Trend Piece

Love First, Live incidentally

It was a time when self-indulgence and feminity collided to create beautiful visions of elegance. The Spring Summer 2008 key trend inching its way into our wardrobes this Christmas is aroused by the 1930s Great Gatsby era.

The floaty femininity was paid homage to on Chanel and Christian Dior’s catwalks. Drop-waisted dresses, in luxurious fabrics from chiffon to charmeuse, dressed up with beads and sequins, in hues from tangerine red to deep chocolate were spotted and loved at Paris fashion week. While Karl Lagerfield concocted creations of drapey chiffon gowns, with multiple chiffon shawl collars overlapping at the front, Galliano for Dior personified glamour with pinstripes, high-waisted trousers and light crystal fringed hems.

The trend is seeping it’s way onto the high street, with Oasis paying it’s respects in a beautiful sequined drop-waisted dress and even Kate Moss for Topshop paying heed with a midnight blue sequin strand dress.

Get inspired by the decadence of the era with hits of jazz and muses like Coco Chanel and Zelda Fitzgerald, who once said she’d want to “love first and live incidentally”. The key to embracing this trend is to find your inner femininity and invoke her elegance and allure into every aspect of your attire.

Get fashion forward this festive season and channel your inner Mademoiselle, propped up with perfectly coiffed hair in soft waves, classic pearls and some serious red lippy.

The story of the £1 Primark Dress

Sanam Peshiman explores a story after a £1 Primark Dress for an MA student project

We’ve all been victims of a dirty Primark binge, leaving even the most thickskinned shopper feeling guilty, cheap and unethical. Yet Primark has been named the biggest retailer in the United Kingdom, with millions enamoured by the fast fashion, at cheap throw away prices. The allure of the high street has never been as impactful on fashion as it is today. Everyone prides themselves on mixing and matching their style from top-end haute couture to £3 shorts from Topshop. The look everyone seems to be going for is like they’ve tried hard enough not to try hard, with frivolous, frothy pieces from Primark playing supporting roles against Balenciaga and Miu Miu. Is it possible to pull off a £1 Primark dress as a fashion forward outfit this season? The answer is, yes, with a little bit of time, patience and creativity you can turn even the scabbiest, cheapest Primark find into something fit for shimmying onto a red carpet in.

BEFORE: This £1 find was something you’d find on a poolside at a Lanzarote beach resort. A knee-length, sheer, bright orange summer dress with a smocked neckline and a pleated hem had my work cut out for me when I first cashed it in at the till of Primark, and I couldn’t wait to get home to work my magic on it.

STEP ONE: Always purchase your cheap bargain dresses in a few dress sizes larger than your own in order to be able to work your magic on it with flexibility. I got this beauty in a size 14 allowing me to snip and hem at it without prejudice. The first thing I did was tuck in the pleated hem inward into a bubble hem. No sewing expertise required, just tuck it inwards and pin. Cut off remaining excess fabric and you’ll be left with a short mini-dress with a voluminous finish at the ends.

STEP TWO: The key to making a budget dress into a ready-for-party outfit definitely lies in the extras. I wore my new mini-dress on top of an a-line plain black ra-ra skirt to give it an added volume and bounce and to balance out the sheer orange-ness. The effect was a mini prom dress that wouldn’t be amiss in a cheerleader’s wardrobe. Almost there but not quite yet…

STEP THREE: Now for the accessories! Even the cheapest and most frivolous of buys can be deemed red-carpet ready depending on how and what you team it up with. I chose a Topshop thick waist belt which gave the dress a beautiful form and topped it off with a Stella McCartney Chocolate Brown trench coat worn loosely belted at the waist. All it needed was a pair of Manolo Blahnik patent leather black mary janes and a classic Chanel 2.55 shoulder bag and the transformation was complete!

AFTER: What started out as holiday bikini coverup was transformed into sexy Parisian chic. The bubble hem, cinched at the waist orange mini dress off-set by the chocolate brown elegant trench coat and the chic black accessories wouldn’t ever be mistaken to start from the £1 discount bin at Primark’s sale! It just goes to show you can use a little bit of originality to create a real head-turner! Try it at home today!

Sequins with Substance

Designer Ashish Gupta’s creations reflect the dual nature of his world

In conversation with Ashish Gupta, Sanam Peshiman finds him to be a designer operating between two forces, often opposing, yet somehow always complimenting each other.

Innocence and Experience

A three-time New Generation Award winner at London Fashion Week, Ashish is part of the prestigious Central Saint Martins alumni. Having won the award as many times as possible, Ashish is a designer who has been noticed as promising talent and encouraged at every step. Now, six years into his career, Ashish still manages to hold his own despite graduating from the group of up coming and slowly making his way to established. The 33 year old designer still manages to bring packed houses, proving that he isn’t one of the hundreds of talented designers who have their fifteen minutes of fame and then slink away into shadows. His most recent Spring Summer 2008 collection was his best received yet.

