OLD WAR HORSES
A veteran of Indian and international Fashion Weeks, designer Manish Arora, was most recently invited to show his eclectic collection at the very prestigious ‘Fashion In Motion’, held at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Thus gaining archival notoriety, this veteran of the ramp continues to amaze with each subsequent collection. Arora’s dresses tell a tale of fashion, of bright fluorescent tones, of outstanding prints. His designs are anti-cliché and he has been known to have models strut his stuff in skirts boldly emblazoned with pop art motifs — an Eiffel Tower or a Tower of London. Arora will be displaying his Spring/Summer collection during the Paris Fashion Week, no doubt to continuing acclaim.

Amongst the veterans at Hong Kong Fashion Week and Singapore Fashion Week, Delhi-based designer Rajesh Pratap Singh, uncannily manages to combine the modern with the traditional. His designs that are minimalist and deceptively simple have proved to be inspirational for younger designers. His meticulously constructed garments have often been based on menswear but with a certain feminine refinement. Take for example, an all-white line that combined strong tailoring with feminine accents – making for a delightfully serene collection. Having graduated from NIFT in 1994, the designer continues to dominate fashion weeks, with Paris Fashion Week coming up next.

Of fashion’s design veterans, JJ Valaya would stand out as the most experimental. His shows tend to assail the senses not only through colour and structure but also through innovative concept. A trendsetter in the industry, Valaya had launched his couture label, JJ Valaya, in 1992. Branching subsequently into furnishings, tapestries, accessories and art, Valaya advocates a larger than life, opulent lifestyle and claims that he was definitely royal in a former life! It is enough that he creates not mere garments, but heirlooms that his customers can safely pass down through the generations.

NEW FACES AT FDCI
Designer Ashish Soni has been appointed president of the Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI), succeeding the grand dame of Indian fashion, Ritu Kumar herself. The first Indian designer to be invited to the Olympus Fashion Week in New York, Soni will certainly bring years of experience in the industry coupled with a certain freshness, to his new post. His latest collection could echo his view of the fashion industry: “Forget trends for a moment… it’s the new way to look now with clothes that are fizzing with tomorrow-ness…” It is never too late to look at thing anew. This announcement follows on the earlier one of Sumeet Nair, one of the founding members of the FDCI, being appointed to the post of Executive Director. Canny move this considering that he was originally one of those who drew up the blueprint for the India Fashion Week, launched in 2000.

PRINT BABE
At 5 feet 10 inches, the Mumbai-based model, Tamara Moss, has recently created a flutter with the Taj Spa Calendar 2008 and the much talked about, Kingfisher Calendar. The face that gained popularity through the Lakme TV commercial, Moss is also brand ambassador for clothes brand, Chemistry. This Indo-Dutch beauty who debuted at Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week has been criticised for an ungainly walk on the ramp but print photographers love her attitude and great looks. A self confessed shoe junkie, Moss admits to not being much into designer clothes, preferring to mix and match her outfits with shawls, hats and boots. An individual look is what she brings, inevitably, to whatever she does. Look out for her in the new Kimaya campaign.

AGILE FASHION PROMOTER
Sunil Sethi, CEO, Alliance Merchandising Company Pvt Ltd, who got involved with luxury exports by catering to high-end stores like La Rinascente of Italy, Lords and Taylor in the US and the May Departmental Stores Group, has since represented international companies worldwide. More recently, this high-flier has become involved with lifestyle chains of boutique hotels like the Como Hotels and Resorts and the One & Only Resort chain. Sethi is a known figure at the FDCI-organised Lakme India Fashion Week, where he is a regular panel speaker. The fashion industry has certainly discovered an enterprising enthusiast in Sethi!