Innholdsfortegnelse for December 2016 i Harper's Bazaar India

“I think there may be some sort of a legacy being created here. But I’m simply treating it as an eruption of ideas and creative thoughts that I can’t control. And neither do I want to.” WHEN YOU’RE ROHIT BAL, it’s easy to rest on your laurels. Primarily because you have whole mattresses stuffed with them. But in his 25th year as a designer, Bal is showing no signs of slowing down. It started with the launch of the stunning Crystal by Rohit Bal in August, a range that included a range of bowls, tea sets, platters, and vases that were designed by him and manufactured in Prague and Bratislava. There was the Rohit Bal for Swarovski line (as part of the Austrian brand’s multi-designer project launched in September), for…

1 Best Buds Cindy Chao earrings, price upon request. 2 Full Volume Hemant & Nandita jacket, 22,750 (approx). 3 Gold Rush Maison Mayle ring, 13,000 (approx). 4 Renaissance Affair Burberry dress, price upon request. 5 Strong Hold Coach bag, 45,000 (approx). 6 Dark Blooms Dhruv Kapoor jacket, 24,000. 7 Rich Picks Payal Jain dress, 17,800. 8 Basket Case Salvatore Ferragamo shoe, price upon request.…

TV31100. At first glance a string of numbers and letters, but for the United Colours of Benetton, a commitment to legacy. The name of their new seamless sweater, it’s the zip code of Treviso, the town in Italy where the brand’s story began in 1965, and where this latest knitwear addition is made. “We wanted to achieve the ultimate fit, a new classic,” says Satish Tailor, head of innovation. And that is exactly what TV31100 has come to be. A blend of 90 percent merino and 10 percent cashmere, it’s a “super-basic, super-essential jumper” that he’s been “wear-testing even in the summer”. Also the only garment made in Treviso (over the years, they outsourced knitwear to countries like Croatia and Serbia), this seamless design is created from a single thread…

If there is one motif that is inextricably linked with the House of Bulgari, it is that of the Serpenti. The sinewy snake has graced several creations by the Italian maison, including necklaces, watches, and bags, since it was first conceived in the ’40s. Immortalised by Elizabeth Taylor on the sets of Cleopatra, its design has only evolved over the decades, featuring new materials, craftsmanship, and techniques. This year’s high jewellery bracelet watches are inspired by the vintage Serpentis produced during the ’60s and ’70s. The two-row versions feature hand-applied lacquer that is dried and individually reapplied multiple times on each gold hexagonal scale, and engraved striped patterns on the metal. A piece in emerald and exquisite marquise-cut diamonds alternating on the scales is redolent with the essence of the…

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IMAGINE, for a moment, a world exactly like our own except in one small, extraordinary way. In this world, an every-man wakes up in the morning, shaves, showers, and goes to his cupboard to get dressed for work. Before he chooses his underwear though, he peruses through a pile of what looks like loosened, lycra embroidery hoops with straps attached to them. He chooses a black one, adjusts the straps, and then reaches down to his groin to cup his testicles with the cloth, fitting the enclosed wire around his precious semen-sacks. His testicles are first slung in their cradle and then, as he clasps the taut, elastic straps around his waist, they’re squeezed up firmly against his body, the wire sitting snugly in the crevice of his thighs. This…

In person, Twinkle Khanna is much like what one might expect from reading her work—she’s concise, doesn’t mince words, and quick to make a joke, usually about herself. That same sharp sense of humour, which has made her newspaper column, Mrs Funnybones, for The Times of India and DNA, such a success, is also evident in her first fiction, a collection of short stories titled The Legend of Lakshmi Prasad. Each of its four short stories is about a journey of self-discovery—the titular Lakshmi Prasad is a young girl who dreams of liberating the women in her village, Bablu Kewat is a man who is obsessed with sanitary pads, while Elsa checks the weather before she plans each of her five weddings. Here, the author talks to Bazaar about her…

Ten thousand saw I at a glance. Not daffodils. But a host of gorgeous multi-hued flowers. Unlike William Wordsworth, I couldn’t quite wander as lonely as a cloud, for this was Kaas Pathar (plateau) in Maharashtra, not Glencoyne Bay. And the post-monsoon visitors to this UNESCO World Natural Heritage Site are almost as numerous as the flowers, although the government has limited daily visitors to 3,000. The Kaas plateau is a 288-kms drive from Mumbai. You zoom down the Mumbai-Pune Expressway and then take the NH4 up to Satara city. From here, the 22 kms drive up to Maharashtra’s ‘valley of flowers’ is really quite picturesque. If, like I did, you want to extend this visit to see other points of interest in the region, head to Phaltan, at a…

