|
METROSCAPE
Fashion Freeway
It's the countdown to the
LIFW ... and another model's down
 Model
Shayan Munshi, a.k.a. the witness who turned hostile in the Jessica Lall
murder case, has been axed from the LIFW. He was on the list of models
officially announced on July 25, but the organisers later decided that
his presence could be bad publicity. "Some designers felt it would
be good to get a better-known face," says event director Zubin Sarkari
inexplicably, though Munshi has been familiar on the catwalk for over
two years. The 23-year-old model says it was Sarkari who telephoned him
with the news. "People forget that I am not the accused, I am only
one of almost 130 witnesses in the case," he says. "If I've
forgotten someone's face after a gap of two years, why am I being victimised?"
The Fashion Week organisers would rather avoid all questions.
—Anna
M.M. Vetticad
 KITE
CALLS: Udaan (flight), the kite fest organised by MP Vijay Goel (above,
left) at his Lutyens' Delhi residence, hoped to make the most of the symbolic
title and offer a launch pad for kite makers. Goel feels that the fine
art of kite-making, often belittled as a lowly pastime, should be given
the status of a small-scale industry. Therefore, billboards at the venue
showed just how easy it was to make a kite ... along with historical nuggets
on way the ancient Chinese used them as part of military strategy. Chief
guest Vasundhara Raje (above, right) also caught the sentiment of the
evening: "Flying kites is so much healthier than sitting at the Internet."
Are they introducing it in the curriculum?
—Shuchi
Sinha
Q&A:
FERN MALLIS
 Vice
president of IMG and couture commentator Fern Mallis tells Senior
Correspondent Natasha Israni on how designers
at the LIFW should make their "Indianness" their strength.
Q. What can India learn from New York Fashion
Week and how should the LIFW be different?
A. It should remain an Indian experience... understand
the needs and timetables of the customers who attend and service the designers
... also discover and promote Indian models.
Q. Indian fashion was a fad abroad a few
years back. In what form does Indian fashion still hold international
interest?
A. Fashion trends run in cycles but there is
still a strong Indian influence. There's a "spiritual" sense
happening internationally which clearly embraces an Indian theme.
Q. What will it take for an Indian designer
to make an entry into the US market?
A. Talent. Also the first impact these designers
have to make is at home. They need to be true to their heritage and culture
of India.
|
METRO TODAY
Web
Exclusives
