Aashni and Co Luxury Wedding Exhibition January 2015

A date for your diary in 2015, London's Indian designerwear store Aashni and Co are holding a wedding exhibition at the Dorchester Hotel on Sunday the 25th January.

This event is planning to be more than your average asian wedding show, with a selection of India's top designers being there in person to showcase their collections.

I don't have a confirmed list of which designers will be attending, but bridal collections from the following designers will be on show: Anamika Khanna, Arpita Mehta, Manish Malhotra, Rimple and Harpreet Narula, Sabyasachi, Shehlaa, Tarun Tahiliani and Varun Bahl.

Tickets for the show are priced at £30 each and that fee can be redeemed against purchases made from Aashni and Co on the day.

I really like the collections stocked by Aashni and Co and I'm making plans to attend this exhibition, although I get the impression that "ordinary" members of the public aren't really the target demographic for this event.

In an interview with Asian Sunday, when asked about who would be attending the event, founder of Aashni and Co, Aashni Shah said
"We will be sending out invites to in-store clients, celebrities, key social figures, wives of famous industrialists and of course the media and the press. Anyone can attend the show by buying a ticket available for a minimal amount for the chance to meet the most visionary Indian designers. We are expecting a gathering of around 1000 people"

I haven't visited the store myself, but in my communications with Aashni and Co the impression I got hasn't been great. I first contacted them last month when I was writing about the copy Sabyasachi jackets being sold by other London retailers. I know Aashni & Co are an official stockist of Sabyasachi and I was hoping they could give me a price for the original design to compare with the prices being charged for the copies.

I got a reply from Slikha at Aashni & Co which politely said

"This is something that can be ordered through us, however we cannot give out prices. If you do have any enquiries, please direct them to us."

Ok...so not everyone wants to give their prices out by email, that's fine.

I contacted them again by email a week or so later, when I first heard about the wedding show, to find out more about the event and I got the following response:

"We are having a Wedding show for our Brides. We will be having designers from all over India showcasing their collections."

That's literally all the email said, no date, no location, no indication that the event was open to the public and no information on tickets. Great way to make a potential customer feel alienated and like they're not good enough to shop at your store!

Despite all this, I'm still planning to attend the wedding show as the opportunity to potentially meet some of India's top designers and see their collections up close is just too good to miss. Here's hoping the welcome from Aashni and Co is better than their email communications so far!

For anyone else planning to attend, you can find more info and buy tickets here: www.wslondon.com/tickets

New in at Raishma.co.uk plus Pop Up Shop in London

This week, the team from Raishma got in touch to let me know about the new arrivals in their online store, and a "pop up shop" event in London between now and the 14th December where you can browse and buy!

Read on to see my favourites from the new collection!

Sabyasachi Floral Jacket inspired outfits

India designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee opened India Couture Week in July this year with a show set up as a vintage indian railway (scroll to the end of this post to see a video!). Two outfits from this collection stood out to me - two long floral jackets, and now I'm seeing very similar designs in the UK asian stores too, here's a closer look at the original designs, the copies, where you can get them and how much they'll cost you!

Photo via The Delhi Bride

Mehzabeen Bridals - a closer look

Earlier this year, I posted some photos of outfits from the Mehzabeen bridal collection as seen on the catwalk at the Asiana Bridal Show - take a look here.

A few months ago, I got a chance to have a closer look at the collection, and they very kindly let me take some close up photos to share with you!

This blue outfit was a custom bridal order, I happened to be within earshot of the bride when she was viewing the outfit for the first time and she sounded VERY pleased! This is the bottom of the lengha.

Shop Review - My Experience with Stushh Manchester

Stushh in Manchester are featured on the cover of the latest Khush Wedding magazine, when I got my copy of the mag this week and saw some of the outfits from their latest collection it reminded me of a shopping experience I had with them which I've been meaning to write up!

First Look: Asian Bride Live London 2014

Last weekend, The Novotel in London hosted the 2014 #AsianBrideLive Show (you may remember I attended the Birmingham #AsianBrideLive event earlier this year). I didn't get to go to the show myself, but thanks to live tweets instagramming and facebook updates, I got a glimpse of the catwalk show and exhibition.

Here's my round-up of the updates from Asian Bride Live from social media!