Every month we celebrate India. Of course we do. It is in our DNA. After all we are the experts. So what makes December different? At Bazaar, we realise that fashion is about the people. And when you choose to write the definitive lexicon of fashion, you have to be sure it will be in the language of the country. Which is why The India Issue is a celebration of the diversity that comes from its talent. Let’s start with our cover girl Bhumika Arora. She’s gone global. Seen in Bobbi Brown campaigns everywhere, for two years in a row she has been included in the Business of Fashion’s list of the 500 most powerful people in the fashion industry. It helps that she made her international debut at the…

1 Celestial Fall Roberto Cavalli earrings, 40,000 (approx). 2 Sage Wise Dries Van Noten bag, price upon request. 3 Soft Touch Sandro dress, 33,000 (approx). 4 Scarlet Step Saint Laurent shoe, price upon request. 5 Wrap-up Proenza Schouler dress at yoox.com, 66,000 (approx). 6 Green House Rochas shoe, 1,17,000 (approx). 7 Straight Away Longchamp pants, 20,000 (approx). 8 Fine Wine Lola by Suman dress, 15,000.…

Tell us a bit about your venture. Lulu & Sky is an online fashion forum that transcends the retail landscape for women by offering curated, cutting-edge styles that cover a range of categories. It has been conceptualised to give women easy wardrobe fixes, especially keeping in mind the various roles they juggle every day. What is the USP of Lulu & Sky? We offer seasonal runway trends at reasonable prices, sourced from all the fashion capitals—London, Milan, New York, and LA. So essentially Lulu & Sky is an amalgamation of distinct style sensibilities. Currently, we have Rose Room Couture Prêt who have designed a capsule collection exclusively for Lulu & Sky. We also stock pieces by Ashish Soni and Ratul Sood. Bengaluru-based label, Snob, have given us men’s accessories, which…

When I’m going out I like to dress up, although I don’t think something is nice just because it’s by a designer. The secret to good style is to let your personality shine through. 60 minutes of Pilates 2 pieces of chocolate 15 tweets a day 6:45 A.M. I’m usually the first person to wake up, followed by my son Azaan, who’s 14, and daughter Fizaa, who’s 11. I’ll have a cup of tea with the kids and then head to my Pilates class every alternate day. I work with Samir Purohit at The Pilates Studio. Exercise is like brushing my teeth or praying—I need it to function. Not just because it gives me the energy to get through the day, but also because it’s the only time I’m alone…

Power dressing has a new avatar this season, and it’s in the form of Carolina Herrera New York’s ultra-feminine eau de parfum, Good Girl. Being touted as the brand’s boldest creation to date, the fragrance and the bottle evoke the characteristics of the modern woman—elegant, independent, and unapologetic. Envisioned by Carolina Herrera de Baez, the creative director of the House of Herrera Fragrances, the perfume seeks to explore the duality—the mischievous and the good—that every woman possesses. Three years in the making, it marks the birth of a new CH woman, audacious and strong. THE NOTES “A perfumer passes a message,” says Louise Turner, the master perfumer behind the translation of the brand’s concept of duality into a sensory experience. “That’s the way I see myself, as someone who is…

PRITAM SINGH AND VISHNU RAMESH, students at the National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad, won the coveted Spyglass Creative Excellence Section at this year’s World of WearableArt (WOW) Awards in Wellington. Bazaar spoke to the duo about their design and difficulties. HOW DID YOU CRAFT YOUR WINNING GARMENT, ‘MAI’? Pritam Singh: We originally wanted to source reflective material such as mirrors from Gandhinagar, but those ended up being heavy. Eventually, we worked with reused foam and non-woven felt, both recycled elements. Vishnu Ramesh: We even tried polyvinyl sheets and spheres but they didn’t work out. Finally we used felt, and hand sewed every element, before attaching it to the main garment. WHAT WERE THE CHALLENGES BEHIND CREATING ‘MAI’? HOW LONG DID IT TAKE? PS: There was a great amount of…

