Fashion Designer Anju Modi ..... she is soft spoken, elegant, ladylike, humble, gracious and has the most sweetest beaming innocent smile .... When she speaks, you can sense the deep knowledge and passion she has for her craft .... you can see the effervescence in her lit up eyes as she expounds on her favourite topic .... shy, but not retiring, deeply pleased within herself .... she exudes such an air of contentment and sweetness, that you would want to hug her right away ..... but at the same time anyone who knows her would first express respect, because this petite lovely lady is one of India's most precious knowledge resource of indigenous textile and weaves ..... A revered couturier, she has been working tirelessly with master artisans across the country to revive age old Indian techniques in weaving, vegetable dyeing, block printing and traditional embroidery ..... She is equally adept at keeping up with global trends and the younger market .... And her collection which she showcased to a standing ovation in the ongoing Wills India Fashion Week 2013 was a masterclass in how to feature a global style trend .... in this case, military .... in a desi contemporary avataar which makes you sit up and go WOW collectively .... A true blue Steel Magnolia is our Anju Modi .... total respect from Delhi Style Blog Ma'am :)

Sunil Sethi, Ankita Shorey, Anju Modi

The Collection

In the post show press conference, Ms Modi said of her collection that she was fascinated with the perception of strength and fragility .... like the Pashmina is so soft, but it can take on the weight of Zari ( Zari is basically a brocade of tinsel thread meant for weaving and embroidery.It is manufactured by winding or wrapping (covering) a flattened metallic strip made from pure gold, silver or slitted metallised polyester film, on a core yarn. - Wiki ) The fabrics used are handwoven from Kutch in Gujrat, Benares, Chanderi, Venkatgiri, Kashmiri Pashmina among others ... The collection is called Steel Magnolia as befits are interplay of soft fabrics with military detailings ..... She also had high praise for the Armed Forces, with both her muse, actress and beauty queen Ankita Shorey and model Lakshmi Rana being Army kids, she emphasized the warmth in the heart of an institution like the Army which is primarily meant for defence and safety ..... Therefore more than the war connotations, the military detailings on the soft Indian fabrics emphasised the interplay again of her strength and fragility theme .... watch out for the butterflies on the military caps, rayban aviators, elephant and bird motifs :)  ..... We totally loved those Netaji Airmen caps ..... Infact Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose seems to be a huge inspiration :) ....... All in all, a highly commercial yet classic Pret collection which sells in separates .... one can just buy a stole, a cap, accessories, an epaulatted achkan maybe and team it with your existing wardrobe .... Do have a look and sigh !! Every piece is so beautifully constructed !

The Music

In keeping with the military styling, the music was patriotic with AR Rahman's Kadam Kadam from the movie Bose: The Forgotten Hero and Shankar Mahadevan's Vande Mataram from movie Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani ..... But the real pleasurable surprise was no doubt Joan Baez's powerful anti-war anthem, Johnny, I Hardly Knew Yeh, which opened the show :) .....
"Ye haven't an arm, ye haven't a leg, hurroo, hurroo,
Ye haven't an arm, ye haven't a leg, hurroo, hurroo,
Ye haven't an arm, ye haven't a leg
Ye're an armless, boneless, chickenless egg,
Ye'll have to be put with a bowl out to beg,
Oh Johnny I hardly knew ye.
They're rolling out the guns again, hurroo, hurroo,
They're rolling out the guns again, hurroo, hurroo
They're rolling out the guns again
But they never will take my sons again
No they'll never take my sons again
Johnny, i am swearing to ye "





Hope you enjoyed our post from Day 2 .... See you soon :)
DS