Asiana magazine's new website Asiana.tv is still in "beta" but their website content is growing day by day (most notably their video section!). For fashion fans out there the first thing you need to check out is the all new "fashion finder" which claims to be "the biggest asian fashion portal in the world". I'm not sure how they're backing up this claim, but as I love looking at pretty pictures of asian clothes I decided to test out the fashion finder and see if I could find my dream outfit!

Split into six categories you can search for your dream outfit by Bridalwear, Saris, Evening Wear, Menswear, Jewellery and Shoes, or you can search by brand which includes all the regular Asiana Magazine advertisors such as Badial, Jaan, Kyles, Mona Vora, Mongas, Variety Silk House and many more!

To put the fashion finder to the test I sent through some enquiries for some of the outfits that caught my eye and here's what I found!

I started with the bridals and there's lots to look through - currently 14 pages worth of asian bridal wear, don't be surprised if some of the outfits look familiar to you - they've all featured in Asiana Wedding or Asiana Magazine. I put myself into the mindset of a bride and picked 3 outfits, I then filled in the "contact designer" box to make my enquiries about prices!
1) White regsitry style outfit from Gul's Style
2) Fully embroidered more traditional bridal outfit from Badial
3) Green asian fusion gown from Bombay Connection

I sent my enquiries through on the 8th December and have yet to hear back from any of these designers with further info on these outfits :(

Next I hit the eveningwear section, which is even bigger than the bridal selection with 17 pages worth of outfits. I picked out 5 outfits - 3 maxi dress-style outfits and two churidar suits:

1) Blue and green maxi dress from Sai Fashions
2) Yellow/Gold maxi dress from Jaan
3) Patterned maxi dress from Mongas
4) Green churidar suit from Century Emporium
5) One shoulder churidar suit from Traditions

I had a bit more luck with getting some feedback from these designers, just one day after submitting my enquiry I got a reply back from Century Emporium on the Green Churidar suit below saying
"Regarding your enquiry ce-41, this is not a stitched outfit but embroidered raw silk fabric which has been draped around the model to give ideas of of what one could make with this fabric.
You could use this fabric to make a dress. shalwar kameez or even a lengha.
The retail price of the fabric is £25 per metre for the maroon embroidered fabric and £12 per metre for the plain raw silk.
We stock a wide variety of these silks in differing colours and designs so please feel free to pop in to our store.
If there is anything else we can help you with do not hesitate to contact us"

This was followed by a reply from Jaan about their yellow/gold maxi dress:
"This email is regarding your enquiry, the price for this dress is £395 as it is. we also have a made to measure service available if you did want to go for that. with made to measure you have a choice of 500 colours and also it is made to your size, any changes that you did want to make are also possible."

I also got a reply from Mongas on their patterned maxi:
"Thanks for your Query and sorry for a late reply. The dress that you have viewed is for £250. Unfortunately the dress is out of stock, but we also provide made to measure services, wherein you have the option of ordering the same dress as per your own style and measurement. Hope this helped. For any further query please feel free to contact us."

I have to say to say I'm a little disappointed that some of the other designers I contacted haven't got back to me yet - as I understand the system is still quite new but surely to be a successful online "fashion finder" you need to be able to find out more info on the outfit before you decide to travel to the store. Also one downfall is including outfits that aren't in stock on the fashion finder, I know that stock levels change very quickly and that it would probably be impossible to have "live" info on stock levels, but some of the outfits on the fashion finder are from VERY old issues of Asiana Magazine and I very much doubt they are still in stock.

Aside from the above I'd say Asiana.tv's fashion finder is still a must-visit for asian fashion fans and anyone who's looking for some outfit inspiration. I think you have to sign up to the asiana.tv site to actually access the fashion finder which will put some people off, but it's definitely worth it! Visit the asiana.tv fashion finder now to have a browse for yourself and leave a comment to let me know if you found your dream outfit!