She has dedicated her life to art that investigates the nature of emotion, through the medium of her own body Marina Abramovic is laughing as she confesses her guilty secret to me. She doesn’t smoke, she doesn’t drink, she takes very good care of herself, sees a personal trainer, and once a year goes to India for “a complete cleaning-up”, to a place she describes as being “between a sanatorium, a prison, and a monastery”. But still, I say, there must be some indulgence in those moments when she really feels she has to let go. “Chocolate!” There is rapture, as well as laughter, in her voice. “I like chocolate.” Those three simple words don’t do justice to the rapture expressed. “And I’m not interested in all that cacao,…

SAGITTARIUS NOVEMBER 23-DECEMBER 21 Mourn the loss of the end of something, and then move on. Try not to become over-sentimental—it may not be easy at first, but it must be done. MOTTO OF THE MONTH Lend money and lose a friend. CAPRICORN DECEMBER 22-JANUARY 20 This month, your instincts will tell you how to handle a family drama. A challenging Jupiter might make you think the current situation is too much to handle, but it’s not. Motto of the month Experience teaches you to recognise a mistake when you’ve made it again. AQUARIUS JANUARY 21-FEBRUARY 19 By being caring and patient towards a difficult individual, you will strengthen your bond. It will require patience on your part but the only other option is to become much tougher and that…

 It all started in Madhav National Park in Madhya Pradesh’s Shivpuri district. Once the summer capital of the Scindia rulers of Gwalior, it is now a beautiful wildlife reserve where you can sight migratory birds on the Sakhya Sagar Lake. We had just come from exploring the fantastic 8th -century hill fort and memorial to musician Tansen at Gwalior, eating the city’s most famous poha at Mashoor Aggarwal Poha Bhandaar in Naya Bazaar and scrumptious boondi laddoos from Bahadura. I had loved the ornate 16th -century palace and temples in the historic town of Orchha, which we had stopped at in passing. Our new friend stepped in adroitly, pooh-poohed the driver’s dread of dacoits, and made a few power calls to ensure our journey was safe On the first day…

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1 THE REVIVAL: MODERN BROCADE Benaras played muse to Indian designers this year. As part of the revivalist wave that swept Indian design, experimentation with traditional brocade was translated into international silhouettes. For their festive collections, Ritu Kumar used it to create jewel-toned saris, and Anita Dongre paid homage to it in her decisively breezy, feminine aesthetic. At her Lakmé Winter/Festive 2016 show, Payal Khandwala sent out tailored brocade separates featuring lion motifs. Meanwhile Sanjay Garg of Raw Mango played with a modern silhouette (wide-legged trousers, tunics, jumpsuits, and off-shoulder draped gowns) that accentuated the wearability of sensual Benarasi silk brocade. 2 THE FOCUS: SHOULDER It was the year of giving the cold shoulder. Spring 2016 at Chloé and Salvatore Ferragamo saw striped, off-shoulder maxi dresses and peasant blouses that…

Trust Karl Lagerfeld to turn everyday technology into his muse. Chanel’s Spring 2017 show theme played with the concept of ‘Intimate Technology’ and celebrated the woman of the digital universe. Kaiser Karl transformed The Grand Palais in Paris into a quirky rendition of Chanel’s Data Centre —the runway was constructed as a giant motherboard loaded with colourful cabling and wires. The show opened with two tweed skirt-suit clad Cocobots, Lagerfeld’s idea of model-robots, who wore white lacquer helmets reminiscent of Stormtroopers, gloves, and boots. With a youthful spin on the house’s classics, the collection was Lagerfeld’s foray into wearable tech, but of the Rue Cambon sort—think sensory overload with excessive pattern play. There were A-line tweed skirts and jackets (sparkling with crystals and plastic trimmings) brilliantly layered over pale, delicate…

1 Vintage Redux Gucci earrings, 98,000 (approx). 2 Lock Down Dolce & Gabbana clutch, price upon request. 3 Fringe Benefits Rohit Gandhi + Rahul Khanna top, 19,500 (approx). 4 Grey Matter Jimmy Choo clutch, price upon request. 5 Gold Streak Michael Kors Collection sweater, price upon request. 6 High Rise Oscar de la Renta shoe, price upon request. 7 Mood Metallic Namrata Joshipura vest, 16,000. 8 Great Lengths Diane von Fürstenberg dress, 61,000 (approx).…

“My personal motto is ‘Eat clean to stay fit, have a burger to stay sane.’ ” IN THE PAST YEAR, the cultural zeitgeist has, quite literally, found its way to Gigi Hadid’s doorstep. On the morning of our shoot, there are three paparazzi waiting outside her New York home. Her security team manages to lose them while winding their way through SoHo, but it doesn’t take long before they track down our set-up outside The Mercer hotel. Not only have they found us, but they’ve also multiplied. At one point I count 20 jockeying for position in their own Gigi-fied trance. “It’s so crazy, I know,” she tells me later. Such is the life of the new breed of supermodel, especially one whose close friends and family are also pop…