Trend Alert - Short Shirts with Trousers at PFDC Bridal Week Lahore 2014

PFDC L’Oréal Paris Bridal Week 2014 took place in Lahore earlier this month and among all the heavily embroidered bridal lenghas, gowns and saris, one different trend I noticed was for short flared tops/dresses worn with fitted trousers.

This one is from the Sana Safinaz collection:

Read on to see how other designers are following this trend!

Samaira Ghani SG Fleuri Collection

British Asian designer Samaira Ghani has just launched her new collection for 2014 "Fleuri". Here's a closer look at the collection!

My new anarkali dress from 7aat Rang in Birmingham

Last weekend I attended the engagement of a close family member and I left it to the very last minute to find an outfit! Thankfully, I had a visit to Birmingham scheduled in for the weekend before and managed to find this ready-made anarkali dress from the shop 7aat Rang on Stratford Road.

Read on to see the close up details and how I wore it!

SVA by Sonam and Paras Modi Geometric Monochrome Collection

This collection from SVA by Sonam and Paras Modi really caught my eye when I saw the bold geometric prints strut down the runway at the recent Lakme Fashion Week Winter/Festive fashion show.

Whilst the Lakme Fashion Weeks pieces come with a price tag which runs into thousands of pounds, the outfits I'm blogging about today are actually much more affordable, but they still have that wow factor!

Read on to see more...

Asian Fashion Blogger Meet Up September 2014

When I started Asian Fashion Blog way back in 2007, there were very few people blogging about asian fashion and that meant there was hardly anyone to talk to about it and share tips/experiences with. So it made me really happy this weekend, to attend the first Asian Fashion and Wedding Blogger meet-up!

Organised by Nina, from The Asian Fashion Journal, 12 of us met up at The Book Club in London for a chance to meet a lot of the people we've been talking to online, but hadn't met in person.

Here we all are (minus "Ashichick", my sister, travel companion and sometimes blogger, who very kindly offered to take the photo)

Left to Right: Mani, Rabbia, Yasmin, Kayennat, Sharn, Nazma (me!), Nina, Nigar, Raj, Sara, Mandavi

Topics of conversation included weddings, sharing stories of our individual asian fashion shopping experiences, designers/stores we loved (and those we hated!), our favourite fashion weeks, upcoming asian fashion and wedding events and lots of talk about life outside blogging - most of us have full-time jobs/study too!

Here are links to check out the blogs of these lovely ladies:

• The Asian Fashion Journal - Nina
• Asian Wedding Ideas - Rabbia
• Desi Bride Dreams - Sharn
• The Desi Dossier - Kayennat and Nigar
• Mani Jassal - Mani
• Pehrani - Yasmin
• Red Notebook Stylist - Mandavi
• Sara K Blog - Sara
• Secret Wedding Blog - Raj

All in all, it was a great afternoon and I can't speak for everyone else, but I definitely came away feeling inspired!

We haven't set a date for the next meet up yet, but there's been talking of having it in Birmingham, and then the next one in Manchester, and the next...who knows!

My Style: Re-wearing a short kameez with a lengha

Last month I blogged about two different ways to wear a short kameez featuring my sister and an outfit we reinvented by pairing her short kameez with a new lengha.

This month I finally got the chance to wear my new short kameez outfit re-invention.

The kameez itself was a short fitted top, quite plain aside from some detail around the neck in gold, pink and blue:

It came with plain churidar bottoms in the same shade of blue and the dupatta had a tie-dye effect.

Cape style asian outfits

You've probably seen a lot of asian outfits with jacket-style tops - it's a look which has caught my eye a lot lately! But another similar trend which you may not have seen so often are cape-style asian outfits.

Here are some of my stand-out caped asian outfits!

Gaurav Gupta India Couture Week 2014

Worn by here by Shradha Kapoor, this dress was the final outfit at Gaurav Gupta's 2014 Indian Couture Week Show. The dress on its own would have looked great, but add the matching cape, with just the right amount of embroidery around the shoulders and this looks regal!

Naushemian by Nauman Arfeen at Pakistan Fashion Week London 6

Continuing with my coverage of the Pakistan Fashion Week 6 show in London, here are some of the outfits which caught my eye from the collection Naushemian by Nauman Arfeen.

Pairing red with pink is a bit of an unusual combination, and one which is very easy to get wrong if you don't have the exact shades and balance just right! This bridal outfit, I think manages to pull it off. I really like the jewellery it's been styled with too, I've not seen many bride's wearing choker necklaces like this.

