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When Beauty Has A Language

Published

12 years ago

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For Hari Anand, the innovative fashion designer, making his ensembles appealing to the world matters the most. His collections echo his view of life – less is more. Here Hari Anand talks about his passion, fashion.With his eighteen plus years of experience, he revolutionized the fashion scene in Kerala. A designer who braved migration he setup his boutique in Kochi.

The great French writer Stendhal said “Only great minds can afford a simple style”. Personally I feel the same that style should speak for itself. Less is more.

Karma

Each dress is a designer’s interpretation. The Karma of designing requires a lot of imagination and effort. The value that a user gets from a designer’s clothes is far more than any regular clothing could provide. Mine or any designer’s dress will not go out of style for at least five years. A lot of detailing goes into the making of a designer statement. Every designer ensures the quality without compromising on anything. The yarn for stitching, the button used, everything needs to be perfect and should stand the test of time. An example is the white bead I import from Japan for embroidery purposes. It costs about rupees sixty for one bead while a packet of locally available beads cost only rupees ten. The local ones fade in the due course whereas the imported ones last for decades. A dress is a designer’s language to express beauty. The designer understands the requirements and his designs perfectly match the client’s personality and the occasion. A designer’s signature style is all about making the client unique among his/her peers. Buying designer clothes used to be considered an unwanted luxury. But it is changing slowly.

Mother Earth

I draw energy from nature. Earthy colours, mainly black, white, beige, brown etc are the ones I love to work with. Natural materials like Silk, Cotton, Linen etc. are used mostly. I use synthetic materials only when I can’t replace them. Dresses should be classy and have clean lines. Every dress should have an international appeal. A person should be able to fly to Milan or Amsterdam wearing the same clothes he/she wears at Delhi or Chennai. The world is shrinking. One should wear clothes that are recognized worldwide.

Escapism

Dress should enhance a person and not subdue a person’s beauty. Today’s intelligent, independent brides feel that their wedding dress should be simple and elegant unlike the flamboyant display of colors and loud embellishments that we are used to. When Kerala Kasavu is infused into a Georgette Saree, it is subtle, has a cosmopolitan look and is a great bridal wear. It doesn’t divert the attention from the bride’s personality. My boutique is also designed with this concept in mind. Glada has black walls and ceiling. It gives a feeling of infinite space. The attention is all drawn to the dresses and not on to the walls.

Alphabets

When crossover between art and fashion takes place, something beyond all these is born. A designer gets to experiment and an artist gets to create something outside the canvas. I met an amazing cartoonist and illustrator from New York, Patti Stern and was bowled over by her creativity; then started a strange collaboration of dresses and cartoons. I used her cartoons and illustrations and what evolved was a whole collection of clothes from sarees, lingerie, shirts and trousers. Many of the prints have word bubbles depicting love and anger.

Images

Indian fashion is still in its infancy and we have a long way to go. We are inspired by European fashion and most Indian designers create a fusion of clothes by mixing the best elements in each of them. Kerala amazes visitors with her sense of fashion. Kochi hosted an international fashion week recently and many more are in the pipeline. But when it comes to using her own strengths, Kerala lags behind. The traditional crafts like Kasavu making and embroidery are in the verge of extinction and needs to be revived. The Engineer- Doctor syndrome kills the birth of a great many artists and designers. Youngsters need to be encouraged to enter the world of fashion. JD Institute setting up a fashion school in Kochi is promising. More than any kind of education, it is the imagination and sheer honesty in expression that will mould a person into great designer. The patience to learn, the willingness to accept; all of it is imperative. My search for a protégé still continues.

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Pure as Love- Bhima Jewellers Astonishes with the New Ad

Published

3 years ago

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April 16, 2021

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Bhima Jewellers has come up with an ice-breaking advertisement representing the journey of a trans women and the internet has fallen in love with it!

We have all seen jewellery ads with ladies flaunting the necklaces and bangles, giggling, happy and such an such. This ad is different. Bhima a portrays the journey of a transwomen from her childhood to adulthood. It’s pictured beautifully, just like a movie, with utmost care. The transformation of an unshaven young man to a confident woman with the support and care of her parents will surely tear you up.

