By far the stand-out event at this season's Lakme Fashion Week was the 'Mai Mumbai Fashion for Relief' event hosted by Naomi Campbell and Vikram Chatwal (an Indian luxury hotelier.) On the night of the event, even the aisles of the runway rows were crowded with editors, paps and hacks all wanting a glimpse of the supermodel and high-fashion designs. Luckily, I got to the Hyatt early and got myself a proper seat and I have to admit that despite my best attempts at professionalism, suppressed squeals were a main feature of the night!
The show starred a vast array of Bollywood celebs and even Princess Francoise Sturdza who made an appearance with her husband Gregory David Roberts (the Australian author, philosopher and producer of the film-version of his book 'Shantaram' which is billed to star Johnny Depp.) Rahul Khanna began the event (a little late!) with an empowering introduction and as the lights went out the room was filled with recordings of emergency calls. These calls merged into a loud beat and out came the gorgeous Naomi (oh yes, we're on first name terms!) in a beautifully embellished orange tunic over cropped black trousers. Campbell was followed by Bollywood's best and the collection was a great blend of Indian and international designer looks. My favourites included Yves Saint Laurent's white dress with black tassels, Zac Posen's space-age asymmetrical silver mini, the Givenchy white vest with black chiffon tee and the Roland Mouret structured dress in seafoam blue.
After the presentation of the looks that had been custom-made for the event by international designers, we witnessed a collection of t-shirts (all including the 'Mai Mumbai' logo) that had been made by Indian designers. Manish Arora's design, with over-the-top sleeves covered in metres of colourful Indian fabrics, stood out! The show was touching and it was great to see some of fashion's greatest figures come together in support of a fantastic cause.
The entire collection is up for sale on ebay (click this link to go straight to the sale) and all funds will be donated to Citizens for Justice and Peace-"a Mumbai based registered non-profit organisation committed to ensuring for transparency and accountability in governance and ensuring rehabilitation to victims of mass crimes. "
(Photos in order: Naomi Campbell, Givenchy, Roland Mouret, Zac Posen, Anna Sui, Yves Saint Laurent)
