Dita Von Teese, burlesque queen, fashion icon, glamorous media darling ... and the most authentic reincarnation of old Hollywood glamour in our times ..... with her red lips, jet black dyed hair, porcelain skin and hour glass figure (the tiniest celebrity waist possible!) ... was in India, as global brand ambassador of Cointreau, the liqueur brand. Holding aloft a martini glass of “Cointreau Sutra”, Cointreau’s cocktail tribute to India, she gushed over her maiden visit to India, seeing the Taj Mahal, and her absolute fascination for the Indian sari.



A trained costume designer herself who conceptualizes her own photo shoots she fell in love with the 6 yard of versatile sensuousness so much so that she wore a Shivan and Narresh black lace sari beautifully accessorized with Indian jewelry to her first Indian event and followed it up with two more Shivan and Narresh creations .... she looks beautiful, doesn’t she ?

Shivan Bhatiya and Narresh Kukreja are NIFT alumni who launched India’s first luxury swimwear brand ... Shivan and Narresh. They became the first mainstream beachwear designers doing 100% handcrafted stitch-free surfaced beachwear along with ready to wear swimwear made all in 100% Italian fabrics and complementing resort wear. Since its inception, the brand has aimed at making swimsuit become an active part of the Indian wardrobe providing confidence to Indian women through their ‘prêt’ and the ‘made to measure’ swimsuit services. The brand takes pride in its Indian cultural ethos through its modest cuts, bold usage of color and handcrafting. The Lycra Sari and the Bikini Sari are two landmark creations of the brand that epitomize the brand’s visions for swimsuits in India. The Bikini Sari started a revolution in a country that didn’t even have a swimwear industry. Their specialty lies in “putting attention at areas where a woman would want it to be placed and taking away attention from areas she felt weren't her best assets” ... and what better way but fuse the drape of a sari with a bikini set , allowing maximum versatility to its wearer .... as it reveals as much, as it hides ... brilliant !!

The latest feather in Shivan and Narresh’s cap is designing 81 vintage swimsuits for the Hollywood film adaptation of Booker prize winner , Yann Martel’s - Life Of Pi ... using varied silhouettes of vintage swimsuits along with techniques on woven fabrics such as smocking, ruching, pleating, pin-tucking, corseting and piping ... showcasing various design details popular in the 1950's.


We at Delhi Style Blog attended Shivan and Narresh’s Spring Summer 2013 collection showing called “Zip” at Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week. Their resort wear line was inspired by the abstract expressionist painter, Barnett Newman ... whose art was characterized by areas of color separated by thin vertical lines, or "zips" as Newman called them. Newman’s most famous series of paintings were the Onement series from 1948 ... which is recreated in the following collection of the designers.

Hope you enjoyed the post ... until our next story ... stay blessed :)


DS