SCULPT AND ANTISCULPT, 2015 Lines can be made fierce. This was my brief to myself. Why can metal not be metaphysical? Be abstract. Be all and none. To be sculpted in form and then allowed to just meander? FOUND AND LOST, 2014 This was a journey. A realisation. That to love is to be unguarded, and there’s a possibility of the heart being mangled and perhaps crushed. If you keep it too safely, your heart, life will be dark and motionless. But if you love, you may lose yourself in it. To love is to allow yourself to be hurt. This show stemmed from the pain I felt with McQueen’s departure while revisiting his work history. A genius who was so in love that he lost himself in it. DANCES…

Inspired by India’s rich cultural legacy, Azva’s latest handcrafted bridal jewellery celebrates the idea of togetherness. Set in 22-carat gold, the seven-piece collection, which includes chokers, necklaces, bangles, earrings, maangtikas, bazubands, and haath-phools, is perfect for a modern bride who loves a little whimsy in her wedding ensemble. Our favourite from the line is this intricate medallion necklace. Inspired by the sun and moon, its circular pendant features a band of delicate gold links framed by a row of paisleys, while the central medallion has seven rays in kundan with detailed engravings. Time to indulge, ladies.…

“IT WAS ONLY WHENTHE CHEMOTHERAPY ended that I realised that my life as I knew it had changed,” says 52-year-old furniture designer Rekha T. Like other women with breast cancer, Rekha had gone into panic mode the moment she had heard the diagnosis. “I focused on getting whatever medical treatment was advised to stop the cancer from spreading,” she recounts. Tackling life after surgery and chemotherapy is another matter entirely. Six months after her diagnosis and when the hospital trips had ended, Rekha had no idea what to do next. “I didn’t know where to begin putting the pieces of my life back together,” she says. Decisions about what to eat and drink, how much exercise she needed, and what the other components of the new ‘normal’ looked like overwhelmed…

An email at midnight. That was enough to change the course of eight Indian women across three continents, not all of whom knew each other. Some haven’t even met each other still. Yet, they have come together as Kadak: A collective of graphic storytellers creating an international conversation on everything from migration to gender identity to pop culture. “I was dismayed at the lack of women of colour at some comic and arts festivals I had visited, one of the reasons I thought a collective would give us visibility,” says animator and illustrator Aindri Chakraborty, who sought out her collaborators based on their work on social media. The aim was to participate in ELCAF (East London Comics & Arts Festival) in June as a group. They united to form Kadak—strong…

IN HER NEW essay collection, A Woman Looking at Men Looking at Women, Siri Hustvedt explores how women are perceived as writers and artists today. Here she explains why even outside of more traditionally male-dominated fields such as finance and technology—and even in the 21st century, when women no longer need to adopt male pseudonyms to publish great literary works—a glass ceiling sadly remains intact. HARPER’S BAZAAR: In your book, you devote an entire essay to two words spoken to you by the Norwegian novelist Karl Ove Knausgaard, after you asked him why out of the hundreds of writers he references in his My Struggle series only one is female. His answer: No competition. Why do you think that was his response? SIRI HUSTVEDT: Men generally do not see women…

The global domination of model Bhumika Arora. Plus, the salwar kameez gets a modern makeover.…

CAPTURE CRUISE’S ADVENTUROUS MOOD WITH PIECES THAT EVOKE EXPLORATION AND DISCOVERY— MADE BRIGHTER BY A HINT OF GOLD…

HARPER’S BAZAAR’S DECEMBER 1992 issue celebrated the holiday season by hailing the arrival of what would become one of the most famous faces ever to emerge from its pages. Kate Moss’s debut on the cover of Bazaar—the British native’s first time fronting a major American fashion publication—was a watershed for both the model and the magazine. Photographed by Patrick Demarchelier in a festive red silk taffeta Dior cape, snow globe in hand, Moss, then 18, had just embarked on her rise to the seat of “supermodel of the ’90s”, as the story inside proclaimed her. Of course, Moss would continue on her hot streak (and to grace Bazaar covers) well into the 21st century—forever of the moment, forever in fashion. Kate Moss, photographed by Patrick Demarchelier for Bazaar, December 1992…