Tuesday 27 October 2015

Lakmé Fashion Week WinterFestive 2015 | Trend Report- Part II

As mentioned in Part I of my Lakmé Fashion Week Winter/Festive 2015 Trend Report, this season, the trends were very strong, making the selection process a tad bit difficult. 
However, after a careful evaluation, I finally narrowed it down to these.
Here is Part II of Lakmé Fashion Week Winter/Festive 2015 Trend Report.


From Left To Right: Ritu Kumar, Swati & Sunaina, Shruti Sancheti, Gaurang, Swati Vijaivargie
While every season of Lakmé Fashion Week celebrates the rich heritage of Indian textiles, this season saw a new wave of Indian textiles and rural handwork. 
From celebrating the traditional weaves of Banaras to ahir embroidery from Gujarat, ikat from Karnataka and Hyderabad and hand-block prints in Anita Dongre’s Grassroot collection, Lakmé Fashion Week Winter/Festive 2015 was an ode to Indian textiles and crafts.


From Left To Right: AM:PM, Payal Singhal, Urvashi Kaur, Nachiket Barve, Quirk Box
No longer a taboo colour for the festive season, black was a favourite choice at Lakmé Fashion Week Winter/Festive 2015. The classic black and white combination made its appearance on all 5 days of Lakmé Fashion Week Winter/Festive 2015
From AM:PM’s block print separates to Payal Singhal’s black and silver embellished Indo-Western pieces, this classic duo was found in a variety of silhouettes and styles.


 From Left To Right: Nikhil Thampi, Ritu Kumar, Myoho, Tarun Tahiliani, Neeta Lulla
No festive winter fashion week is complete without its share of sarees. While some designer stuck to the classic drapes, others tried to change the game around and create an all-new saree.
Foregoing the classic petticoat, Ritu Kumar chose to drape her saree on a pair of chuddiar while Nikhil Thampi decided to play around with the hemline and add an element of sheer to it and Tarun Tahiliani took it further by getting inspired by the dhoti and creating a jumpsuit saree.
This season of Lakmé Fashion Week saw a new avatar of saree that has left us wanting for more.


From Left To Right: Sonaakshi Raaj, Chiria, Nikasha, Rinku Sobti, Shivangi Sahni
This season, designers seem to be in a fringe state of mind! 
From Nikasha’s flapper-style fringe to Shivangi Sahni’s boho-luxe tassels to Chiria’s beaded tribal inspired piece, fringe seems to be the preferred trimming of the season.
Adorning everything from jackets to capes to evening gowns, the fringe trend is worth giving a go.


From Left To Right: Ishita Mangal, Kriti Tula, Ka-Sha, Rouka, Divya Sheth
Layering up for the cooler climate is a norm. However, designers were not layering up to stay warm. They were doing it to stay on trend. From silhouette mix to texture play and from fusion styling to traditional India attire, layering was one of the most the popular trends for Lakmé Fashion Week Winter/Festive 2015.

Creatives by Digital Daku



Saturday 10 October 2015

Book Review | Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

For the longest time I have been wanting to expand my blog. Add a variety of things without diluting its true essence. Since I don’t fancy myself a food or travel expert, like many other fashion bloggers, I could not branch out into those genres.
I decided to go with something that I am extremely passionate about as well as have quite a bit of knowledge about the subject. Nothing better than books fits the bill perfectly!

I have always loved books and reviewing it comes naturally to me. However, unlike my Lit days where the book review was more structured and technical this one is purely on an emotional level. 

I have met people whose lives have changed after reading Dante's Inferno or Charles Darwin’s The Descent of Man. Their whole outlook on life changed. I never really experienced that with either of those two writers or their works; or many others, for that matter.

Little did I know, a modern day novel would have a profound impact on me. Never did I imagine, that after reading the book I would start seeing life through a whole new spectrum.
My experience during and after reading Me Before You, by British writer Jojo Moyes, compelled me to write about it.
For my first every book review on the blog I decided to start with Me Before You. It is my first book by Jojo Moyes and it has left me wanting, no craving, for more!
JojoMoyes-MeBeforeYou-BookReview-Amena-Fashionopolis
Photography by Suraj Warrier
On the surface level, the novel tells the poignant story of two diametrically opposite people put together in a difficult situation and their journey through it.
Louisa ‘Lou’ Clark, “one of the invisibles”, British girl hired to care for, William ‘Will’ Traynor, a bitter quadriplegic.

There is nothing new about this storyline. What makes this book stand out is how Jojo Moyes has shaped her characters and their struggles to bring to life an emotional, romantic and grounded in reality story to life. 
While elements of fantasy and romance are interweaved into the story, at no point does it ever lose its grip on reality. 
Moyes manages to walk the fine line between romantic fantasy and reality. At no point did one side infringe on the other.
She does not mislead us into believing otherwise not did she sugarcoat the hard part. Like Will, Lou and everyone else, the readers too have to face the hard parts.
Here’s how Moyes aced the hardest part of the book. She did not get harsh or overly emotional about it. She dealt it with the finesse it required. And like Lou, the readers experienced the worst of heartache in a sublime manner that is heartbreaking and cathartic.

One of the many reasons why I loved Me Before You with such a passion is, I have never connected with a character as strongly as I did with Lou. (The last time I made such a strong connection with a character, it was Jamila from Hanif Kureishi’s The Buddha of Suburbia) 
Most of times you could replace Lou with Amena. Like Lou, I am a creature of familiar. I don’t like taking risk or stepping out of my comfort. I dislike change of any kind.
I completely connected with Lou and her
 inherent qualities and personal struggles. 