Read on to see more from this collection.

Zaheer Abbas Collection at PFW 6 London

Another of the standout collections for me at Pakistan Fashion Week 6, which took place in London in May, was by Zaheer Abbas. What I liked about the collection, was that even though it had plenty of long-flowing dresses, there were also a number of styles which had shorter tops.

Read on to see more!

Asian outfits for children - review of the new collection from Rajas and Ranis

Just in time for Eid and any late summer weddings, my sister Afshan shares her review of the new asian fashion childrenswear collection by Rajas and Ranis.

I first came across Rajas and Ranis when Nazma blogged about them a few years ago (you can view that post here), although it wasn't until last year when I was struggling to find something special for my 4-year-old daughter to wear to a family wedding, that I decided to take a closer look at their offering.

Faryal Makhdoom on Viya Magazine Issue 8

Here's the latest cover of Viya Magazine with Faryal Makhdoom Khan as their cover star:

My first observation is that she isn't instantly recognisable, if I saw this on a magazine stand, and I couldn't see her name on the cover, it would take me a few minutes to realise it's her.

From the feedback received on her wedding and walima pictures, her fashion and beauty choices always tend to split opinion! So what do you think of the cover?

Check out some of the views from Asian Fashion Blog fans on Facebook here.

Makeup by Zaiba Khan
Outfits by Zeba'ish London 
Jewellery by Kyles Collection

Two ways to wear a short kameez - outfit recycling

A few months ago, with wedding season in the near-distant future, I was looking through my wardrobe at some of my outfits from years ago, my churidar and shalwar suits with a short kameez. Some of these tops were the perfect fit, and I still loved the embroidery and the memories I had of when I had worn them. Rather than putting them back in the wardrobe for another day, I decided to find a way to re-wear them!

In search of some inspiration, I came across these lehngas by Atsu at Pernia Pop Up Shop:

 
After seeing these, I made up my mind to have lehngas made to match two of my short kameezes, and after talking through the idea with my sister, she decided to have one made for one of her outfits. I'll be blogging about how my outfits turned out after I've worn them, but in the meantime, here's my sister first wearing her outfit in 2008:

Ayesha Aejaz at PFW6 London - how to work the floral trend

The collection by Ayesha Aejaz showcased at Pakistan Fashion Week 6 in London last month, was without a doubt my favourite from this event! I loved the summery oranges and the floral details.

Read on to see the full collection!

My Style - Crop Tops as Sari Blouses!

I keep seeing crop tops everywhere - on celebrities, in the shops and in the magazines. Personally, it's not a trend that's made it into my everyday wardrobe, but recently I bought a crop top to wear with a sari! Here's how I worked the look and some tips for choosing which crop tops to pair with your own saris and lenghas.

Asian Fashion Trends from the Faisana Fashion Weekend

The Faisana Fashion Weekend took place in London over the 2nd and 3rd May. The weekend was a showcase for a mixture of Indian and Pakistani designers and the event started with a fashion show. Here are some of my favourites from the show:

Anita Dongre
Arguably one of the biggest names at this event, these two lehengas were my favourite from her collection:

My Style - Raishma Ready To Wear 2014

Over the last two weeks I've had two weddings in two different cities, followed by a week abroad. It's all been very hectic, but I'm finally getting round to some asian fashion updates for you, starting with a review of my new outfit from Raishma's 2014 Ready To Wear collection.

I got some positive feedback when I posted a teaser pic of the outfit on Twitter last month, read on to see how I wore it!

It's arrived! A gift from @RaishmaCouture - can't wait to try it on! pic.twitter.com/RIkbgk1sPM
— nazma (@nazma_afb) May 8, 2014

2014 Indian and Pakistani bridal shopping guides for British Asian brides!

It's been nearly 7 years since I embarked upon the task of picking my wedding outfit...so you could say I'm a little out of touch when it comes to all the finer details.

Thankfully though, two of my favourite bloggers are sharing their experience of wedding shopping in 2014, here's links to their guides and a bit about why I think you'll find them useful!

The Asian Fashion Journal's Guide to Shopping in Mumbai, India

Nina, author of The Asian Fashion Journal got married recently and she's shared her guide to shopping in Mumbai. Although she ordered her main bridal dress from Aashni + Co in London, her visit to India included buying outfits for all her other wedding functions, and outfits for her mum and sister too. It's well worth a read!

