Suneet Varma and his muse at the Blenders Pride Fashion Tour 2014 Preview
Suneet Varma and his muse at the Blenders Pride Fashion Tour 2014 Preview

The Benders Pride Fashion Tour is all set to hit the road on the 15th of November 2014. We met up with the designers and a few more familiar face at the preview held at the Grand Hyatt, Mumbai. While each designer with their muse gave the audience a peek at their collection, GQ India‘s Che Kurrien hosted a #BPFTMYSTYLE talk with all the designers and few more star features like Boman Irani, Chetan Bhagat and the MIDIval Pundits, present at the event. Here are a few interesting things we learnt about them!

The designers, their muses and the star features at #BPFTMYSTYLE.
The designers, their muses and the star features at #BPFTMYSTYLE.

Che Kurrien asked the designers a bunch of interesting question and here are our favourite replies!

Abraham & Thakore

When asked about their definition of style in Delhi that is often considered to be over the top, Abraham and Thakore had their reply gun loaded! The lords of impeccable minimalism pointed out to the fact that Delhi is not just about being loud, just as Mumbai is not all about Bollywood. Well said!

Arshia Ahuja in Abraham & Thakore
Arshia Ahuja in Abraham & Thakore

Little Shilpa

Shilpa Chavan of Little Shilpa gave us her perspective on her initial experience designing head-pieces. She explained that people thought she was ‘mental’ to make head pieces. And now they want it. Indian fashion is not just about India traditional clothes and there’s a lot more happening here that should be applauded for its uniqueness.

Surelee Joseph in Little Shilpa
Surelee Joseph in Little Shilpa

Neeta Lulla

There’s a change coming and fashion is not only accessible to the bigger cities in India. In fact, designers and style influencers are springing up in numbers from the smaller cities too. According to Neeta Lulla, even the little towns of India have talent that knows, understands and commands fashion. Neeta mentioned how she wants to do her bit by giving personal attention to nurturing such talents.

Alecia Raut in Neeta Lulla
Alecia Raut in Neeta Lulla

Suneet Varma

Celebrating 25 years in Indian fashion, Suneet Varma spoke of his early days where his decision for being a ‘tailor’ was questioned. He said that today, people are adopting an individual lifestyle and the fact that he was sitting with a great mix of design and artistic talent at the event was proof .

A model plays muse to Suneet Varma
A model plays muse to Suneet Varma

Rocky S

Know for his uber glamorous styling in Bollywood, Rocky S tackled the question of “How much is too much?” Rocky joked about the fact that since he styles Bollywood movies, ‘Excess’  is his middle name. The desigener thinks that people should embrace the larger expression in them and enjoy it on their own terms.

Candice Pinto in Rocky S
Candice Pinto in Rocky S

Pankaj and Nidhi

With all the talk of individuality, Pankaj and Nidhi explained how they maintain their unique perspective and present it as one body of work in their label. Nidhi quoted a line she stands by, “Fill each others cup. And don’t drink from the same.” While Pankaj stated that working together and understanding what they really want their brand to project, they’ve managed to put their thoughts together to put one statement idea out.

Diva Starr in Pankaj & Nidhi
Diva Starr in Pankaj & Nidhi

Shivan and Narresh

How do two boys living in land-locked Delhi come out with an extremely successful resort line? The question stumped Shivan and Narresh but the boys explained that it’s what they love to make and we, at Team MissMalini, absolutely love what they do.

Pallavi in Shivan and Narresh
Pallavi in Shivan and Narresh

Also at the event were Namrata Joshipura and Gaurav Gupta, while Varun Bahl couldn’t make it, a look from his line did!  Here’s a peek at their muses.

Erika Packard in Varun Bahl
Erika Packard in Varun Bahl
Lekha Raman in Namrata Joshipura
Lekha Raman in Namrata Joshipura
A model plays muse in Gaurav Gupta
A model plays muse in Gaurav Gupta

We learnt that this year’s Blenders Pride Fashion Tour would be technologically fabulous as musicians like MIDIval Pundits, Sha’iir + Func, Karsh Kale and many more will present their works along with VJs projecting some custom visuals in each show! We can’t wait for the tour to begin. Do you have a favourite designer?