Fashion

CALLING ALL THE BRIDES: EXCLUSIVE PREVIEW OF KALKI FASHION’S MEHRANG COLLECTION 2019

Published

7 years ago

October 18, 2019

With a visual treat for the lovers of all things dark, bold and mysterious, KALKI Fashion unveiled its exclusive bridal collection, ‘MEHRANG’ at the Bombay Times Fashion Week. Bollywood’s big league, Aditi Rao Hydari took up the role of showstopper & dreamed in a signature masterpiece that will haunt you for days! The master couturier has now announced an exclusive preview of the runway collection.
The following showcase will start from 18^th October, 2019 onwards at KALKI’s Flagship Store in Santacruz.

“Beautiful collection! I had an amazing time associating with KALKI, super glad to be the muse for their collection ‘Mehrang’. I wore an emerald green lehenga from their collection and it is absolutely stunning and something I would definitely recommend the to-be-brides to opt this wedding season. The collection does offer a modern take on Indian Bridal wear. I loved the fact that the collection has something for every kind of bride’s personality. Stunning lehengas, gorgeous indo-westerns with amazing cuts and embroideries for when you want to go heavier and all out on your wedding day. The designs will make anyone wearing it special. Bravo, KALKI Fashion!”Aditi Rao Hydari, Bollywood Actress.

Taking a detour from the traditional reds and pastels that dominate bridal wear, KALKI Fashion presented a range of alternate colours brides can pick from. The bridal collection had a bunch of emerald greens and mosaic teal blues on the runway. Also gave lessons on how to wear champagne and wines and neo-mints to your own wedding functions!

Marrying the old school nostalgia, the collection offers ethereal fish cut gowns to hand-studded embossed lehengas. Tulle dhoti sarees, tailored jackets, slit skirts & no-sleeve cape styles will officially have their moments in the collection. While the sexy, off-shoulder trend isn’t going anywhere, the full-grown tulip-mirror embroideries will jump into the mix.

From a relatively discreet hand-chorded bodice to down-to-the-floor jade motifs, velvet patches will be a “thing” for bridal in the collection.

Designers played with sheer fabrics ranging from embellished, modesty cutout panels to crepe drapes, also teamed the opulent raw silks with pretty organza dupattas.

These once-in-a-lifetime pieces are an exquisite match for a princess bride’s dream trousseau.

Catering to the bridal-wear needs, the brand hosts a wide range of glamorous lehengas, heavenly sarees styles, elegant anarkali suits and magnificent gown designs amongst a myriad of new styles for the customers to choose from. The collection is now available at KALKI Santacruz store and on www.kalkifashion.com

Also, if you are a to-be-bride, you can now book your bridal appointment with the KALKI stylist and get a personal bridal trousseau planned for your dream wedding. Book here.

About KALKI

Born in Mumbai, India in 2007, KALKI evokes the very spirit of the city it was founded in. An upstart, innovative, and dynamic brand – KALKI – offers the best of contemporary, ethnic Indian fashion and fusion-wear styles. Staying true to the brand’s unique promise of premium and wearable fashion, KALKI unveils fresh collections and all-new designs throughout the fashion calendar. KALKI’s design and aesthetic sensibility seeks inspiration from all walks of life – be it haute couture trends and forecasts from fashion destinations across the globe to the homebound handloom traditions of India.

Fashion

Sound to Silhouette: A History of Mutual Influence

Published

1 day ago

June 2, 2026

Jiya Jaitly

Fashion and music have never existed as isolated cultural forms; they are parallel languages of identity. One clothes the body while the other clothes the atmosphere, emotion, and ideology. A musical movement without a recognisable visual code rarely survives beyond sound. Their interrelation rests in a shared capacity to signal rebellion, status, class mobility, seduction, politics, spirituality, and generational dissent without explicit explanation. This confluence explains why every significant cultural movement inevitably develops a distinct silhouette, colour palette, grooming code, and behavioural aesthetic.

Fashion and music influencing culture and style

The earliest traceable entanglement between fashion and music reaches back to ancient civilisations.

· In Egypt, court musicians wore garments that signified sacred or elite status, while dancers and performers used adornment to amplify theatrical presence.

· In Greece, musical performances during religious festivals unfolded alongside carefully structured drapery and ornamentation that reflected philosophical ideals of harmony and proportion.

