Part I: The Future of Fashion Forum 2015 - Snippets from the Inaugural Session

As a fashion school, Whistling Woods - Neeta Lulla School of Fashion has always endeavored to make fashion more accessible to the aspirants. Thus, the Future of Fashion Forum was conceptualized that encourages a dialogue between the aspirants and the fashion professionals from all walks of industry. The forum is spread across various categories to cover significant aspects of the fashion and retail industry, while focusing on both creative and commercial aspects of fashion.

This one-day event in its 2nd year, took place on the 24th of January, 2015, brought together leaders in the fashion and retail industry to create a 'Think Tank'.

The event kicked off with Meghna Ghai Puri, President, Whistling Woods International, welcoming the guests while Neeta Lulla, Founder & Dean, Whistling Woods - Neeta Lulla School of Fashion, introduced the guests to the Future Of Fashion Forum. Neeta Lulla, Subhash Ghai, Founder & Chairman, Whistling Woods International; Veteran Fashion Designer Hemant Trivedi; Anjana Sharma, COO & Fashion Director of Stylista.in; actor Neha Dhupia, Siddharth Lulla, Director, Business Strategy, Whistling Woods - Neeta Lulla School of Fashion and Meghna Ghai Puri, 'Lit the Lamp', to start the event.

Inauguration was followed by interesting snippet on 'Learning Fashion', by Hemant Trivedi, where he shared his experience of teaching and mentoring Neeta Lulla. While sharing his journey and knowledge as a fashion professional, he said , 'As a Fashion Designer, Be true to yourself, Don't lose your Indian Identity'. He also mentioned that to evolve as designer 'You need to have emotion and be passionate to be a successful designer'. Inspiring the young audience and fashion aspirants, he mentioned that 'People live for 3 things : Money, Fame & Respect, I live for the third one'.

Actor, Neha Dhupia was also present at the event and shared her experience of being associated with Limeroad.com, an online shopping (e-commerce) site, which is committed to deliver dresses and accessories that are unique in terms of style, quality and reliability. Sharing snippets on her 'inspiration' and the principle she abides by when it comes to fashion, she suggested aspiring designers by saying, 'When you are designing, Keep it Simple, Stupid'. Commenting on the two very different aspect that people tend to confuse, she said that Style and Fashion are often mistaken for the same thing. She cleared the misconception by saying, 'Style has to be inheritant, it has to be you. Style lasts forever, while Fashion is fleeting. Hold on to your style.'  She wrapped up the session interestingly by suggesting that 'It shouldn't be about accumulating wealth, it should be about 'creating' something beautiful.'

Subhash Ghai brought in his insight to Fashion, by very wisely proposing that 'Fashion in its beauty is inspired from spiritualism.' Talking on the occasion, he also shared his experience of working with Neeta Lulla as a Fashion Designer, on his film, Taal. He fondly remembers Neeta Lulla's curiosity and inquisitiveness to know and understand the character and visual appeal of the movie to keep the costumes in sync.

Neeta Lulla took this beautiful opportunity to thank her esteemed mentors, Hemant Trivedi and Subhash Ghai, and shared her journey as a fashion designer with the aspiring designers as guests at the event.

Hauntingly Haute Couture

Among the myriad emotions, horror is one of the strongest emotions we experience and Halloween is the day to celebrate this emotion. The veil between our world and the other world lifts, allowing various horrid creatures and all kinds of troubled spirits to creep out, and the fashion world is also not spared. Many distinguished fashion designers from all over the globe have played with this emotion unveiling horror haute couture on the runways that are horrifically mesmerizing and beautifully unsettling!

Horror as a theme has always occupied a place in fashion, but the late Alexander McQueen a.k.a 'Master of Malevolence'. truly brought horror alive on the runway. Naming his graduation collection 'Jack the Ripper Stalks His Victims' McQueen established his curiosity for morbidity from the very start. Drawing inspiration from Victorian gothic, McQueen creations reflected a kind of haunting melancholy. in his short but prolific career, McQueen exhibited some of the stunning creations and his flair for the dramatic just added to the extravaganza. 

Alexander McQueen

He earned the moniker ‘enfant terrible’ for his collection, Nihilism in which the model took to the runway donning garments splattered in blood and mud. Irish folklore of the Banshee was personified on McQueen’s stage along with Alfred Hitchcock, both getting a fashionable makeover. A look-alike print of veins and corsets filled with live worms, ‘The Hunger’ spoke about vampires, whereas ‘Golden Shower’ through silver ribcages and spines presented the horror of the film The Omen. 

Alexander McQueen's

The brutal murder of the Romanov dynasty was depicted in ‘Joan’ while ‘The Eye’ transformed the runway into a bed of nails.  

Alexander McQueen's

One of the most unsettling of McQueen’s show was VOSS for which the audience sat around a mirrored cube where they were forced to stare at themselves and the show began with the light illuminating a hospital scene on the other side of the mirror. McQueen manifested a nightmare circus in ‘What a Merry Go Round’ and in ‘The Dance of the Twisted Bull’ he impaled his models with a bullfighter spears. The ‘Memory of Elizabeth How, Salem 1962’ revolved around black magic seeking inspiration from an ancestor who was a victim of the Salem Witch Trials.     

Alexander McQueen's

McQueen had exhibited more than forty collections and in each one the emotion of horror was illustrated with elegance and beauty. Even after he passed away his legacy is still alive, or quite undead!

Olivier Theyskens

There are other fashion designers who flirted with horror, beautifying it. 

Olivier Theyskens's

There is for example Olivier Theyskens, whose ‘gothic extravaganzas’ collection created from his grandmother’s bed-sheets earned him the title of ‘The prince of dark romanticism’.

Olivier Theyskens's

He often reflected the tragic 18^th century romanticism.   

 

Riccardo Tisci

Riccardo Tisci's

The God of Gothic, Riccardo Tisci, has an affinity to the genre of horror couture and his aesthetic imagination created some of the most splendid couture. 

Riccardo Tisci's

The founder of the cult label Undercover, Jun Takahashi’s runway shows displays sinister creations. Takahashi is best known for the ‘Black Grace’ a creation for Louis Vuitton. 

Jun Takahashi

John Galliano, a fashion legend with the ability in exhibiting grotesque elegantly, is the forerunner in the Haute Gothic culture.    

John Galliano

Blurring the line between the living and dead, countless designers have burrowed into the darkest deepest corners of the underworld and brought horror in haute couture, which is compelling in its honesty and an alluring darkness.