Vuitton. All this just goes to show what a powerful creative director can do for a stagnating fashion house. You can experience this firsthand, f you’d walk into a Louis Vuitton store now. You’d see the joie de vivre of the new Louis Vuitton. The logo fatigue is only a faint whisper in the distance.
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Has the fashion industry gone too far?
There’s been countless
dicussions on the current state of the fashion industry recently. The reasons being the resignations of so many designers from the helms of the biggest fashion houses, some having years and years of tenure while others fairly new but breaking new ground. Alexander Wang resigning from Balenciaga, Raf Simons from Dior and now Alber Elbaz from Lanvin. The only predictable departure could have been Wang’s because he did not exactly innovate in comparison to his predecessor, Nico-
Fact
-las Ghesquiere. There was little surprise there. But what about Raf ? He literally woke up house of Dior. He infused such modernity and newness, he made the Dior woman absolutely on point in accordance with the current times. Whether it was chopping off M.Dior’s ball gown silhouette down to make a beautiful yet so future forward a look or using Sterling Ruby’s canvas paintings as a print for garments. He innovated at the house and how. So why is it that he decided to leave? In his statement he said it was for personal reasons.
But just a while after, Suzy Menkes of Vogue published an article on the current state of fashion where she expressed the hardships and the problems that come with the throne of a big fashion house, and it really hit me hard. Before that, I thought it was a silly decision on Raf ’s part to leave such a legendary house. But after the article, I reralised how the fast paced ready to wear and couture and resort and holiday collections can rest heavy on the shoulders of one person. And for someone who needs to think and make art, deadlines as short as 3
to 4 weeks are killing. They kill the process they put on the creatives and it is soul sucking. It’s expecting them to just check their lives in at the door before they enter and hand themselves over completely. When I think of it this way, i realise that what happened, happened for the best. And if the best creatives of our industry want to preserve their passion they are right in stepping down and believing in themselves and not staying shackled in the profit driven world.
exhibitionism in his work. He despises runway culture and finds most of it too ostentatious. Most of his work has revolved around the idea of the feminine form and in trying to alter the kimomo silhouette. He makes clothes for regular ohji Yamamoto is one of people and wants the wearer to the most renowned japanese feel relaxed when he/she wears fashion designers. He’s them. One of the main reasons I won immense accolades for like his clothes is because of the his work and is one of the religious use of the color Black. most influential avant garde Yohji Yamamoto loves black designers. Even at the age of and finds it to be calming. He 72, he remains humble and still believes that color takes away claims that he only works for from the other things such as the joy of working and not for fabric, feel and texture. He has money. Maybe that’s the reason always designed in mostly blacks he doesn’t display qualities of and continues to wear black the
Profile :
Yohji Yamamoto
Y
Raf Simons created his very first couture collection for Christian Dior in exactly 8 weeks which is the blink of an eye when it comes to intricate couture. After that he was under the pressure of creating ready to wear, couture, cruise collections in no more than 5 weeks.
most till date. Yamamoto is also constantly inspired by the concept of wabi sabi, the adherence to imperfection and this is evident in his irregular cuts and unfinished edges. When you look at his clothes, they are avant garde very obviously but they hold, still a quality which makes them romantic. Maybe it’s his tailoring that make the garments look like they fit so perfectly even if they’re baggy. An interesting thing about him is that though he’s a tiny man but he holds a black belt in karate. That’s a first! An avant garde fashion designer who can kill.
