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METROSCAPE
METRO MINUTES
No questions about
wearability here. Away from the embellished garments many designers churn
out, Wills Sport's fall-winter presentation in Delhi last week was refreshingly
directed at People Like Us. Models sauntered on and off the ramp in sporty
slim-fit trousers, fleeces, canvas clothes, denim flat-front trousers
and low-slung stretch pants. "The bottom line is it's designed to
appeal to Indians and it's wearable," says Harika Kalkat of
Wills Sport.
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| MEMORIES...: Rawlley and friends |
You'd think Rs 30 lakh and a Honda Accord would
generate more buzz. But the party to celebrate Indian golf's richest tournament,
the Honda-Siel championship in Delhi last week, was surprisingly quiet.
Winner Arjun Singh was present. So was the line-up for a subsequent
ladies' event. The belle of the evening was 1979 Arjuna Awardee Sita
Rawlley, 76. "Golf in India has a long way to go," she says.
"But big prize money encourages talent." Rather quiet talent
though.
For a city used to nothing more than visits
from Bollywood stars, this is a different sort of promotion. Kolkata's
Oxford Bookstore-Gallery is setting off some manic merchandising around
Band of Brothers, the Tom Hanks-Steven Spielberg war teleserial now showing
on HBO. Copies of Stephen Ambrose's bestseller of the same name have already
sold out. If you buy the book (Rs 519), you get a T-shirt, an organiser
and poster free. You also get a chance to enter a contest and win a dinner
or a grab-bag of memorabilia. hbo has sunk about 25 per cent of its total
marketing budget (don't ask for figures) on promos across five Indian
metros. Fine, but any chance of Hanks dropping in?
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| LADY WITH THE LAMPS: Salve at her show |
It's not just about "staining glass",
says Meenakshi Salve. Tiffany's art involves carving out individual
bits from sheets of glass and piecing them together "like a jigsaw".
But the 400 hours of work an item could take don't bother Salve who sells
table lamps, tables and trays at her shop, Ame de verre, in Delhi. Glass
"is spiritual", says Salve, incidentally, Solicitor General
Harish Salve's wife. A buyer at her exhibition at Taj Palace last week
even called them "happy lamps".
The Buy Word
 "Beautiful
things for beautiful people" is giftware designer Sarita Sarna's
idea of exhibitionism. The day-long show of curios-Feng Shui garden animals,
handcrafted glass and brasswork-at Hyatt Regency in Delhi last week had
Diwali in mind. Sarna (above right) owns two gift boutiques named Beautiful
Things, and her family has been in the giftware manufacturing business
since the 1950s. Up for sale at the show were wind chimes with Austrian
crystal, Suffolk glass candle stands, Spanish glass fruit bowls, silver-plated
photo frames and garden ornaments. Prices ranged from Rs 250 for glass
bowls to Rs 5,000 for an ornate wood and wrought iron bench. "Even
if times are tough, people do spend if you put up something they find
worthwhile," said Sarna. Beauty is also in the wallet of the beholder.
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