Glamour and Simplicity

Beautiful dresses gleaming with sequins in feminine hues of pale pink, sunshine yellow, gold, black and silver; it’s no surprise that Ashish is a name synonymous with glamour. The interesting dichotomy he presents is what makes his collection maintain it’s quirky edge despite being endearingly commercial. Loose, flattering shapes and even the most ornate of dresses teamed with practical pockets, Ashish presents the feminine, tough girl. She teams sequins with manly brogues; poker straight hair with loose, sheer shirt dresses. The Ashish girl this season is a beautiful mix of in-your-face toughness and self-assured femininity. The designer was inspired by Larry Clark’s Bully and claims the women who wear his clothes are strong, yet maintain a sense of humor. “She can’t be scared to be the centre of attention”, claims the designer, “You need to be ready to be stared at when you walk into a room.”

India and Britain

Growing up in Delhi, Ashish was inspired by his grandmother, a painter, and his mother, who he claims, always loved fashion. Pouring over copies of Vogue left around the house, Ashish says he always knew fashion was what we wanted to do. When asked if he sees himself as an Indian or a British designer, Ashish shrugs off the question claiming he doesn’t think of his work as a cultural mascot in any sense. “Am I an Indian designer or a British one? I don’t know, it’s not really relevant to the way I work, but if I had to choose I’d probably pick British.” From a generation of designers who aren’t confined to any one particular cultural phenomenon, Ashish refuses to be pigeonholed, yet flirts with the best of both worlds. With most of his embroidery done by hand in his own factories in India, Ashish’s clothes reflects the intricate craftsmanship India is synonymous with whilst being original enough to be found in the wardrobe of big celebrities and fashion icons.

Passion and Business

Speaking with Ashish, one instantly picks up for his passion and love for what he does. His fashion is fun and he has fun with it. Ask him if he’ll ever tire of sequins, he laughs and says “I’m not sure, but I hope not!” He doesn’t have a five year plan, nor does he see himself launching a flagship boutique. He lives from one fashion season to the next and believes that since he honestly believes in what he does, he just hopes to continue as he has been for the last few year. Yet Ashish never takes himself, or his fashion too seriously. “Yes, I love what I do, but I see it for what it is, a job I put in a lot of hardwork for and which makes me money.” It is this honesty which makes him not only a designer with vision, but a businessman who believe in making hay while the sun shines. The realistic attitude encouraged him to design for Topshop, with a new collection launching this Christmas. While some designers may claim launching a highstreet collection is a sell-out, Ashish begs to differ, “If anything I view it as a challenge, you need to keep in mind the price point, the store’s philosophy and of course keep the essence of your work, I still find it creatively stimulating.” It is this refreshing attitude that reveals Ashish as a designer with as much style, panache and substance as his clothes.

Interview with a Fashion Designer: Ayesha Depala

Sanam Peshiman interviews local designer Ayesha Depala

Ayesha Depala

The face of the Contemporary

Indian Fashion Designer

Ayesha Depala is a name that represents the face and future of the contemporary Indian fashion designer. At just 28, she shows her haute couture and prêt-a-porter lines in New Delhi, India, where she was born and raised. The uniqueness of Ayesha Depala’s collection, with its elegant dreamy dresses and razor sharp tailoring, really comes from her globalized perspective. She shuttles between her homes in London, Dubai and India, enabling her to keep her finger on the pulse of the global fashion scene. Ayesha Depala represents the new-age Indian fashion designer; well-traveled, highly articulate, hardworking and with a unique vision that combines a rich subtext of her Indian identity, with global influences.

What gave birth to your interest in fashion?

I was born and raised in New Delhi, India, into a family heritage richly seeped in textile and design. I began designing for friends and family as soon as I could get my hands on a free tailor. I attended Central Saint Martins and London College of Fashion, and got some much-needed educational grounding in fashion design. When I met my husband and now business partner, Dipesh Depala in 2000, he saw great potential in my creativity and suggested we formally launch the brand. I started with I-SHA in 2002, and after seeing the overwhelming success, decided to launch my signature collection Ayesha Depala, with both couture and prêt-a-porter lines.

What was your biggest break?

In 2005, the Ayesha Depala Signature collection was invited to show at Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week in New Delhi. It was at that moment that I finally felt like I had arrived. My exclusive boutique in Dubai also opened, in addition to the original boutique in Delhi’s Ambatwa Complex. Being able to show in Dubai really put me on the map, because it is a country rich with diversity and the city is famous for being a shopping destination. The ever-expanding market consists of an interesting mix of people moving to, and visiting Dubai. This creates room for everyone to flourish, and luckily my line did just that.

