My Classmate from my good old Symbiosis days, Avinah Deoskar, is now quite a big shot at Pernod Ricard, which in case you didn’t figure, is the parent company of Seagram’s which in turn owns the brand Blender’s Pride.
So you see, I am suddenly flooded with invites to the poshest events in town and when it’s a fashion event (not frequent in Bangalore, at all) you won’t catch me being slow to accept, no sir, not a chance!
By the way, Aarti Saxena Deoskar who wrote the last guest post on the Fashion Tour is his wife and my dear friend (and soon-to-be Business Partner), and naturally, she also happens to be from the very same notorious batch of 99 from SIMS, that her husband and I belong to, in fact Aarti and I were also “flat-mates” while we were studying in Pune. Old ties…
About the event : I have to say this right away, even if it’s jumping the gun a bit – If the Blender’s Pride Bangalore Fashion Week (BPBFW) was a 5.5 on 10 the Blender’s Pride fashion Tour (BPFT) was definitely closer to 7+.
Now, if you attended both events, I am sure you would agree immediately, but if you go purely by the amount of hype and coverage in the papers, you will probably think the opposite, which is to say you would think the BPBFW was the better event. Though, I can’t imagine why the press went crazy over the BPBFW and simply ignored the BPFT, because although the fashion tour had fewer collections shown, according to me, they were far better than the BFW shows.
I hope you are noting at this point, that I am NOT talking about the “Famousness of the designers” involved, or their overall “Betterness at Fashion Design” and certainly not about “Showstoppers” – I am talking merely, about my impression of the clothes presented.
The venue for the Fashion Tour was better too, while I am no fan of the Leela’s overall looks, some parts of the interiors are charming and the location is simply unbeatable. The crowd was better, again that is a subjective matter, but from a Press photographer’s perspective I would think there was definitely more eye-candy at the BPFT.
Next- even if you weigh the respective “Celebrity Wattage” factors of the two events, the Fashion tour sort of had better known names in terms of Designers, Models , other Fashion Industry Stalwarts (Like Ambika Pillai) and yes – better Showstoppers (I frankly don’t get this showstopper thing, but anyway…) not to mention some well recognized Fashionistas and Page 3 attendees.
Anyway, let me tell you what I loved and what I didn’t.
There was also some stuff I couldn’t figure, but that isn’t appearing in this post.
First, what I loved
I’ve already mentioned this, the venue was really convenient and nice. The crowd was good.
You might not believe this- but I am addicted to that little short video of Priyanka Chopra- who by the way is the Brand Ambassador for the BPFT 2011 -that kept playing while the shows were about to begin. The Song in that video is so cool…I just discovered it’s “Iwouldn’t wanna be like you” by The Alan Parsons Project. I currently tripping on the original version.
I loved the screen near the reception where motion sensors triggered of a fake on screen paparazzi hysteria as you entered, so I had virtual flash bulbs going off in my face and a crowd of pushing and jostling virtual media folks rushing towards me when I walked the carpet, so fun !
The day 1 collections were all good but the collection by Rohit Gandhi and Rahul Khanna (Label Cue) , called – Amazement; was in my opinion several notches above the others. Really, really, nice.
I immediately wanted half the stuff on the ramp.
I also really loved some of delicate lace & mirror-work clothes from Anand Kabra’s collection – lovely stuff.
I loved the nude face with bright lips look, I can’t wait to get my hands on a bright orange lipstick (MAC has one I know)
I didn’t love all of Vikram Phadnis’s stuff but some pieces were fabulous, not my style but fabulous anyway.
I loved Carol Gracias – She is incredibly attractive on the Ramp.
I Loved Lisa Haydon, that girl is gorgeous and she has a truly well toned body, not skinny just great.
Gisele looked very pretty too.
Next, What I loathed
(not really, but loathed goes better with loved than “disliked” so
I’ll just use it even if it’s a bit strong)
The crappy weather
The Rush to get in, The Rush at the bar, The Rush in the Loo…but that’s just me.
I hated the fact that there were no serious fashion editors from fashion publications.
Ramya and Sharmila walking the ramp…I mean, why? They aren’t bad looking women as such, but next to the sleek models they looked totally dumpy. Why couldn’t they Just attend the show and get on the ramp to say a few encouraging words for the designer – isn’t that far simpler and more classy?
I fretted about this a bit, but then I realized the Fashion Weeks held internationally, are seriously business-oriented behind all the glitzy glamour, they are for Buyers and Fashion editors to set the trends and book orders for the next season, while in India the shows are for entertainment, the buying happens elsewhere.
Some of the clothes in Gavin Miguel’s show weren’t fitted for the models, so they weren’t sitting well at all, although the colors in his show were lovely.
I hated the fact that the seating wasn’t on a gradient, so the back row people had to crane their necks and get up from their seats to catch the details. Some people sat on seats marked reserved and refused to budge…excuse me?
I hated the camera guys and their shoddy camera work; I mean why can’t they zoom into the details once in a while? They just pan from top to bottom and back up again like zombies – hello?
The press kits could have been more imaginative too; I mean- asking for a little more focus on the apparel construction techniques and other such details in a fashion show review/write-up isn’t asking for too much, is it?
Again this wasn’t an event for buyers, so I just kept telling myself that.
I am upset because I really wanted to go over every piece in Rahul & Rohit’s collection in detail on my blog, like a proper collection review, and there was no way to get good pictures, I would dearly have liked to have pictures of the entire collection at least soft copies or online slideshows– you know, like the ones on style.com ?
And before I forget, I hated the after party , especially the stupid DJ who refused to play Lady Gaga for us, can you believe that, the stupid chump?! I mean, how can you not play Lady Gaga or Good old Rock songs, and insist on playing silly club mixes and trance music all the time ?!!
There you go, that is my two bits on the biggest 2011 fashion event at Bangalore, so far, that is.
Come on Bangalore, we know you’ve got it in you to be India’s next fashion capital, laidback and cerebral aren’t bad tags to have, but it is time to channel your inner Diva and prove that substance and style make for a killer combination.
Don’t forget the fashion quotient of a city is not just the shows; it includes the street fashion scene too , so what we need is more fashion events, more fashion retailers, more fashion bloggers and more young people taking an interest in everyday fashion and fashion careers as well.
In the end – I would like to Thank the whole Blender’s Pride management team, and all the designers for creating great fashion events like these.
Keep up the great work and please bring many more fashion events to Bangalore, especially Chivas studio.