Check out Nina's guide here.

Curly Fries Guide to Shopping for a Pakistani bridal online

Curly Fries announced her engagement recently and she has recommended 5 online sellers for Pakistani style bridals on a budget. There are hundreds (if not thousands) of sellers on the web, especially on Facebook, and it can be hard to decide who you can trust. CF has used some of these sellers before so her guide is a good place to start!

Check out CF's guide here.


Both of these bloggers have promised to share more of their bridal shopping experiences so it's definitely worth bookmarking their pages and checking in on them again! I know I can't wait to see more.

Trends from Pakistan Sunsilk Fashion Week 2014

The Pakistan Fashion Design Council's 7th Fashion Week was held in Lahore, Pakistan, earlier this month. Here are some of the looks from this 4-day event that caught my eye!

First up Mohsin Ali for Libas:

Now I know Chanel had models in trainers/sneakers at their 2014 Paris Fashion Week show, but to me they just don't work here at all!

House of Arsalan Iqbal

I liked the styling of this collection with the models wearing vintage looking explorer-style goggles and accessories. I also liked the relaxed loose feel to the outfits and the fact the look works on both men and women - it's all about those harem pants!

Red Bridals and More from Sache at Asian Bride Live 2014

A huge blog post for you today with a grand total of 8 red bridal outfits plus some coral outfits, blues and registry-perfect white lehengas too, all from the store Sache in Birmingham.

This collection was showcased at the Asian Bride Live show which took place at the ICC in Birmingham last month. A huge thanks for Aliway Photography for some of these pics!

Online Shopping Preview: Strand of Silk Indian Designerwear Store

A few weeks ago, I had the chance to meet the team behind online asian designerwear store Strand of Silk.

This store has been on my radar for some time, and now I've met the team and heard a little more about their offering, here are my picks for what you should look out for in their store!

Win an Outfit from the Raishma Ready To Wear 2014 Collection

This week sees the online launch of Raishma's Ready To Wear collection for 2014 over at Raishma.co.uk

To celebrate the launch, Raishma gave one lucky Asian Fashion Blog reader a chance to win one of the outfits pictured above from the collection. The competition closed on Friday 25th April 2014 and the winner chose this red and nude coloured outfit. Have a look at some of my favourites from the new collection below!

Fashion at the 2014 Premier Asian Wedding Show in Manchester

Last weekend, the Midland Hotel in Manchester held host to the 2014 Premier Asian Wedding Show.

Now I'm trying to cut down on the number of wedding exhibitions I attend, but seeing as this one was very local to me and entry was free I decided to pop along with fellow blogger Rabbia from Asian Wedding Ideas.

The fashion show at this event featured five collections, here's a closer look at some of the outfits!

Faika Karim

Based in Bradford, this store focuses on Pakistani fashion. These two dresses were my favourites.

Kajal's Couture at the Asian Bride Live Show 2014 Birmingham

Another of the collections which made an impression on me at the 2014 Asian Bride Live show in Birmingham was Kajal's Couture, by designer Kajal Patel.

They started with some white and gold floor length dresses!

Soltee by Sulakshana Monga at Asian Bride Live Birmingham

One of the standout collections for me at the Asian Bride Live show in Birmingham earlier this month, was from Soltee by Sulakshana Monga.

I wrote about their store launch on Asian Fashion Blog and it was great to see more of their outfits for myself!

They kicked off the catwalk show with this floral patterned dress with sheer panels in the skirt:

Asian Bride Live Birmingham 2014 - First Look

The ICC in Birmingham hosted the Asian Bride Live show today and I was lucky enough to be invited by the Asian Bride Magazine team to attend. I had a front-row seat for the catwalk and took over 400 photos!

I'll be posting a full write up all of the outfits I saw at the show, but in the meantime, here's a first look at some of my favourite outfits from each designer.

Bibi London

Bibi London showcased their collection of named designer outfits including Shyamal and Bhumika. I loved these two floor-length anarkali-style dresses.

Preview: Asiana Couture Catwalk Show Birmingham March 2014

Birmingham is the place to be over the next few days with the Asian Bride Live Show taking place on Sunday, and next Wednesday, 12th March, Asiana Magazine are hosting a couture catwalk show.

Here's a preview of what you can expect from the Asiana Couture Catwalk Show!