The father gifting her with anklets to the final scene of her in the bridal attire is heartwarming. There is no anger, frustrations or melodrama shown, it normalizes something that the society is yet to take in wholeheartedly and the caption strikes, “Pure as Love”.

The best part of the advertisement? A transwoman, Meera Singhania is the protagonist, which just makes the representation better.

Well the ad is ‘pure gold’, check it out!

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Famous Advertisements that attracted controversies this year.

Published

6 years ago

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December 29, 2017

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A recap of the most controversial Advertisements in 2017.

In 2017 some brands inadvertently landed themselves in controversies because of cheeky puns, risky taglines, and ‘insensitive’ use of gods and religion in ads. Let’s have a look at the ads that faced the heat in 2017.

Manforce Condoms

Manforce Condoms was forced to withdraw nearly 500 hoardings in Gujarat after protests broke out earlier this year. Sunny Leone’s condom ad for Manforce that tried to piggyback on the Navratri festivities faced severe outrage in Gujarat this year. The people of Gujarat took offense to the hoarding that portrays Sunny Leone seductively holding dandiya sticks.

Image source: pepnewz

 

Zomato

The recent outdoor ad campaign by online food ordering and delivery app Zomato faced a lot of controversies. Critics of the ad felt that one of the creatives of the campaign glorified desi expletives as it mentioned words like MC (mac n’ cheese) BC (butter chicken) in an attempt to connect with the brand’s core target audience – the millennials. Though the ad had to be pulled down, the advertisement got maximum exposure among the target audience.

 

Image source: thequint

Jawed Habib

Hairstylist Jawed Habib came under fire for hurting religious sentiments of the Hindus when he used the context of Durga Puja to promote his salon’s services. The ad suggested that even the gods visit Jawed Habib’s salon. The backlash was such that Jawed Habib had to apologize for the issue.

 

Image source: republicworld

Meat and Livestock Australia

Though not an Indian ad, reference to Hindu God, Ganesha didn’t go that well for Indians. The ad showed Ganesha, sitting at a table for a meal accompanied by Jesus, Moses, Zeus, Mohammed, Aphrodite, and even L Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology.The Indian High Commission in Canberra took notice and registered a complaint with the Australian government over the ad. The ad was banned as it was found to be “discriminatory to those of Hindu faith” by an independent review by the Australian Advertising Review Board.

Image source: abc.net

So these are the advertisements that faced controversies in 2017. Do let us know in the comments if we have missed out on any.

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After beef, now lets welcome ban on condom advertisements

Published

6 years ago

on

December 14, 2017

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ban on condom ad

Exposure to condom advertisements can ruin our kids

A country with a population of 1.3 billion people called a ban on condom advertisements on Monday. The government  has strictly asked the Television channels to not telecast condom advertisements between 10 p.m to 6 a.m as it can evoke ‘unhealthy practices’ in children. It is pretty odd for a country like India, which is the second most populated country in the world to go for a ban like this.

The steamy ad featuring a former porn star led to a lot of objections from the conservative parties. There are so many other advertisements which needs to be banned instead, like advertisements that objectify women as sexual objects and degrade women in the society. Research says India will pass China to become the world’s most populous country in the next 10 years.  Our government has spent a lot of money on spreading awareness, but still the usage of condoms are very less in our country.

Soon after the ban was announced, Social Media slammed it with hilarious tweets and comments

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It did not end there, this was another funny post that I came across.

 

#durex has their priorities right. Wait, is it okay to post this before 10pm? #madovermarketing #virushka #anushkasharma #viratkohli

A post shared by Mad Over Marketing (M.O.M) (@madovermarketing_mom) on

On the other hand, we also had people who supported the ban.  “This is India and it has its own culture, and anything related to sex is generally not publicly discussed,” said Bal Krishna Bhartia, the president of the Confederation of All India Traders, a business association that started complaining about condom commercials a few months ago.

After all these endless debates, everybody has one question – Will the ban really stop the promotion of ‘indecent acts’ and  forbid kids from doing ‘unhealthy practices’?

Do let us know about your thoughts on the condom ban in the comment section.

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