The fashion and lifestyle segment of season eight of Chivas Glassware presents The India Story— a Neotia Arts Trust initiative, in association with t2, featured new and established designers from Calcutta and pan-India. With a focus on casual wear for the upcoming spring and summer seasons, the fashion stalls at Rangmanch, Raasmanch and Spunky showcased a wide variety. Along with fashion, experimental and traditional accessories and contemporary and traditional home furnishing items caught the shoppers’ attention, too. Glimpses:
Designer Tarun Tahiliani dropped by at Calcutta-based home furnishing store INDEMODERNE’s stall on day one of TIS. In their debut display at TIS, the brand showcased their vast range of curated collection focused on Indian craftsmanship. t2 particularly loved the mirror display. “Coming to the India Story has been a complete revelation. People come to the India story from all over the country and also outside the country. So, it has been a fantastic exposure for us. We believe our collection mirrors the theme of India Story in as much as it showcases the best of art and skill of Indian craftsmanship. We have gone to the far ends of the country to curate designs and find the best craftsmen to execute our vision. From young arts students to the upwardly mobile as well as the established connoisseurs have deeply appreciated what we are trying to create,” said sisters Gitanjali Satpathy and Brinda Chugani, co-founders.
Delhi-based ethical luxury brand KHANIJO that opened doors in Calcutta last year showcased its upgraded ‘Labyrinth’ collection based on in-house created organic textiles made of silk and khadi. “This time, we have got our new collection that we are showcasing internationally and the response has been amazing. Good to be back with old clients. I see more and more menswear coming in, so I see more men shopping and understanding menswear in depth,” said Gaurav Khanijo, designer.
SON OF A NOBLE SNOB displayed their street-style collection ‘Sadak Chap’ that has a touch of sophisticated grunge and takes its inspiration from the Indian gully vibe. Based on linen and cotton, the collection portrays a distinct visual language and a hip and sporty aesthetic in both its menswear and womenswear ranges. “Streetwear is becoming very big internationally. So, we gave an Indian twist to it. Simple, chic and minimal like we always do,” said Mani Shanker Singh, co-founder.
A TIS regular, designer URVASHI KAUR’s label displayed comfortable and functional clothing. The highlight of the display was her new handwoven denim range, a zero-waste and one-size-fits-all line. Their latest unveiled collection, Prana, was a display of reimagined heirlooms as new silhouettes.
JAJAABOR came to season eight of TIS with an extended range of their ‘Archipelago’ collection and launched their menswear line, which is based on the designer couple’s travel to South Korea. Smart, casual and comfortable, the menswear collection featured silhouettes like kurta co-ords teamed with Korean pants, letterman jackets, bombers, shackets and trench made in cotton and linen. “Every season we look forward to India story, not just for the business but also an opportunity to meet all our friends and colleagues in the industry. This time the trend was more towards buying casuals. Our bestsellers were our jackets,” said Kanika & Neelanjan, designers.
Goa-based fashion jewellery brand MANIFEST DESIGN showcased their edgy sand-casted and handcrafted aluminium and brass statement jewellery. “The grain of the sand and texture is what makes our jewellery unique. We also launched our new resin collection at TIS. We loved that our jewellery appealed to all age groups,” said Debanjan Sinha, curator.
A debutant at TIS this year, Bombay-based brand NORNAMENT, which has a 30-year-old legacy of crafting real jewellery, showcased their Cameo collection and destination jewellery. “The Cameo collection is handcrafted and each piece is unique. It is crafted on stones like tanzanite, sapphire, quartz, emerald and pink sapphire. Our destination collection, designed affordably as sets keeping in mind destination weddings, clicked very well with the Calcutta clients this time,” said Sunanda Maloo and Sushma Maloo, designers.
This year, Jaipur-based men’s vintage accessories brand Cosa Nostraa showcased a variety in men’s accessories and launched their children and young adult accessories brand RAMO. “Ramo caters to children of age six to 14 years. We did cute brooches inspired from nature and based on alphabets. It is done on brass. It is a special moment for us as we launched the brand at TIS. Cosa Nostraa got a very good response in Calcutta so we decided to launch our other brand here,” said Tanuj Vijay, business head
Creative head Dimple Bhatia of AAVIDI showcased the brand’s Spring/Summer collection at her TIS debut, featuring handwoven and handprinted detailing on cotton. The comfy silhouettes clicked with shoppers looking for a wardrobe makeover for the upcoming seasons.
OUR LOVE’s collection featured statement jackets designed with the brand’s signature 3D embroidery and a variety of dresses. “This time since it is still a little chilly in Calcutta, we got our jackets. There are embroidered A-line dresses, shift and midi dresses. Made of cotton and banana crepe, they are trans-seasonal,” said Arushee Chaudhuri Kapoor, designer.
The VISHWA BY PINKI SINHA stall displaying smart casuals as well as saris made of Benarasi was a huge crowd-puller. Their newly launched blazer collection was a bestseller
RICHA AHLUWALIA displayed a traditional occasionwear and bridal collection. “It is our launch collection ‘The Weddings of India’. It pays homage to India’s rich heritage and unparalleled craftsmanship spanning multiple states of India,” said Richa, founder and creative director.
VANITY WAGON
VANITY WAGON or the clean beauty marketplace brought together multiple clean beauty brands from all over India under one roof at their stall in TIS, like Auli, Har Koi, Color Chemistry, Brillare, Shibel and others. Calcutta-based AULI, the active Ayurveda brand, displayed a revamped range. “Earlier we were only Ayurvedic, now we use active ingredients which is a big change in our formulation. We introduced a pathbreaking product called Retinuit, which is getting a great response,” said Aishwarya Biswas (right), founder.
t2 spotted Tina Mukherjee and Australian consul general Rowan Ainsworth at the Auli stall.
Rowan Ainsworth
BY THE STEPS
PITARA UNBOXCREATIVITY showcased an eclectic range of handcrafted bags and accessories, including sling bags, laptop bags, wallets, coin pouches and utility products. The collection made of upcycled materials like plastic wrappers, newspapers, magazines, tyre tubes and alike, made it a crowd-puller for unique, aesthetic items of daily use
BESPOKE BY SAURABH was a showcase of plenty of pretty and cute jewellery, accessories and home decor items, including pendants, earrings, rings, bows, hairclips, bookmarks, brooch pins, leaf embroidery frames, wall hanging hoops and so on. The jewellery-bookmarks or embellished bookmarks were bestsellers at the stall
SPUNKY X TIS
This specially curated fashion and lifestyle corner at TIS, by co-founders Saumya and Anushka, featured brands like Arimi, Enso, House of Milk, Ona, Re Nao and Richa Goenka among others. Like every year, it was a den for many fashionistas to pick up fun and playful casualwear, occasion wear and comfort-wear.
HERE'S HOW SHOPPERS STYLED UP FOR TIS. t2 PICKS