Asian fashion trend: peplum style lehngas and dresses

There was a time when peplum shaped tops and dresses could be found in almost every high street shop in the UK, but recently I'm starting to notice this shape being used a bit more in asian outfits. Here are some of the outfits I've found which work this trend!

For anyone that's unsure of what makes the peplum shape, the definition of a peplum is "A short overskirt or ruffle attached at the waistline of a jacket, blouse, or dress".

Frontier Raas peplum dress

This photo, by @Zinia_K inspired this blog post. This dress was showcased on the catwalk at the 2014 Asiana Bridal Show as part of the collection by Frontier Raas.

Mehzabeen Bridal Collection

In my last post, I posted photos from the latest Ziggi Studio groomswear sherwani collection and now here's their first bridal collection from sister brand Mehzabeen, as showcased at the 2014 Asiana Bridal Show.

We'll start with the traditional red colour!

Ziggi Studio Nazarana Groomswear Collection 2014

Here's the new collection from Birmingham-based groomswear specialist Ziggi Studio, the "Nazarana" collection was showcased on the catwalk at the 2014 Asiana Bridal Show.

This year Ziggi Studio have also introduced a line of asian bridal outfits which I'll be blogging about in my next post - scroll down to the end to see a preview of one of the pieces from the ladies collection!

Soltee by Sulakshana Monga Launch in Birmingham

Last month, a new designer collection from India launched in Birmingham. Here's a closer look at the outfits and launch event for Soltee by Sulakshana Monga.

This is the first official outlet in Europe for the brand Soltee by veteran couture designer Sulakshana Monga. Her collections can usually be seen gracing the catwalks at the big fashion weeks in India (see video at the end of this post!).

This "aviation" inspired collection showcases intricate hand stitched and embellishment detailing, signature power shoulder dressing and draping, with expert tailoring.

I love that these are nothing like the outfits you'll find in most of the other asian shops in the UK - who wants to look like everyone else at a party or wedding!

These two are my favourites:

I'm finding myself really drawn to pink outfits in 2014, over the last few years it feels like my wardrobe has been filled with blues and greens when it comes to asian outfits, so perhaps that's why I'm finding shades like this so appealing now!

This is the team behind the new Soltee store - sisters Bilkis Siddat, Kudhijha Tai, and their childhood friend Salma Patel.

They came up with the idea to partner with the brand Soltee when wedding shopping for Kudhijha.

Bilkis Siddat says, “We decided to launch in Birmingham, as it’s fast becoming the main hub for South Asian fashion outside of London. Also we know there is a market for clients in the far north of England and from the South and we wanted to be situated with ease of accessibility for as many fans of SOLTEE as possible”.

Kudhijha added, “We have a long term vision and plan to open a London based boutique and then expand into Europe. We’re excited as the response to the first store has been overwhelming which solidifies our belief in the success of SOLTEE in the UK”.

Prices star from £400 and you can find the new Soltee store at Unit 2, 91-94 Soho Road, Birmingham, B21 9DP.

They will also be showcasing the collection at Asian Bride Live in Birmingham next month.

Asian Bride Live Birmingham March 2014 - Preview

The Asian Bride Live Show is coming to Birmingham next month after a successful London show in October last year. Here's my preview of what you can expect when it comes to asian bridal fashion at this show!

The catwalk show, which is included in the standard ticket price, is going to be host to the following collections:

Ziggi Studio

Ziggi Studio recently celebrated their 5th year anniversary and added a line of bridalwear to their existing offering of groomswear.

BIBI London

Multi-designer store Bibi London were a hit at Asian Bride Live in London, they stock top designers including Shyamal and Bhumika, Neeta Lulla, Payal Singhal and their own designs too.

Chic Couture

Ahsans

This Birmingham based (Soho Road) groomswear designer also showcased their collection at the Asiana Bridal Show in London the photos above are from that show.

Mongas

RDC London

Sharons Couture

As well as their clothing collection, Sharon's Couture also hold an annual modelling competition to find the "Face of Sharon's Couture".

Soltee

Soltee have just launched their collection in the UK, and seeing as their boutique is based in Birmingham, it makes sense for them to exhibit at this event!


Asian Bride Live is taking place on Sunday 9th March 2014 at the ICC in Birmingham, entry costs £5 and tickets can be purchased online from The Asian Bride Live website.