Lou is the quintessential girl next door, living in a small English town with her parents and sister and dating a guy who is more interested in marathons than her.
She has been working in the same job for years and had the café she worked in not shut, she would have worked there forever. Loss of employment and her parents’ financial crunch makes her take up the job of Will’s caretaker.
From their first meet, Will makes it very clear that Lou is not wanted and he makes sure she knows it too.
Lou knows she is unwelcome and is ready to leave until she finds out the reason why she has been hired. The reason not only shakes her but also makes her determine to make sure things don’t go as Will's plan.
In the process of doing this, Lou, with the help of Will, truly discovers herself. And through Lou, Will gets to partly relive the life he once had.

Will makes her realise that even though she is physically fit as a fiddle, she’s emotionally paralysed. For almost 7 year she has let a past incident hold her back- from exploring and living her life to the fullest. 
In contrast to Lou, Will, who for the past two years has be prisoned within the four wheels of his wheelchair, due to a motorbike accident, is constantly buzzing. His body may not function like it used to, but his mind is a livewire. He introduces Lou to new authors, foreign cinema and the world beyond. He shows Lou her real potentials and what she is missing. He pushes, until she herself is desirous of wanting more.

In may ways Will reminds me of Augustus ‘Gus’ Waters from The Fault in Our Stars. Both men are in the peak of their life-Gus in his teens, Will in his youth, when they both become victims of fate that change their lives forever.
While their personalities differ- Gus full of life, Will bitter- in their own way they help the women they love discover herself and grown. They open new horizons for the women in their lives by showing them the joys of life and living their life to the fullest.

Will’s sharp wit and intelligent personality radiates through out the book, it is when he is put in the same room as Lou’s overly fit boyfriend does one see his real charisma and the glimmer of the man he was before the accident.
While Patrick tries and fails to impress Lou and her family with his marathon stories, it is Will, with just his words and kind act that manages to leave them all enthralled. 
The clever juxtaposing of the two-Will in a wheelchair yet dynamic and Patrick, robust and virile, yet dull and boring-by Moyes is one of the best scenes in the book.

The best part about the book is the title: Me Before You.
The title with the briefest of words captures the true essence of the book. In three small words it says it all- putting my life, my need, wants, desires and choices before you or anyone else and not feeling guilty about it. 
This can only happen if one has the freedom and power of making their own choices. The central theme of the book is power of choice. The freedom to make those decisions for yourself and not feels guilty about it.
And staying true to the title, Will does put himself before everyone else who loves him and no one can really do anything about it except support him.
While exercising his rights to do with his life as he pleases he teaches Lou a very valuable lesson. He liberates her from her inhibitions and pushes her to explore the unknown and to live her life to its fullest potential.

There is a lot more I can write about this book. I rather you read and explore it on your own. For a book like Me Before You stays with you for a long time. You don’t want it to end and yet you can’t wait to find out how the story unfolds. This book is my favourite one of 2015.
I have tried to keep my review different from the run of the mill kind.  I hope you all like it. 

Till then, tra-la,
Amena!!
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Friday 2 October 2015

Lakmé Fashion Week Winter/Festive 2015 | Trend Report- Part I

For most people a new season arrives with the changing of leaves and the rise and fall in temperature is an indication of the beginning of a new season. 
In the fashion world, a new season arrives with the opening night of a new fashion week, that brings with it new trends for the upcoming season.

Like every season, Lakmé Fashion Week Winter/Festive 2015 was also abundant in trends. However, this season had quite a few micro trends that were as strong as the main trends, making it really difficult to pick favourites.
After careful deliberation these are some of the trends that I think are a must try from the upcoming winter festive season.

From Left To Right: Armaan Aiman, Nachiket Barve, Huemn, Masaba Gupta, AM:PM
Attention, animal lovers! This trend may just be the perfect one to show off your love for your furry and feathery friends.
For Lakmé Fashion Week Winter/Festive 2015, designers found inspiration in the jungle. 
From in-your-face giraffe print motif to bold horse prints to sophisticated fox to delicate swirling swallows, the jungle resident have taken over the ramp!

From Left To Right: Sonaakshi Raaj, Nachiket Barve, Neeta Lulla, Tarun Tahiliani, Ridhi Mehra
Step aside Batman there is a new cape crusader in town! No longer just for superheroes, the cape is officially the IT fashion trend of the season.
From long and dramatic to short and structured, every designer was set on showing some version of the cape at Lakmé Fashion Week Winter/Festive 2015.

From Left To Right: Vrisa by Rahul N Shikha, Jodi, Sidhartha Bansal, Ajay Kumar, Aartivijay Gupta
This season of Lakmé Fashion Week saw prints of all shapes, sizes, design and colours. From floral to fruity and from animal to artsy, prints of all kinds made an appearances. While some designer deiced to match it the others clashed it.
No matter what their styling preference and technique was, prints ruled at 
Lakmé Fashion Week Winter/Festive 2015.

From Left To Right: AM:PM, Ridhi Mehra, Arpita Mehta, Urvashi Kaur, Sonaakshi Raaj
If there is one trend you would least expect to see during the festive winter season, it is this one. Quintessentially a summer trend, off shoulder is now making its presence felt during the festive winter season too.
From Aprita Mehta’s mirrored choli to Urvashi Kaur's asymmetrical jacket, baring the shoulders was quite a popular style with the designers.

From Left To Right: Namrata Joshipura, Arpita Mehta, Monisha Jaising, Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla, Payal Singhal
Let’s face it- festive winter season and metallics go hand in hand. This season too saw an wide variety of metallic in different styles, materials, textures and surface ornamentation.
From Monisha Jaising’s old Hollywood glam gowns to Namrata Joshipura futuristic Holographic fabrics, Lakmé Fashion Week Winter/Festive 2015 was a glittery affair.

Creatives by Digital Daku