November 2015
Wannabe
Stereotypes and feminism! It’s a hard world for women. As girls, we are scrutinized through the magnifying glass of impossibly extreme and rigid beauty standards and not considered good enough when compared to men. And on top of that it is so unfair that all guys are jerks and the term of ‘loyalty’ does not exist in the dictionary of a male. Yes it sucks when you start doubting your boyfriend when he doesn’t pay your bill and agrees to dutch when you ask him politely to. Oh and especially when they are by default not the embodiment of a perfect, macho demi god, how can you even feel right about the concept of marriage? demi god, how can you even feel right about the concept of marriage? And of course it is so demeaning that the stereotypical indian parent wants that
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his daughter simply get married to a good, stable man and live a happy life. Where in these do you really see a woman actually being subjected to some sort of wrong doing? As self declared ‘feminists’ do we ever bother to look at the world from another’s eyes? Because if we did, there’s loads of loopholes in this idea of ‘equality’ of genders where certain things like the weight of money earning and stereotypes of behavior are put on the shoulders of the suppressed gender from the minute they are born. No this gender is not women. The stereotype of the bread earner is always on the guy. Why is it that if a woman who doesn’t work and stays home is completely fine but a man who does so a lazy bum? If we’re talking about complete equality let’s eradicate
this concept and let the guys have the choice between what they want to do. And who ever said that it’s only women who are subjected to all sorts of atrocities when it comes to looks? How many guys have you called ‘hot’ that didn’t have abs? The standards of good looks are just as unfair for men as they are for women. And who in the world even came up with this little idea of gentleman behavior? Do you realize the kind of responsibilities you indirectly put on a man under the obligation of being a gentleman? Girls aren’t born with the right to never pay their bills in restaurants and with the incapability of pulling out their own chairs and doors. So why should they do it for us? for us? But the worst of all is
the current date, of how women shamelessly take advantage of the vulnerable state of the world in this horrific feminazi apocalypse to get what they want. Agreed that we need all the safety we can get and changes have to be made but why on earth do we have to suppress the male population for no reason? Even if a guy tries to stand up to a girl for something she did wrong, he has to think a couple of times because he knows if she can manipulate the situation her way she can easily put it on him and it will all end up as his fault. There’s something very, very wrong with society at this point. Feminism is being misused and we shouldn’t take more time in changing this. We need equality and harmony and we need it at the right time which is not a second later
Sarvjeet Vs. Jasleen Kaur : The real victim The case of
Sarvjeet Vs Jasleen Kaur, appalling as it may be, came at the right time. The thing that caused this girl to create this mess was a concept that was born quite possibly on the facebook statuses of bored, and usually friendless people with no real job in life. This concept is called ‘feminazism’. It’s the act of taking the absolutely innocent, harmless term feminism and using it in a way which completely slaughters the real purpose of it, and tries to suppress the other gender instead. In my opinion, I think this was the root of the problem to begin with. Understood, that we women deal with countless instances in life where we are looked upon as weak and sometimes not even looked at, at all, but that in no way
means we should turn
into hyper active creatures who take offence
looked upon as weak and sometimes not even looked at, at all, but that in no way means we should turn into hyper active creatures who take offence at every word mildly arguable and in this particular case, exploit the current sensitive state of this country and it’s people for trying to make a point in a stupid fight. Let me make it clear that I stand for equality for both the genders but the atmosphere that currently prevails in the media is one where a woman’s word will trump a man’s at any hour of the day. I think that anything to do with women at the moment is so delicate of an issue that even the slightest bit of a reality check of what feminism (which is EQUALITY and not SUPERIORITY) actually means starts a
domino effect of crazy -selves. Jasleen Kaur is the perfect example of tempers in motion. The world (most of it. Atleast online. And in the media) towards us women at the moment is trying to be sensitive and cautious and maybe even overdoing it a little but it’s all in good faith so I see no point why anyone would want to take advantage of this to try to make a fool out of themselves. Jasleen Kaur is the perfect example of the herd mentality that has been fostered on social media with the ‘share and rant’ culture. The world (most of it. Atleast online. And in the media) towards us women at the moment is trying to be sensitive and cautious and maybe even overdoing it a little but it’s all in good faith so I see no point why anyone would want to take advantage of this to try to make a fool out of them-
the herd mentality that has been fostered on social media with the ‘share and rant’ culture. It’s a huge wake up call for us as modern, intelligent users of the internet to think twice and recheck the facts (if there’s even any) instead of just being the angry sunny deol’s of feminism and raging out at the very mention of “help pls share” by a girl. If you don’t agree with me, try to imagine a world where us girls would have the liberty to scare everyone by saying ‘tu jaanta nai mai kaun hu’. Sounds damn cool but eventually we’ll realize there would be no one left to open doors or tight jars or lend us their jackets when we’re cold. So choose wisely. Save the Sunny Deol tempers for the people who really
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