The Armoire is back with its eighth edition, titled Electric Room Pop. Thirty designers will display chic Indian and western creations, jewellery, and accessories that can brighten up even the most mundane outfit. Here are three brands to watch out for.
Isharya
Jennifer Lopez can’t get enough of these bracelets: be it the cuffs, the square bangles or the ones with stunning polki mirrors. “She usually stacks them up,” says Nisha Khiani, business development and marketing head of Isharya. The jewellery brand was started in 2005 by sisters-in-law Gauri and Radhika Tandon, based out of California and Mumbai respectively. Over the years, a slew of celebrities became their clients, including Selena Gomez, Eva Longoria, Gwyneth Paltrow, Cindy Crafwford, Deepika Padukone and Kajol. “We recently did return gifts for Sonam Kapoor’s mehendi ,” says Nisha.
In the city, Isharya will be showcasing new collections Noor (inspired by Mughal architecture) and Mandala (inspired by geometric shapes). “Our gold plated jewellery blends modern techniques with heirloom details,” adds Nisha. Earrings, rings, bangles, head gear, body harnesses will be on display. The brand also customises everything from chains, pendants and clutches to ornate straps for bags.
Prices start at ₹3,000.
Malasa
How often has your outfit overshadowed that of the bride? While that certainly is not the aim of label Malasa, it’s hard not to get noticed when you’re dressed in one of their elegant silhouettes.
“The options for bridal wear are plenty, but there aren’t too many labels catering to people attending a wedding,” says Nimrit Gill, who started Malasa four years ago with her mother Jyoti.
“One of the best moments for us was when a young client — for whom we designed a fitted ivory dress with silver embroidery and a bugle bead fringe at the bottom — was so happy that she was actually shaking and shivering in excitement, and said ‘this is even better than my wedding outfit’,” laughs the Delhi-based designer.
Malasa is making its Chennai debut at the pop-up. The collection includes crop tops, sharara s, peplum tops with pants, stitched saris, cape saris, their popular pearl-detailed saris and blouses with fringe and tassels. Nimrit believes in mix and match, and her garments are designed to be paired with other pieces and worn in a variety of combinations.
Prices start at ₹20,000.
Ease
“There’s a lot of fuss when it comes to Indian wear. We started out with the aim of making it easy, with light weight fabrics and comfortable contemporary cuts,” says Vidhi Purohit, who founded Ease with her sister Khushboo in 2015, in Mumbai. “My sister studied fashion in NIFT and I have always been interested in fashion, so we teamed up,” she says. This also means that on numerous occasions, Vidhi had to sit still as her elder sister tries a combination of drapes on her. “That’s an everyday thing,” she laughs.
Their collection will comprise anarkali s, sharara s with gathers, dhoti pants with peplum tops, tunics and indo-western pieces. “This is our new collection. It’s called ‘If Colours Could Speak’, since we love combining unusual colours. You’ll find dark grey with mauve, tangerine kurti with pista green dupatta , off-white anarkali with Rama green dupatta , and striped dupatta s that are quite uncommon,” she adds.
Prices start at ₹20,000.
The event will take place on September 11 at WelcomHotel (formerly Chola Sheraton), 13, Cathedral Road, between 11 am and 8 pm. For details, call 9884960336.
