The fashion film is an interesting anomaly — not an ad film, not a feature film, perhaps a niche subset of the short film genre.
The TV series that offered the most compelling sartorial splendour this year also showed us that to be truly fashionable, clothes have to move beyond visual delight.
Stalled dues, pay cuts, apprehensions about COVID protocol being followed on shoots, lack of regulatory oversight, and a culture of silence that dissuades open discussion of their issues — models in India say the ongoing crisis has dealt the industry a grievous blow.
As women post their #nobraclub selfies on Instagram, the social media platform has also become the site where the corset is enjoying something of a Renaissance.
Orange peel, lotus stems, betel nut husks, rose petals, sugarcane, pineapples, coffee grounds, eucalyptus and even fish scales are no longer just food or waste. They are the fashion frontline in combatting climate change.
'As I read Emily Ratajkowski’s tale, I thought of many of the stories I had heard amongst the models I had interviewed that struck a similar chord,' writes Manjima Bhattacharjya in her monthly column, 'Curious Fashion'
Already struggling because of waning interest in suits and Brexit, the pandemic has amplified challenges for the “golden mile of men’s tailoring," pushing it toward technological innovation.
All may not be well in the fashion world, but LFW showed great resilience and a re-focus on sustaining indigenous kaarigars and their crafts.
As designers present filmed showcases of their collections, the need to support artisans is foregrounded as a playfulness of spirit and hope persists.
Following a parched few months in luxury retail, can digital fashion weeks like LFW offer greater business to designers?
In the face of the coronavirus pandemic and lockdowns, fashion weeks across the world have been forced to recalibrate their existing practices, priorities, and their very role. The upcoming Lakme Fashion Week also grapples with these concerns in its first-ever digital edition.
Those who came into Bhanu Athaiya's orbit remember a wildly creative yet methodic professional, who brought an impressive formal expertise to the still nascent field of costume design in Indian films.
One staple of the working wardrobe has particularly interesting roots – the humble blouse, which gained prominence around the turn of the 20th century thanks to new manufacturing techniques.
Karl Lagerfeld epitomised everything that (today) would be considered “wrong” with the fashion industry. But he also epitomised its voracious appetite for success, for global stature, for perfection, for reinvention season after season after season, for spectacle.
Throughout history, Bharatanatyam costumes have walked a tightrope between revealing and hiding the female form, reflecting the underlying conflict between the sensual and the spiritual as it evolved
The Met Gala is a reminder to us that fashion is a visual record of our times. Only when we see it before us, in its historical and social contexts, will we be able to actually have a dialogue with it.
Even if you’re not the one on the stand being judged, you have to prove yourself ‘innocent’ to be heard in court. If you dress like a ‘good girl’ — submissive, feminine, asexual, obedient — your chances of this are higher. Dress like a ‘slut’ and you’re guilty already — of dressing like a slut, if nothing else. Women participate in this charade, intuitively knowing these extra-legal parameters against which they will be judged in courtrooms.
No amount of AI can create a Frida Kahlo or Lady Gaga; fashion delights us with its element of surprise, or when it cracks open a space for people’s own quirks to shine. An algorithm can do many things, but it can’t be you.
Victoria’s Secret came under the media glare when over 100 models signed an open letter asking that the company do more to protect its models from sexual harassment, after allegations came up against several of their photographers abusing their models, and of other shocking cases of sexual assault, rape and sex trafficking.
Greta Thunberg came to our laptops, phones and TV screens without make up, without formal dressing-up, or hairstyling. She came with pain in her eyes, and anger, and words that seared. Was it enough? Apparently not, for many men who commented on her looks and 'plainness' | Manjima Bhattacharjya writes in 'Curious Fashion'
Fashion was used under fascism to push their agendas. And certain fashion brands made money — indeed built their empires — through their complicity with fascist regimes | Manjima Bhattacharjya writes in 'Curious Fashion'
Perhaps it was this fierce closeness to his roots that brought Wendell Rodricks such international acclaim. By being unabashedly local, he was truly universal.
Like Stonehenge or the Great Wall of China, grey has endured.