Malavika’s Mumbaistan: Looking Back, Looking Forward

Two decades ago, when the good people at Lakme launched a Fashion Week, though it appeared like a fun and novel idea (with many reasons to party), no one really

Two decades ago, when the good people at Lakme launched a Fashion Week, though it appeared like a fun and novel idea (with many reasons to party), no one really thought it would go on to have such a lasting impact on the world of fashion retail, lifestyle and entertainment. And yet, here we are, 20 years later, with its anniversary being celebrated with befitting revelry this Saturday night at the Soho House. There to kick up their heels were the likes of LFW’s early inceptors, Lakme’s erstwhile CEO Anil Chopra, former IMG honcho Ravi Krishnan and the designers who’d first got the ball rolling such as Manish Malhotra, Monisha Jaisingh and Shantanu, and Nikhil, along with a crop of the men currently in-charge of LFW such as vice president and head (fashion), IMG Reliance, Jaspreet Chandok and Head of Innovations, Lakme, Ashwath Swaminathan, along with contemporary designers such as Nachiket Barve and Nikhil Thampi.

(From left) Jaspreet Chandok, Ananya Pandey and Ashwath Swaminathan at the party. (HT Photo)

Models Candice Pinto (left) and Sucheta Sharma James. (HT Photo)

But of course, more than a fashion extravaganza, LFW has become an integral part of Mumbai’s social whirl and so, the festivities also included the likes of restaurateur AD Singh, whose restaurant Olive has served as the watering hole for many an iconic LFW after party over the years, stylist and fashion consultant Sabina Chopra, who has championed the likes of Sabyasachi on the platform, veteran models Candice Pinto and Sheetal Mallar, who’d been the mainstay of LFW from the very start and who were seen to be happily rubbing designer shoulders with their newer fresher contemporaries such as Ananya Pandey, Isabelle Kaif and Shraddha Nigam at the party. “There was a definite zing in the air. After all, starting with 33 designers in its first year to showcasing over 200 labels in its present avatar, LFW has gone from strength to strength,” said a guest, adding, “But though the evening was imbued with nostalgia, there was also an unmistakable feeling of not resting on its laurels but looking forward to the next 20 years”
“While it is 20 years of Lakme Fashion Week, it is also LFW 2.0. We are going to break it all down and start building from scratch again,” Chandok was overheard saying during the course of the evening.

Wellness Overload

(From left) Anjali Mukherjee, Pooja Makhija, Kumaar Bagrodia, Mickey Mehta, Luke Couthino, Sonali Sabharwal and Vardha Nadiadwala. (HT Photo)

Between them they have slimmed, trimmed, cajoled, inspired, prodded, squeezed and starved Mumbaiites into shedding their extra kilos, and in the process, each has become an institution in their own right with a cult following of their own. So, last week, when the city’s leading nutritionists , dieticians, holistic life coaches and health and wellness gurus gathered at a mid-city five star, it was regarded as quite a coup for the organisers, the promoters of a brain enhancement computer interface technology. Spread across three days and drawing its audiences from 300 corporations, the highlight of the event was when celebrity dietician Anjali Mukherjee, nutritionist Pooja Makhija, holistic lifestyle coach Luke Coutinho, macrobiotic nutritionist and chef Sonali Sabharwal and fitness consultant Vardha Nadiadwala, wife of producer Sajid Nadiadwala, sat with wellness guru and media personality Dr Mickey Mehta for a discussion on their insights and wisdoms on health and fitness.
“It was a riveting discussion in which Mehta conducted the proceedings, drawing out the nuances of the subject with his characteristic wit and penchant for coining catchy phrases like “wellness maximised and life mickeymised,” said a member of the audience. “By the time it was over, we were all chanting ‘start a wellness revolution for human evolution,” she smiled. Interestingly, the discussion involving the pillars of the city’s wellness and health movement was preceded by a talk which featured Amruta Fadnavis, the high-profile banker wife of CM Devendra Fadnavis, in a talk with Mehta.

Separated At Birth?

Rahul Bajaj (HT Photo)

Rahul Bajaj
- Billionaire businessman, philanthropist and chairman of Bajaj group

Ashok Gehlot (HT Photo)

Ashok Gehlot
- Congress Party’s former national general secretary and current CM of Rajasthan

The Art Of Giving

Parthip Thyagarajan (second from left), Tushar Khanna, Nandini Singh, Madhulika Mathur and Aishwarya Nair.

The likes of hotelier and fashionista Aishwarya Nair Mathew, India ambassador of an international human rights organisation, Nandini Singh and Sarah Afonso, the 17-year-old daughter of hairstylist Coleen Khan who runs a charity initiative The Braid Crusade, joined Parthip Thyagarajan of WeddingSutra.com and Dinesh Khanna of The Club Andheri (the venue of many a big fat Punjabi weddings before destination weddings became the craze) for a discussion on ‘How millennials can make an impact. The influencers perspective on the next generation of giving’, last week. The discussion was to launch Wedding Sutra’s ‘Wedding Charity Registry’, a unique concept which allows couples to pick five charities close to their hearts which their friends and family can donate to in lieu of their wedding gifts. “It’s a novel concept and an idea whose time seems to have come, as most wedding invitations these days emphatically state ‘No Gifts Please’,” said Thyagarajan. “We are hoping that young influencers, society darlings and business heirs who are tying the knot embrace this concept wholeheartedly and do their bit for giving back to society.”
Indeed.