What better way to toast the start of 2012 than to look back on 2011 – a momentous year filled with a devastating tsunami in Japan to royal weddings and their designer gowns in Europe and the shocking dismissal of one of the most talented designers in the heat of Paris Fashion Week. CHEONG PHIN reflects on the definitive fashion moments of the year that was

THE END OF GALLIANO AT DIOR
The year in fashion began on a dramatic note during Paris Fashion Week in February with the shocking dismissal of John Galliano, one of the most innovative designers of his generation from the couture house of Christian Dior. An anti-Semitic outburst in a Paris cafe cost the flamboyant British designer his coveted job as creative director of Dior and his eponymous fashion label in a flourishing fashion career that spans 27 years. For the first time, the Dior Autumn/Winter 2011 runway show ended without the customary theatrical bow from the designer and, to the dismay of anxious fashion insiders, has not announced a successor till today.

ROYAL WEDDINGS AND DESIGNER GOWNS
Spring/Summer was a season of royal weddings and kicked off with the most anticipated event of the year — the fairytale wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton in London.

From the moment the young couple announced their engagement in late 2010, the speculation about who would be designing the Royal weddings dress was rife among fashion watchers and possibly the best-kept secret the fashion world has endured. All was revealed to the delight of everyone on April 11 when Kate (as she is fondly known) stepped out in a glorious ivory wedding dress with English and French chantilly lace appliqué, satin gazar pleated skirt and 2.7-metre-long train by Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen.

Working closely with Kate behind closed doors, Burton triumphed in delivering an elegant and timeless design that represents the best of “Made in Britain” craftsmanship and hailed by many as the wedding dress of the 21st century — overshadowing an equally beautiful off-the-shoulder silk ivory wedding gown created by Italian designer Giorgio Armani for Charlene Wittstock at her lavish wedding to Prince Albert II in Monaco three months later. The sensational gown was embellished with ramage embroidery depicting flowers, Swarovski crystals and thousands of pearl teardrops attached to a five-metre long train.

NEW STORE OPENINGS
Despite the global economic ununcertainty, several brands remain optimistic about Asia and debuted their first stores in Malaysia in 2011. Celebrating 30 years in the business, Michael Kors flew into Kuala Lumpur to officially open his first Malaysian store in Pavilion; Australian accessories brand “Oroton” opened in KLCC and Gardens Mall while British brand “French Soles” (known for its comfortable ballet flats) opened its first franchised boutique outside the UK at the new wing in Suria, KLCC.

Elsewhere, French luxury house “Balenciaga” arrived here at last while La Montre Hermès opened its first Malaysian boutique dedicated to watches at Starhill Gallery.

Paris Fashion Week 2012 Fall/Winter Schedule

Fashion dedicated to the well dressed international male takes the stage at Paris Fashion Week this month.  Progressive and fashionable men’s clothing labels from all over the world will take part in fashion and trade shows as well as parties where they’ll go to display and discuss what they’ve been working on for endless nights; all done in preparation for Fall-Winter fashion season.

Paris fashion week starts January 18th this year and designers Maison Martin Margiela, Rick Owens, Louis Vuitton, Adam Kimmel, Thom Browne, Phillip Lim, Junya Watanabe, Lanvin, will be featured.  The top designers will follow show opener Yohan Serfati screening their latest collections for buyers and journals.

It’s A Boy!
Celebrated thespian and film actress Konkona Sen Sharma and her hubby Ranvir Shorey welcomed their son Haroon into the world on March 15th. Konkona dared to bare all for a magazine cover shoot, and clearly embraced the journey of motherhood from day one.

Black Swan and a Baby
Natalie Portman wowed cinemagoers with her riveting performance in Black Swan, and surprised them again with news that she was marrying the choreographer of the film, Benjamin Millepied, with a baby on the way! Here’s hoping their son Aleph taps into those dancing genes!

Twins for Nick & Mariah
After loads of photo shoots during their pregnancy, Nick Cannon and Mariah Carey revealed a first look of their twins, Moroccan and Monroe, on Barbara Walters’ 20/20. Since then, the two have been taking pics galore with the new additions to their family, making sure the foursome is styled and profiled to the max!

B’s Big Announcement
Famed songstress Beyoncé was the one who came out on top after belting it out to “Love On Top” at the MTV Video Music Awards in 2011 where she threw off her jacket and put rumors to rest about her pregnancy. She and Jay-Z couldn’t be more excited about their bundle of joy. That’s gonna be one talented kid. Just sayin’.

Lara On the Ramp
Lara Dutta recently married ace tennis champ Mahesh Bhupati and now the couple is expecting. After her friends threw her a themed baby shower at a restaurant in Mumbai, Lara made her first public appearance on the runway on the final day of Lakmé Fashion Week in a baby pink corset and sari designed by Shane and Falguni Peacock. Here’s to being fashionable and forever fabulous Lara!

Shilpa Tweets About Baby
Shilpa Shetty wasn’t afraid to live under a microscope when she entered the Celebrity Big Brother house in the UK back in ’07, which we all know yielded her big returns. So will the actress turned reality star want to document her journey through motherhood? Who knows?! But she and hubby Raj Kundra have been tweeting about it and can’t wait to be parents.

Fashion Swatch: Yummy Mummys of 2011

Kanika Chadda’s Fashion Swatch column will be your monthly go-to for all things related to fashion from runway shows to the latest celeb sightings.