How would you describe your style?

I don’t like to think of my clothes as just garments, but creations. I pay a great deal of attention to tailoring and the cut of my garments and the clothes are best described as classic yet contemporary. I have a very dichotomous approach to fashion myself, and that is definitely reflected in my clothes. The Ayesha Depala collection is always very feminine, with classic, simple lines and soft drapery. Yet it’s the small details that lend that particular edge which is prevalent in almost everything I design. My clothes, on the whole, have a feminine sensibility, and not a cultural one. Having said that, I must add that I am inspired by India, a lot of my work has paisley motifs, drapey silhouettes and sequined details. The general mood of the collection is relaxed elegance for the day, and 1950's Italian screen siren for the evening.

What was one thing said about you in the press that you found most intriguing?

A journalist once said that my collection manages to be patriotic whilst still holding a universal appeal that isn’t limited to borders or boundaries. I found that to be particularly intriguing because it kind of sums up my subconscious motivation for designing the way I do.

What challenges did or do you face as a designer?

One of the biggest challenges I faced in Dubai, particularly being an independent designer, was the difficulty in getting retail space. Most retail arenas, such as shopping malls, do not understand brands that are not “famous”. It took me a long time do be able to find a place to retail my collection, and finally I had to open my own boutique. Things are changing slowly, but this region is screaming for affordable retail spaces for independent labels from here and abroad.

What is the fashion climate like in Dubai at the moment?

Dubai is a growing, quickly developing city. It is completely unique in that with all the expatriates and multi-cultured influences, it’s one of those 21^st century cities that have a little bit of everything. This is definitely reflected in the fashion climate. People come from their home countries, and bring their own fashion sensibilities with them. All these mix together with the Local culture and produce a very interesting amalgamation of styles. The spending power is unparalleled in the Middle East, and so luxury goods and designer brands have a fantastic market here. However, personal style and that edge of quirkiness is something that needs to be developed. You very rarely find a cutting-edge approach to fashion as you would in say, London. It’s changing from one day to the next though, so I haven’t given up hope yet.

Tell me about your boutique and your future plans.

I was very clear that I wanted the boutique to reflect my collection and the entire sensibility of the Ayesha Depala brand. The boutique has a cosy, boudoir feel with a throwback to the fashion parlours of the couturiers of days gone by. Everything is decadent, yet frothy and, of course, innately feminine. We already sell fine jewellery and plan to introduce bags and shoes as well. We’re going to launch a children’s range which will have the signature Ayesha Depala elements. We’re currently looking at retailing in London and also have plans to expand further in Europe and USA. We already sell in Japan and the reception is phenomenal. We’re taking everything one step at a time, but it’s an exciting time for us. With the way globalization is obliterating traditional boundaries all the time, I feel like in the global fashion climate, there is room for Ayesha Depala, the brand.

You move around London, Dubai and India- how do your travels and experiences within these three countries affect your work?

I’m most definitely a product of my environment. As a designer, I am constantly travelling, experiencing, and using those influences in my work. I have an Indian sensibility with my approach to embroidery, tailoring and sourcing of fabric. Having studied and lived in London, I consider it my second home. London is where I always feel like I came into my own in terms of my fashion sensibility. Heady student days spent trawling around Dover Street market, checking into Camden to find the craziest accessories and popping into Brown’s Focus for a peek at the latest avant-garde designers have all impacted me in different ways. It was in London I developed a love for Vivienne Westwood’s construction, Comme des Garçons unusual knits and Alber Elbaz’s uncomplicated feminine sophistication. Moving to Dubai was another experience which is constantly reflected in my work. The beautiful weather and people and the traditional Arabian hospitality and appreciation for the finer things in life all come together beautifully. I’m extremely privileged I have the opportunity to combine these three perspectives in my collection.

What is the Ayesha Depala woman like this season?

This season I was inspired by one of my favorite style periods in history: the decadent 60’s and 70’s, my muse is the glamorous hippie, Verushka. It was the heyday of Bohemian glamour, and in this collection I tried to recreate some of that. The bright, pure jewel-tones — fuchsia, coral, turquoise, purple — and soft flowy silhouettes cut through the heavier toasty fabrics and stilted forms traditionally associated with winter collections.
Ayesha Depala- www.ayeshadepala.com info@ayeshadepala.com

An Obituary

Sanam Peshiman experiments with her writing style for a student project by writing a hypothetical Obituary in the style of a broadsheet for fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger

Tommy Hilfiger

American Fashion Designer who created multi-billion dollar empire based around urban casual wear

Tommy Hilfiger, who has been murdered aged 56, has sent the fashion world into a somber recollection of the man that impacted American casual wear in the nineties. Born with an entrepreneurial streak in 1951 in a small town in upstate New York, Thomas Jacob Hilfiger was part of a large, traditional American family. His life was self-proclaimed “classic Americana” raised in a house with eight siblings by a watchmaker Father and nurse Mother. He performed poorly at school, deemed dyslexic and disinterested in academia, his passions were sport, music and clothes. It was this passion in clothing and image that set him into becoming a fashion mogul at the helm of a multi billion dollar brand.

