Dates for your diaries - Asian Wedding and Fashion Events Autumn/Winter 2011

Asian fashion fans and brides-to-be take note, here's my list of upcoming asian wedding exhibitions and fashion shows all taking place in the UK over the next few months!

The Ultimate Wedding Exhibition
Date: Sunday 30th October
Location: St Johns Hotel, 651 Warwick Road, Solihull, B91 1AT
Ticket Price: Free Entrance
More Information: Facebook event page

Purejewels presents The Asian Wedding Exhibition 2011
Date: Sat 12 Nov 2011 - Sun 13 Nov 2011
Location: Alexandra Palace, Alexandra Palace Way, Wood Green, London, N22 7AY
Ticket Price: Adults £8, Children £5 (Children up to and including 10 years old), Family £22 ( 2 adults and 2 children), Group of 4 Adults £28. Ticket prices are slightly higher if buying on the door.
More Information: Chillitickets Events page

International Asian Fashion Awards 2011
Date: Saturday 19th November 2011
Location: London Hilton on Park Lane, 22 Park Lane, London, W1K 1BE
Ticket Price: £100 for standard, £150 for VIP
More Information: Chillitickets Event Page

Exquisite Platinum Events presents The Asian Wedding Exhibition 2011
Date: Sunday 20th November
Location: Wolverhampton Racecourse, Dunstall Park, Gorsebrook Road, Wolverhampton, WV6 0PE
Ticket Price: Free Entrance
More Information: Facebook Event Page

Premier Asian Wedding Show
Date: Sunday 20th November
Location: Midland Hotel, Peter Street, Manchester M60 2DS
Ticket Price: £7 on the door (slightly less if booking in advance)
More Information: Chillitickets Events Page

Date: Saturday 26th November
Location: Crescent Hall, 50 Dunstable Road, Luton, LU1 1EF
Ticket Price: £5 in advance, £7 on the door
More Information: Facebook event page

Here are the dates for some events taking place at the start of 2012, further information will be posted closer to the time!

- Sunday 15th January 2012, Asian Bride Show, Hilton Bradford

- Saturday and Sunday 28th and 29th January 2012, Asian Bride Show, Wembley Stadium London

- Sunday 29th January 2012, Asiana Bridal Show, Park Plaza London

- Saturday 4th and 5th February 2012, Asian Lifestyle Wedding and Fashion Exhibition, Trafford Centre (Event City) Manchester

- Sunday 5th February 2012, Asian Bride Show, The National Motorcycle Museum, Wst
Midlands

- Sunday 5th February 2012, Asiana Bridal Show, Hilton Birmingham Metropole

- Sunday 1st April 2012, Scotland's Asian Wedding Show, Sheraton Grand Hotel and Spa Edinburgh

Online Shop Review Bombaypink - asian designer fashion straight off the catwalk

Ever since setting up asianfashionblog.co.uk my interest in purchasing designer name outfits by Pakistani and Indian designers has increased. So when I heard about a new website, bombaypink.com, which sells designer fashion straight from the fashion week catwalks I decided to find out more.

Bombaypink.com is a UK based company, which has a number of different asian clothing and accessory designers. Karishma, the Managing Director of the company had this to say:

"We offer an edited collection of high-end designer clothes and accessories from designers who are based in India and the UK, with many of the pieces straight off the catwalks. Our aim is to source the most interesting pieces from the best graduate, emerging and niche fashion designers from around the world."

They're a growing company and are working to get more designer collections stocked and ready for you to buy online. The current list of designers available includes:
- Sougat Paul
- Babita Malkani
- Rachana Reddy
- Mehak Gupta
- Miriam Strehlau
- Deepti Pruthi
- Debarun Mukherjee
- Vijay Balhara

When I was browsing the outfits on site, the stand out pieces for me came from the Debarun Mukherjee collection as seen at this summer's Lakme Fashion Week.

Bombaypink.com very kindly agreed to send me an outfit to review, and they happened to have a piece from Debarun Mukherjee in my size (it's the outfit on the far right in the photo above).

Delivery and Packaging
Delivery in the UK can take up to "5 working days", my outfit took around 2 days from receiving confirmation of shipping. I received one package and inside, each part of the three piece outfit was wrapped separately. The outfit was so well made that there wasn't any worry about embroidery catching or colours running, but I thought it was a nice touch that each piece had its own package just in case.