Kanika Chadda was formerly Head Fashion Correspondent for CNN in India (CNN-IBN) where she was given an all access pass to Lakmé Fashion Week and India Couture Week. She currently hosts “Bollywood Buzz” and “Mumbai Beats” on Sahara One TV.

Can you believe it’s already 2012 and we’re still here, alive and kicking, since the world hasn’t come to a dismal end?! Yes, it certainly feels good to be alive. And do you know who’s really ecstatic about life and all the good that comes with it?

First-time celebrity moms who are still basking in the joy and happiness that their tiny tots have brought them this past year. Here’s a look at the fashion-forward Bollywood and Hollywood “Yummy Mummys” who made headlines in 2011 and those who are preggers in the new year.

Beti B Arrives!
B-town’s sweethearts, Abhi and Ash, gave birth to a beautiful baby girl (who supposedly has a striking resemblance to the Junior B) on November 16, 2011. The tech-savvy power couple tweeted the good news to their fans and held a private naming ceremony for their daughter (whose name begins with the letter A, of course!).

A  glamorous black carpet was rolled out in Lahore last week. Grandeur, opulence, excellence and theatrics came to mind as one walked upon it to witness the PFDC L’Oreal Paris Bridal Week (PLBW), a curtain raiser on Pakistan’s coveted bridal couture. Bridals are perceived as couture in Pakistan and as couture is customised, so would be the fashion week honouring it. It was here that fashion was to be elevated and 12 designers would be anointed to a higher status of couturiers, possibly the best in Pakistan. Subsequently, expectations ran high.

Amongst the highly anticipated were HSY, Karma, Nida Azwer, Umar Sayeed, Fahad Hussayn and Ali Xeeshan. Nabila’s style segment and her interpretation of tradition conjured up just as much interest. There was also a lot of curiosity as to how the three jewellery collections by Kiran Fine Jewellery, Raema Malik and Damas would be conceptualised. The remaining six shows — Sonia Azhar, Sara Rohale Asghar, Rouge, Maria B, Asifa Nabeel and Emran Rajput — held some surprises and also some shocks. As expected with any debut, not all names on the list were deserving.

Umar Sayeed and Nida Azwer walked away with being the strongest names at PLBW. Sayeed for his intricate and almost intimate detailing felt flawless when it comes to the aesthetics that a bridal ensemble should exhibit. This is what he does best. Azwer was more creative, as she took liberties with the craft without compromising on the basics of a strong bridal.

Karma made a very strong comeback with a collection that puts Maheen Kardar Ali back on the radar. Like Umar Sayeed, bridals are Karma’s forte and bridal week served an important purpose by giving her a platform to prove that. Ditto for HSY who not only proved his prowess but also tweaked it by having fun and introducing bridal separates. These designers were in their element.

Younger designers Fahad Hussayn and Ali Xeeshan pulled out the stops in their shows. Hussayn’s Raat Rakh was a collection reviving ancient crafts in an almost Gothic avatar; with that the designer remained committed to his ethos. Similarly Xeeshan’s Pahalgam seeped in with the spirit of Kashmir: beautiful, ethereal and as always, dramatic.

While most collections shown at PLBW were aesthetically pleasant, they fell out of favour for lack of innovation. Critical acclaim is very different from commercial success and that is what the remaining six designers struggled to understand. They were subservient to commercialism by way of stereotypical silhouettes, multifarious layering and what I like to call “death by dabka!” Fortunately excellence is not measured in the weight of the jora, not even when it comes to bridals.

Designers at bridal weeks need to serve two very strong purposes: innovating and introducing something new that may hint at their creativity and reviving ancient crafts of the region and making them cohesive with the aesthetic of a new generation. Bridal week needs to raise the bar for bridal excellence, not serve a tunnel-minded consumer.

That said, Asifa & Nabeel, Sonia Azhar and the young and thus surprisingly sound Sara Rohale Asghar, at least leveled an acceptable standard.

Additionally, Zaheer Abbas who created capsule collections for Nabila’s style segment and Raema Malik’s jewellery show was quite impressive in his first bridal week collection. He certainly will be a name to look out for as should be Yasmin Shaikh who designed the very strong collection of solids for Kiran Aman.

Jewellery was introduced as a second and vital dimension to bridal fashion. It is difficult to display jewellery in a fashion show, which is why these types of shows always need creative vision to ride on. Aman impressed with her strong theme Sceptres of Beauty and brought the iconic Naheed Siddiqi to the runway. Damas was showcased to Meesha Shafi singing a cover of Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend, live.

Both shows were impressive.

It has to be said that PLBW felt the absence of bridal greats. Fashion weeks are essentially a platform uniting designers to showcase the best face of an industry. Couture weeks (as opposed to prêt weeks) are where legends rise not where newcomers are given opportunity to arrive.

Paris Couture Week, for example, would be incomplete without Christian Dior, Chanel, Valentino, Armani, Azzedine Alaia, Gaultier and McQueen amongst other fashion greats. Similarly this bridal week felt the acute shortage of Pakistan’s bridal greats like Sana Safinaz, Shamaeel, Bunto Kazmi, Faiza Samee, Rizwan Beyg and Nilofer Shahid to begin with.

Also, the bridal week should have been held in September/October and not peak wedding season. Mistiming was one reason why certain designers like Kamiar Rokni and Sublime could not participate.

The first PFDC L’Oreal Paris Bridal Week was a good initiative but one that needs to consciously evolve to acquire the status of greatness. With Musharaf Hai in the driving seat, one has confidence that it will.