At the age of 18, Hilfiger visited nearby college town of Ithacaand purchased bell-bottom jeans which he brought back to small-town Elmira and sold to friends for a profit. Putting together their life savings of $150, Hilfiger and two friends formed a business and opened a shop called ‘People’s Place’, which burned incense, played loud rock music and sold candles and bell bottoms. The first of its kind in the sleepy town, business boomed leading to the opening of ten more specialty stores across upstate New York. Disenchanted with the merchandise they were selling, Hilfiger began thinking about selling his own designs and began sketching his own ideas. Unfortunately, the stores went bankrupt when Hilfiger was 25, leaving him humbled and with the germ of a new idea in his mind. By 1979, he had sold his shares and moved with his wife Susan Cirona to Manhattan to pursue design full time. After freelancing for a short period, by 1985 the birth of his first child brought home offers of steady designing jobs with Calvin Klein and Perry Ellis.

Rejecting both, Hilfiger instead launched his own company backed by Indian entrepreneur Mohan Murjani. Learning from his mistakes with earlier ventures, Hilfiger decided to take a full circle from his trendy clothes of the seventies, and returned to his preppy New England roots. With a clear plan of building a brand of clothing around his own attitude and lifestyle, Tommy Hilfiger was born. Under Murjani's management, the Tommy Hilfiger menswear collection grossed $5 million in the first year and $10 million in the second. In 1988, Hilfiger bought out Murjani and joined Silas Chou, a Hong Kong clothing manufacturer. By that time, the company was bringing in around $25 million a year. They began their new endeavor cautiously, hiring experienced executives from well-known companies like Ralph Lauren and Liz Claiborne. Three years later they took the company public. By 1999 the company was grossing more than half a billion dollars and was the highest-valued clothing stock on the exchange. The epicenter of this commercial success was promoted by the diverse customer base that was attracted to Hilfiger’s take on casual wear. He combined Ivy League preppy student staples with sporty Americana classics and urban hip-hop influenced styles.

The crux of Hilfiger’s look that raged in the nineties was the creation of the brand and logo. With his keen marketing flair Hilfiger managed to launch a brand that outshone itself by becoming the hottest label to flaunt. His awareness of his consumer, allowed him much of his commercial success. Though slammed by critics as not really designing his clothes, Hilfiger managed to put together a look and lifestyle that millions of people were consumed by. He also went on to sponsor concert tours by The Rolling Stones, Britney Spears and Jewel. Hilfiger presented his own version of Americana which, coupled with his looser sportswear aesthetic, found a surprising new audience in the hip-hop scene of the early ‘90s. The point where America sat up and noticed his arrival coincided with rapper Snoop Doggy Dog wearing an oversized Hilfiger sports jersey for his appearance on Saturday Night Live. Hilfiger, a dedicated music fan himself, welcomed this re-interpretation of his work, but rumors that he was less than enamored by his new audience led him to make a response, lending his support to the Anti-Defamation League and the Washington DC Martin Luther King Junior National Memorial Project Foundation.

By 1995, Hilfiger was named the CFDA’s Menswear Designer of the year. By the turn of the 21^st century, Hilfiger was a name on everyone’s lips, to the extent that fashion critics felt he was overexposed. As the era of the brand and logo fell to be replaced by a less blatant promotion, Hilfiger had to regroup. He launched a higher-priced, more up market addition to his global brand with ‘H’ a luxurious line of tailored separates. The brand now encompassed a range of lines and accessories from denim, home ware, children’s lines, eyewear to the ever popular fragrance ‘Tommy’ which symbolized freedom of spirit for teenagers growing up in the nineties. Recently, an exclusive deal with New York department store Macy’s pushed Hilfiger’s expansion ideas even further.

He was murdered on 27^th October 2007, with rumors of defamation turning a full circle from when they were first circulated on the internet. An unidentified young African-American shot Hilfiger in point blank range which investigations dub as “one of the most unfortunate hate crimes since the turn of the century.” He leaves behind his wife Susie Cirona and four children. The legacy of his brand, which is often viewed as epitomizing the American Dream, lives on in wardrobes, minds and hits of the refreshing, sharp fruity fragrance of ‘Tommy’.

Sanam Peshiman

Tommy Hilfiger, fashion designer, born 24 March 1951; died October 27^th 2007