The outfit itself
Having studied the catwalk photos of this outfit, and Bombaypink's own product image, I was unsure what to expect. Would it look just as pretty in person?
I have to say to looked even better in person, there's so much detail in the outfit that you doesn't even get picked up in the catwalk photos.

The stand-out part of the outfit for is the bead work on the back, it's definitely a reason to wear your hair up with this!

Final verdict
I would definitely shop at bombaypink.com again - personally I find them a lot more appealing compared to ordering asian designerwear from international websites and having to figure out different currencies and international shipping prices. All the prices on this website are quoted in pounds sterling and within the UK standard postage will cost you £8. I'm looking forward to seeing more of their designer collections, but in the meantime I'm saving up my Debarun Mukherjee for warmer weather!

Print Saris by Vikas Rattu at the Coventry Asian Wedding Exhibition

Another name on the line-up at the Coventry Asian Wedding Exhibition which took place last month was up and coming designer Vikas Rattu.

I first came across Vikas Rattu about a year ago when he was starting out, although he didn't have much to show then, I'm really pleased to see the progression of his outfits on the catwalk at this wedding exhibition.

My personal favourites from the collection were these print saris, the edgy/funky styling really goes well with these:

The collection also included this floral print lengha, which at first I didn't find very appealing, but on closer inspection I am quite drawn to the floral print.

You can get in touch with Vikas Rattu and see more detailed photos from his collection, including more lenghas and shalwar suits, on the Vikas Rattu facebook page.
A big thanks to ASN Photography for these photos.

Rent a Lengha at the Coventry Asian Wedding Exhibition September 2011

I've been covering a lot of international fashion shows lately, and I have lots more to come, but for a change, here are some photos from the catwalk of a wedding exhibition which took place in Coventry last month.

Here's the collection by Midlands-based asian fashion rental company Rent a Lengha. I previously posted a poll on asian fashion blog, asking readers "would you hire a an asian outfit rather than buying?" and at the time of writing this, the poll results stand at 62% saying no, and 37% saying yes - so there's definitely a market for hiring!

This bridal is by Karma

Bridal by Maria B

In addition to bridalwear, they also had some formal outfits on the catwalk:

This black and gold trouser suit is by Sonia Azhar

The purple outfit below is by Zahra Ahmad

I must say I prefer the formal/semi formal outfits to the bridal range they have available. All the bridals seem to be a bit outdated, like the Maria B outfit for example, I tried this very same bridal on back in 2008 when I was doing research for my review of Imani Studio.

Then again, not everyone is as fashion conscious as I am, and perhaps the chance to wear a beautiful designer outfit for your big day, even if it's not from the most recent season is a dream come true for some people. I'd be interested to know if anyone has used this company - leave a comment and share your thoughts!

You can find out more information on Rent a Lengha from the Rent a Lengha facebook page.
A big thanks to ASN Photography for these photos.

Debarun Mukherjee at Lakme Fashion Week Winter/Festive 2011

Here's the Winter/Festive 2011 Collection from Debarun Mukherjee as seen at Lakme Fashion week.
The collection was called "Kohl" and most of the pieces were purely black and white.

The show started with a dress with eyes on it!

This collection was a bit "hit and miss" for me, with some that I thought looked good and others which I wasn't so convinced by - like the vertical stripe outfit below on the right, which makes me think either humbug or prison uniform!

As is customary, there was a celebrity appearance at this show - actress Shefali Shah:

The final gown strayed from the black and white theme and had a little hint of colour which I think really worked, whilst still fitting in with the rest of the collection:

You can view more from Debarun Mukherjee's Kohl collection, including the menswear pieces at www.lakmefashionweek.co.in. I recently received an outfit from Debarun Mukherjee's Summer Resort 2011 Collection, courtesy of Bombaypink.com so look out for my review of them soon!

Anita Dongre at Lakme Fashion Week Winter/Festive 2011

Here's the collection from Anita Dongre, as showcased at Lake Fashion Week Winter/Festival which took place at the end of August this year.

This collection mainly consisted of a colour palette featuring reds, blues and blacks:

Aside from the clothes, I quite liked the hairstyles too, perhaps a little dramatic for a bridal look though? Here's a close-up of the hairstyle:

One of my personal favourite pieces from this collection was the red one-sleeve maxi dress below:

Photo credits to the official lakme fashion week website, which has more photos from the Anita Dongre collection. You can also Anita Dongre's Summer Resort 2011 collection which was all about light coloured, floaty and feminine dresses.