Designer Vaishali Shadangule's collection this Amazon India Fashion Week Spring Summer 16, Yajna, the Woven Universe, was based on the simple concept of Fabric as thread, and Thread as fabric ... Sounds simple, doesn't it ? ... But to most Indians, the term "Yajna" (literal meaning sacrifice) is the central concept of "Shrota" ... the tradition that follows from the "Shruti" (theVedas) ..... The Hindu Vedas define Yajna as more than the mere connotation that the English word "Sacrifice" carries .... Yajna, derived from the root word "Yaj" (to worship) is thus described in the Gita : "All life is said to be a yajña. Every action, when made as an offering to the Īśvara (God/deity), is a yajña. Worshipping, eating food, fighting war, creating wealth, contributing to human knowledge, running family, each of these is a yajña. Doing these as offerings to derive something greater, makes these actions yajñas. When these actions are not done for material gain but with a selfless motive, that is the highest form of yajña. Sacrifice brings transcendence (a state of being beyond the limits of material experience).Transcendence through sacrifice is the meaning of life in the Vedic religion."
 The designer in her press note says of Yagna SS16 The Woven Universe : "the collection is an effort to interpret vedic concepts through Indian hand woven textiles and unique modern silhouettes" .... The term "Universe" itself is a construct of the human mind ... Science and modern philosophy based on rational theories, are just that ... Theories, not proof, of how we came about .... How the idea of the Universe as we know it, took shape .... out of the millions of human thoughts that wove it into a story defined by chronological time and space !! ... So if we are to paraphrase the thoughts as the Threads ... the resultant idea of the Universe is the Fabric ... and vice versa ... If the Universe is a thought, constructed out of millenniums of thought processes ... the Fabric can also be a Thread, constructed out of millions of threads .... in action as a thread, in the bigger canvass of the fabric ... Everything is connected, everything is one ... and Vaishali S has brought this Vedic concept alive in her collection ... Her ensembles are a homage to the eternal thread, and every outfit and accessory is designed to reflect this worship of the woven universe !!

The moment i realized that Sahil Kochhar would be presenting his collection Phool Mandi Festive Winter 2015 at Lakme Fashion Week, Mumbai ... i was dismayed !! ... Just because he has been showcasing in Delhi since his debut collection, and we made a great personal connection post his first show, i always anticipated him showing at the capital's FDCI event ... In other words, i selfishly hoped he always showed in Delhi ... because we don't attend the Mumbai fashion circuit :p ... and well to be really honest, he is one of the brightest upcoming talent in the country !! ... His debut show a year and a half back, knocked the wind out of the jaded frows, editors and designers alike .... I think it was the most recorded show on social media that season ... and his industry mentor, the legendary designer Rohit Bal gave him a standing ovation and bear hug after his final bow !! ... And all of a sudden, the fashion fraternity had the words Malakars (garland makers) and Sholapith, a craft form from West Bengal on their lips ! ... Such was the artistry and sheer mastery he had .... over the 3D hand cut embroidery, and other exquisite surface details over silhouettes .... which was as modern in form as was timeless !! ... From that first collection, "Phuler Tora" (bouquet of flowers) to this latest one, his fourth, "Phool Mandi" (flower market) ..... one senses quite a vast, albeit rapid journey ... and we caught up with our young friend to talk about his tryst with flower power and his dreams of the perfect future show :)

Sahil Kochhar Phool Mandi AW 2015 Lakme Fashion Week

Karishma Shahani Khan was not exactly on my radar two months back ... In all honesty, operating out of the Delhi means that one misses out on designers showing in Mumbai or other cities ... As an accredited blogger with the Fashion Design Council of India, our haunts have been the Fashion and Couture Weeks in the capital ... But we have been following our Prime Minister's call for a return to our sartorial roots with the Reinvent Banaras campaign this season across all fashion weeks in the country ... and although the label KaSha by Karishma Shahani Khan has been around for a few years, it was only during this recently concluded Lakme Fashion Week in Mumbai, that we sat up and took notice of Kasha by Karishma Shahani Khan's collection,  Chavi AW15 !! ... Khan’s label ‘Ka:Sha’ was found in 2011 post her graduation from the London College of Fashion, United Kingdom .... and focuses on design as a form of storytelling .... The philosophy of her products lies in visualizing design as a celebration with an aim to ‘Think global, act local’ ... Glocal in short :) ... The label is influenced by the multi layer sensibility of Indian Fashion .... given the size of our nation ..... with a clear demarcation not only of topography ....  but also different cultural ecosystems with their own weaves, textile heritage and sartorial choices !! ... Creating individuality in this world striving for identity is a quest for Kasha ... and this is reflected quite aptly in the street style layering of Indian elements in her Autumn Winter collection "Chavi" which means "image" or a "persona" .... A picture of an Indian woman just like us .... who straddles our Glocal ambiguity quite comfortably .... without heeding any stereotyped notions of how a modern Indian should dress or be :)

Ka:Sha - Weaving sustainable stories in fashion