· In early India, classical musical traditions and courtly attire evolved in tandem: ragas, dance, jewellery, textiles, and performance aesthetics formed an integrated cultural expression rather than discrete disciplines.

In medieval and Renaissance Europe, music and fashion functioned as instruments of aristocratic distinction. Court musicians did not merely perform; they embodied prestige through embroidered fabrics, powdered wigs, structured tailoring, and elaborate ornament. Opera later refined this fusion, transforming costume into emotional architecture and using fabric, silhouette, and visual symbolism to externalize psychological and social tensions long before cinema emerged. The jazz age carried fluid tailoring and liberated femininity; punk arrived ripped, confrontational, and anti-establishment; hip-hop transformed streetwear into global luxury language; grunge made deliberate dishevelment an aesthetic weapon against polished consumerism.

The postwar decades accelerated this fusion into a cultural machine. Rock and roll in the 1950s weaponized youth style against the conservative social order: leather jackets, slicked hair, and slim silhouettes became emblems of defiance. The 1960s fractured into competing aesthetic ideologies: psychedelic maximalism, mod minimalism, and bohemian romanticism, each carrying its own musical identity. By the 1970s, glam rock turned gender presentation into a theatrical experiment, while punk repudiated luxury with torn fabrics, safety pins, and anti-fashion rhetoric; ironically, the industry eventually commodified even that rebellion.

Hip-hop’s emergence in the late twentieth century fundamentally altered the power dynamic between fashion and music. Where earlier eras often saw fashion houses shaping performers, hip-hop reversed the vector: street culture began dictating luxury. Sneakers, oversized tailoring, gold jewellery, and sportswear migrated from expressions of survival and neighbourhood identity to symbols of global aspiration.

This phenomenon was strikingly visible with the rise of The Beatles. Before them, mainstream male fashion remained restrained, conservative, and tethered to postwar uniformity. The Beatles introduced something deceptively simple yet revolutionary: youth styling as mass identity. Their slim-cut suits, Chelsea boots, and mop-top haircuts, then later, psychedelic experimentation reoriented a generation’s look. Early Beatles fashion projected polished accessibility; their later phase embraced flamboyant military jackets, Indian-inspired garments, tinted glasses, and bohemian layering.

Soon after, David Bowie dissolved the notion of a fixed identity through glam rock. His Ziggy Stardust persona fused theatrical makeup, metallic fabrics, platform boots, asymmetrical silhouettes, and androgynous styling into a cultural detonation. He unsettled rigid constructs of masculinity long before mainstream discourse possessed the vocabulary to discuss gender fluidity. Elvis Presley’s influence is equally central: in the 1950s, he translated rebellious sensuality into a visual lexicon: high collars, slicked hair, dramatic tailoring, jewellery, and overt physical charisma laid the blueprint for the modern pop star. Kiss Band converted face paint and exaggerated stage costumes into a commercial spectacle, anticipating branding strategies that would later be amplified by influencers. Meanwhile, Black Sabbath helped anchor darker visual codes that matured into gothic and metal aesthetics.

The 1980s produced perhaps the most complete fusion of fashion and musical mythology in Michael Jackson. He wielded visual symbolism with near-military precision: the single white glove, military-inspired jackets, loafers with cropped trousers, aviators, sequined stagewear, and sharply structured performance garments became instantly recognizable emblems.

Madonna treated fashion as a machinery of reinvention. Lace gloves, corsetry, crucifixes, lingerie-as-outerwear, platinum hair, and mutable personae repeatedly destabilized expectations around femininity and sexuality. Artists such as Tupac Shakur, The Notorious B.I.G., Jay-Z, and later Kanye West translated streetwear into a language of luxury oversized silhouettes, sneakers, sports jerseys, chains, varsity aesthetics, and designer collaborations rose from urban identity and economic aspiration. More recently, Harry Styles has mainstreamed softer, gender-fluid menswear for younger audiences, signalling another shift in how pop figures mediate sartorial norms.

These two have been connected to each other since the creation of both, as they work as Yin-Yang of art form, and they will keep evolving together and shaping our society, as Art is a place where humans find resonance.

