The Hoteliers Hot Afterparty

The Chatwals and Preity Zinta

Ravi Krishnan and Arjun Rampal

Narendra Kumar Ahmed and Aditi Govitrikar

Queeni Dodhy and Mrs. Chatwal

Rohit Bal

Shekhar Suman

It was a packed house with designers, fashionistas and Bollywood stars all blinged out at Vikram Chatwal’s after party to celebrate the success of his ‘Mai Mumbai’ show at Lakme Fashion Week. Preity Zinta, Rohit Bal, Pria Kataria Puri, Maheka Mirpuri, Renu & Ravi Chopra, Rahul Khanna, Arjun Rampal, Mandira Bedi, Narendra Kumar Ahmed, Nisha Jhamwal, Sameera Reddy, Shamita Shetty, Rahul Bose, Nagrajuna, Kunal Kapoor, Ravi Krishnan (thinking… “Well hey, at least she showed up to my party!”) Arjun Rampal, Madhoo, Bonnie Bulchandani, Farah Khan Ali, Sharmilla Khanna & Roohi Jaikishan, Arbaaz & Malaika Arora Khan . Queenie Dodhy was with Farhad Taraporewala, Aditi Govitrikar made a lone entry and the heir apparent, Vikram Chatwal’s Mrs. Priya Sachdev was missing. Shekhar Suman (sporting a distinct “electric shock bunny” look) spent the evening cosying up to a new “friend” he made at the party. Plus the Delhi gang turned up too including Rohit Bal (working the hat), Kalyany Chawla, Madira Wirk & Feroze Gujral. Karan Johar came but sans BFFs Shah Rukh & Gauri Khan. The only person conspicuously missing was Naomi Campbell herself!

The Emperor’s New Clothes

Abdul Halder

Abdul Halder

Abdul Halder

Abdul Halder

Now Tarun Tahiliani and Manish Malhotra are clearly kings of the catwalk when it comes to anything remotely “Indian” but here’s a designer that caught my eye at Fashion Week. Abdul Halder’s Spring Summer collection is vibrant and trendy. (Not something you’d expect from the guy who’s responsible for many of Michael Jackson’s desinger outfits inspired by the Indian Emperors and aptly named the “Maha Raja’s”.)

A Fine Balance

Swapnil Shinde creation

Swapnil Shinde

Swapnil Shinde is a NIFT graduate with a diploma in fashion styling from Milan (yes that always helps doesn’t it!) his brand revolves around “trying to find the possibility of a balance between the two extreme terms, “sexy” without being cheap or crude, and “elegant” without being boring or matronly.” (Why does that sound like one of those compliments that’s just a wee bit insulting?!)

Backstage with Shamita VII

Day 5 was a killer. It seemed like the longest day ever. All of us saturated by now. Tired and irritable but just the thought of it being the last day kept us going. And ofcourse not to forget the umpteen number of trips we made to the bar that also kept us going. Backstage was moving real slow and unfortunately there was a bit of an incident that occurred that wasn’t pleasant. One of the girls got her hair burnt by mistake while her hair do was being done. And she lost quite a bit of it. Poor girl howled like a baby but within no time she was consoled and everything went back to normal as the show must go on.

One of my favourite shows I did that day was for Lina Tipnis. I thought her clothes were fantastic and I really enjoyed myself during the show. The energy was right and so was the music. Chaitanya Rao and Raakesh Agarwal also outdid themselves. The earlier clothes were structured and well fitted while the laters were dreamy and drapey. All the girls really felt beautiful in the show and some of us wanted to keep some of the outfits which unfortunately we don’t get to do but Raakesh being a sweetheart never says no to us.

The finale show as usual was spectacular and a perfect end to the week. Sabhyasachi’s each piece was a work of art. All his clothes hung up backstage looked like faces, each with different but beautiful features. He patiently dressed up each and everyone of us personally and only then did his procession start. A standing ovation later we were all geared up to hop skip and jump to the finale party, of which I have no memory now!

Backstage with Shamita VI

Day 4 Exhausted faces backstage, was all one could see on day 4, not only the models but even the behind the scenes crew members. By now we were expecting everyone’s catty claws out, but despite the occasional snapping the atmosphere was quite chilled. And the yummy chocolate ice cream that is available freely for all of us backstage also helped quite a bit. In fact did I mention this? Not just ice cream but loads of food and snacks are always around for us to munch on between shows. (it’s a different thing we don’t get the time!) There are also three other lounges available for those on a liquid diet. So in the gratification department we are all set!

Models Backstage

The rest of the day went quite smoothly (almost mechanically) except for a few usual hiccups like for double designer shows where they fight over a common makeup look, due to which our make up process gets seriously delayed leaving us no time for rehearsals. Luckily we are professional enough to make the whole show look seamless and smooth even without the rehearsals.

The finale by Vikram Phadnis was definitely the highlight of day 4. True to the word ‘SHOWTIME’ it was worth a watch. With Shiamak Davar and his dancers performing, it definitely added to the already high glam quotient of the flamboyant creations of Vikram Phadnis. Priyanka Chopra was back again to do the finale walk. Wendell Rodricks sat in the front row and applauded the white gown Priyanka Chopra wore. He sat with Celina Jaitley and couldn’t stop complimenting the gown. So the show ended on a high note and we cant wait for tomorrow. It’s the last day!