As a Correspondent I had the privilege of attending, photographing and covering the first ever Kolkata Fashion Week. It an eye-opening experience, but fun and unique all the same. I got on so well with the event management company that they virtually pleaded for me to return to cover the next installment of the event. Unfortunately, I had to decline as I was on my way to University.

2. DAY2
Ms.NanditaPalChoud-
hury,whowasinatten-
dance,spoketoCorrespon-
dent,MonitaMohan,on
whethertheKFW would
helplocalweavers.“Not
directly,”sheanswered,
“butindirectlydefinitely,
because,rightnow,every-
onewhoisseeingthesaris
isaskingme‘wherecanwe
buythemfrom?’.Sotothat
extentimmediatelythere’s
goingtobeakindofinter
estinsariswhichusually,
withyounggirlscoming,
wouldn’thaveaskedfor.
Butnowtheyfeelthatit’s
somethingevenwecan
wearandispresentable.”
(Above)ZubairKir-
maniwithshowstop-
per,directorImtiaz
Ali.(Right)fForKol-
kataFashionWeek,
Kirmani’scollection
wasallaboutnew
waysandtechniques
tousefabricslike
chanderi,Kota,chif-
fon,velvet,satinsilk
andhabotalsilk.
(PicturesbyMonita
Mohan)
NarendraKumar’s
‘Resurrection’was
abouthoperisingfrom
thedarkness(of
26/11).
Ontheright,showOntheright,show-
stoppersRanvijay
SinghSinghaand
FerenaWazier.
(Extremeright)Oneof
Kumar’screations.
(PicturesbyRonita
Mohan)
ManovirajKhoslaandhisshowstop-
per,MahieGill.Khosla’scollection
wascalled‘AttitudeKolkata’.
(PicturebyRonitaMohan)
Minissha
Lamba
displays
someP.C.
Chandra
jewellery.
(Below)(Below)
The
Egyptian-
inspiredset.
(Picturesby
Monita
Mohan)
(Aboveleft)RiyaSenontherampat
theStoryofWeaves-PastandFor-
ward.(Above)Modelsdisplaying
someoftheweaves.
(PicturesbyRonitaMohan)

3. “See,whathappensisthatrecessionisthere,Iagree,but
certainthingsdon’tgetaffectedbyit.Now,ifyouhavea
weddinginthefamily,maximumyouwoulddois,instead
ofbuyingasariforthirtythousandortwentythousand,
you’dbuyonefortenorfifteen.Soyoumaycutdown
yourbudget.Imakeclotheswhichareveryprêt,soIhave
clothesforthreethousand,orembroideredclothesfor
threethousandsomething;akurtiforninehundred.threethousandsomething;akurtiforninehundred.You
know,peoplehavetowearthedaytodayclotheswhich
arereasonable...soImakethesekindsofclothes,”Pali
toldourcorrespondent,RonitaMohan.
DAY3
AnjanaBhargavkickedoffDay3with
‘MoltenBrown’,abrightandcolourful
linewhichhadhintsofbrowninitasitis
thedesigner’sfavouritecolour.Sheis
seenherewithshowstopper,VJAnusha.
(PicturecourtesyVaishnaviCorporate
CommunicationsPvt.Ltd.)
SoumitraMondalshowcased‘Kadhai’,a
celebrationofIndia’sopulentheritage.
Here,hewalkstherampwithshowstopper
SagarikaGhatge.
(PicturecourtesyVaishnaviCorporate
CommunicationsPvt.Ltd.)
AbhishekDutta,whobarelymadeittohis
ownshow,presented‘TreeofLife’,‘a
journeybackfromachaotic,urbanised
presenttoablissful,soulfulandhappy
past’.HisshowstopperswereSonalChau-
han,andsurprisingly,RituparnoGhosh.
(PicturecourtesyVaishnaviCorporate
CommunicationsPvt.Ltd.)
ShowstopperBipashaBasuwithMonaandPali.
(PicturebyMonitaMohan)
Noyonika
Chatterjeein
aMonapali
creation.creation.
Noticethe
lackoffoot-
wear
(Pictureby
Monita
Mohan)
JuneMaliahina
SanchitaJhulka
creation,aspart
oftheWeaves-
Nouveau
Collection.
(Pictu(Picturecourtesy
VaishnaviCorpo-
rateCommunica-
tionsPvt.Ltd.)
KavitaBannerjee(frontleft)with
showstopperMonamiGhoshand
behindthemArjunAgarwal(right)
withShreyaPandeywalktherampas
partoftheNouveauCollection.
(PicturecourtesyVaishnaviCorpo-
rateCommunicationsPvt.Ltd.)

4. DAY4
“Whatisspecialaboutthisoutfitisthatit
hasbeenmadebylocalweaversandIthink
thedesignersoverthereweretryingto
showcasethatlocalweavescanbeusedto
makeglamorousoutfits,traditionaloutfits,
andveryeffectivecolourfuloutfits,”
ZeenatAmantoldcorrespondentMonita
Mohan,afterStoryofMohan,afterStoryofWeaves-Twilight
Velvet.(PicturebyRonitaMohan)
“Mugdha’ssobeautiful,
she’sagreatmodel,oneof
thebestmodels,afabulous
actor,she’ssosuccessful,
sheepitomiseswhata
youngwomanshouldbe
today.She’sawonderful
person,sheperson,she’scharming,
she’sgraceful,everything.”
-GauriandNainikaon
showstopper,Mugdha
Godse.
(PicturesbyMonitaMohan)
“Allthegirlshave
takenthemhome”-
RahulKhanna,on
theshoestheyde-
signed.
(PicturebyRonita
Mohan)
“Ithinkit’sbeautiful,Ilovedtheirwholecol-
lection,andit’sapleasuretobepartoftheir
show.It’sveryfeminine,veryniceandneat.
Ilovethiscolour.Actuallyitcameasasurprise
tomebecauseIdidn’tknowwhichcolourI
waswearing.Therewassupposedtobepink,
andblueandanothercolour.ButIreallyliked
thisbecausemyfriendstoldmethatit’scom-
plimentingmeandIthinkthisisaverynice,
‘in’colour,”MugdhaGodsetoldourSpecial
Correspondents.Correspondents.
(Left&below)RohitBalcreations.
(PicturesbyMonitaMohan)
(Right)John
Abraham,theshow-
stopperforRohitBal,
showcasesan
embroidered
blacksherwani.
(Pictureby
MonitaMohan)
(Left)‘Through
Charulata’sOpera
glass… thepastof
thefuture’wasthe
nameofDevrNil’s
show.Theclothes
weremostlymono-
chromaticwithsomechromaticwithsome
Persianindigoand
scarletred.
(PicturesbyMonita
Mohan)
RohitBalafterhisshow,‘Raat’.
(PicturebyMonitaMohan)
(Belowright)ChitrangadaSingh,show-
stopperforRohitGandhiandRahul
Khanna’s‘OdetoJoy’.
(Below)Themengotarawdealinthe
otherwisebrightcollection.
(PicturesbyRonitaMohan)