Events

The Riviera Rewritten: Cannes 2026’s Most Arresting Fashion Moments

Published

1 week ago

May 25, 2026

Anushka Thapliyal

CROISETTE CHRONICLES — PART II

“Sun, Silk & Studied Chaos”

If the first week of Cannes 2026 whispered, the second week grabbed you by the collar.

A blush-pink strapless column gown arrived on the Croisette with the kind of quiet ferocity only a seasoned red carpet can absorb. Pearl-scattered at the bust, its satin surface caught every camera flash. It was paired with a voluminous silver-grey cocoon coat draped off both shoulders — not worn, deployed. Chandelier diamonds framed the ears, stacked rings adorned both hands, and sleekly pulled-back hair revealed a razor-sharp jawline. This was old Hollywood reconstructed by someone who found the original too polite.

Then came the moment that stopped the Croisette mid-scroll: a chartreuse pleated one-shoulder gown, its fabric engineered into deep diagonal ridges sweeping from a sculpted shoulder down to a dramatic thigh-high slit. Photographed against palm trees and Mediterranean light, it looked less like an outfit and more like a natural phenomenon — moss-coloured, elemental, inevitable. A single emerald pendant rested at the throat. Loose waves, barely tamed, completed the look. The overall effect? A woman who dressed for the landscape, not the photographers — and somehow captivated both.

Beside the sea, another story unfolded. A dark sequinned gown — midnight black fading into deep magenta — was worn against the backdrop of open water. Hair loosened by the wind, a glance thrown back over one bare shoulder. Delicate crystal chains descended the open back like jewellery transformed into architecture. No carpet, no crowd. Just Riviera light and the confidence to command it entirely.

Then came the cultural statement that deserved its own paragraph: a halter-neck anarkali of extraordinary intricacy. Silver and blush floral embroidery spread across ivory silk, while a heavily diamond-encrusted halter neckline functioned as both collar and jewel. A maang tikka and oversized jhumkas completed a look worthy of museum display. A blush dupatta trailed behind with quiet drama. This was Indian couture presented not as a translation for a Western audience, but entirely on its own terms — unapologetic, uncompromising, and self-assured.

Finally, there was the fashion commentator who became the story. A multicoloured embroidered bandhgala blazer — alive with iridescent threadwork in mauve, teal, and gold — was paired with plum trousers and a galaxy of statement rings. Frameless glasses added restraint to the visual richness, while the smile carried a different message altogether: I dressed for myself first. At Cannes, where everyone performs for someone, that may be the most radical statement of all.

“The Riviera didn’t dress them. They dressed the Riviera.”

Events

Fashion Designer Amit GT and Le Marquise Jewellery by Jasmine Gulati Jain and Sambhav Jain Showcase Excellence Under the Golden Lumière Awards at the 79th Festival de Cannes 2026 Show Directed by Liza Varma

Published

1 week ago

May 25, 2026

Neha Tyagi

As part of India’s multi-platform presence at the 79th Festival de Cannes 2026, internationally renowned Show Director Liza Varma from India led a delegation of Indian designers and jewellery labels at the Fashion TV Presentation held on 18th May 2026 at the Majestic Hotel, Cannes, at 9:30 PM (CEST).

The showcase featured celebrated Indian designer Amit GT along with Le Marquise Jewellery by Jasmine Gulati Jain and Sambhav Jain, presenting a curated display of fashion and jewellery that reflected contemporary Indian design sensibilities on an international platform. Amit GT’s showcase was presented under the prestigious Golden Lumière Awards Cannes 2026, hosted at the Majestic Hotel Beach, Cannes.

The Golden Lumière Awards show is hosted at the Majestic Hotel Beach, Cannes2026, where cinema meets luxury, celebrating outstanding personalities from international cinema along with visionary business leaders supporting art, culture, cinema, and the future generation of creators. The grand evening was attended by international personality Farhana Bodi and actress Urvashi Rautela, while actress Pooja Batra. The event was produced by Anna Neneman from ENW Showroom.

Speaking about the showcase, Liza Varma said, “My focus is to create opportunities for Indian designers and talent to present their work in international environments. Cannes provides an important global platform to showcase the strength of Indian fashion, craftsmanship, and creative talent before an international audience.”

Held alongside the 79th edition of the Cannes Film Festival 2026, the presentation formed part of a larger initiative led by Liza Varma to create global visibility for Indian designers, jewellery labels, and creative talent through curated showcases and international collaborations at Cannes.