Sole Searching With Christian Louboutin

Every woman who has donned a sexy pair of Louboutin heels and every man who has admired her choice of footwear knows of the strong seductive power and passion a pair of red bottoms can induce. Christian Louboutin, the man who redefined shoes and transformed them into a symbol of glamour, status and eroticism has teamed up with publishing house Rizzoli to capture the world of Louboutin into a hardcover book, Christian Louboutin, which will be released this October.

The extravagant volume that is just as heavenly as one of Louboutin’s creations, features a five piece fold-out cover, binding made out of faux pink leather, a magical interior pop-up and gilded pages. Five chapters —A Life; The Shoes; Fetish; The Places; and Twenty Years—chronicle the designer’s background, inspirations and fantasies through direct narrative from the designer, candid images as well as vivid still life photos of Louboutin’s most iconic heels by famed photographers David Lynch and Philippe Garcia.

The reader gets a chance to learn the history and manifestation through anecdotes
on selected styles. From the classic Pigalle shoe from the Fall/Winter 2004
collection which was inspired by the arch of a dancers foot to the Maralena shoes
via the Fall/Winter 2010 collection, a transparent peep toe pump encrusted with
blue glitter and Swarovski crystals which was inspired by the transparent showgirl
costumes of Marlene Dietrich there is a story behind each coveted red lacquered
heel and it is a delight to uncover each tale.


The pages are filled with candid photos of the designer, his shoes, the factory just
outside of Milan and photos of iconic women including Dita Von Teese and Diane
Von Furstenberg, posing next to the shoes that were created in their honor and
likeness.

The last chapter concludes the volume with a catalogue of 20 years of Christian
Louboutin's collections. This book is a must have in your fashion library, a great gift
for a shoe lover and a great way to indulge in your in your shoe fetish.

Savage Beauty

On February 12, 2010, the fashion world stopped turning after news spread quietly that the legendary designer Alexander McQueen was found dead in his home in England. A little more than a year later, the Metropolitan Museum of Art located in New York City is resurrecting the heart and soul of McQueen through a dramatic and spectacular exhibit, ”Savage Beauty” which captures the unparalleled world of McQueen.

The exclusive exhibition which will run through August 7th is curated by Andrew Bolton of The Costume Institute who expresses that "the title 'Savage Beauty" very much epitomizes the contrasting opposites in McQueen's work. Polarized opposites, whether it's to do with life or death, lightness or darkness, predator/prey, man/machine."

The chilling exhibit is broken up into six galleries each with its own theme inspired by the different reoccurring themes McQueen explored throughout his career in fashion from his deep interest in fine arts to exotic inspiration from India and Japan.

The exhibition begins with the "Romantic Gothic" gallery that was designed to reflect the raw concrete decor of McQueen's first Atelier in Hoxton Square, where McQueen established his house and ends with the Plato's Atlantis gallery which features the last collection McQueen designed before his death in February 2010.

McQueen's sartorial expertise and dark poetic mind is captured not only through his one-of-a-kind fashions but through haunting suspended videos, two-way mirrors, low-lighting and rotating mannequins and quotes from the designer himself. One feels as though they have stepped into the world of McQueen where viewers are able to not only explore the thought processes and ideas behind McQueen's creations but also do introspective on their own sartorial inspirations.

For those of you who cannot make it to the groundbreaking exhibit can experience it through this exclusive video produced by The Met. (http://blog.metmuseum.org/alexandermcqueen/about/)

ELIE SAAB Le Parfum

The visionary Lebanese couturier Elie Saab has decided to put the splendor
and femininity of his stunning gowns into a bottle. ELIE SAAB Le Parfum,
is the designer's first foray into fragrances, created in partnership with Beauté
Prestige International, the Paris-based subsidiary of Shiseido Co. Ltd.

Born in Beirut in 1964 to a family with absolutely no connections in the
fashion industry, Saab dreamt of escaping to fantastical faraway lands. He
was barely nine-years-old when he created his first dress for his younger
sister. At 18, the prodigious designer opened his own couture house which
employed more than a dozen seamstresses. Following his first Beirut fashion
show, the country's "golden boy" won over affluent Middle Eastern clientele
ranging from socialites to royalty who became his faithful followers. Today,
his eminence in fashion spreads from Beirut to Los Angeles via Paris’s
Golden Triangle where he is now based. He invites all women who dream of
wearing an Elie Saab creation to discover ELIE SAAB Le Parfum.Created by world-renowned perfumer Francis Kurkdjian, ELIE SAAB
Le Parfum is based on a floral, solar, woody theme. Known for his deep
interest in design and architecture, Saab conceptualized a glass bottle with a
simple yet elegant shape that played on light, brilliance, and transparency. “I
wanted something simple. Straight lines, the rigor of a cube, and the
sensation of an object made to be held in the hand, but with the density
of beautiful objects.” says Saab. “And as always, light as the overarching
theme. For me, light is eternal strength.”

The collection will be available this September at fine department stores
worldwide.

Cantamessa Fifth Avenue Boutique Launch

Last Thursday, Cantamessa, the internationally renowned Italian high–end jewelry line with over 70 years of history hosted a lavish soiree to commemorate the opening of their Fifth Avenue Boutique in New York City.

The event was attended by the likes of, supermodel Irina Shayk, actress Susan Sarandon, model Carol Alt, Miss USA Rima Fakih, music mogul Damon Dash, Miss Universe 2002 Oksana Fedorova, New England Patriot’s safety Brett Lockett, celebrity hairdresser Frédéric Fekkai, restaurateur Jeffrey Chodorow, among other distinguished guests.

The swank party took place at the Manhattan Motorcars Showroom in NYC and was sponsored by top luxury brand including Bentley, Lamborghini and Christie's auction house.

Irina Shayk, Susan Sarandon and Carol Alt were decked out in over $5 million dollars of jewelry and in over 6,000 diamonds. They showed off the latest Cantamessa designs to the crowd as they walked the showroom’s floor and posed for photos.

The brand already has a very strong foothold in Europe, Asia and Russia. The new boutique on Fifth Avenue will be the brand’s first venture in to the States.

Cantamessa features designs for both men and women. The company boasts over 100 elaborate, proprietary designs that are inspired by flora and fauna. The jewelry collections include necklaces, earrings, brooches, rings and bracelets; each piece is customizable with an array of precious stones set in gold or platinum.

Lord Of The ‘Rings’

Audi has decided to up the ante and give its rivals a kick up the backside with launch of the new Audi A6! Set to make it’s debut in early 2011, the new A6 will definitely be an extremely smoochy sedan sporting a light body, agile chassis and packed with a wide array of new assistance and multimedia systems. The A6 will be a few millimeters shorter and lower than its previous model so you can expect an overall road-hugging sporty feel. Apart from this, the optional S line exterior package gives the car an even sportier look, with more prominently featured bumpers, grills on the air intakes, and diffuser insert. Audi is launching the A6 with a choice of powerful, sophisticated, and highly efficient four- and six-cylinder powerplants: two gasoline engines and three TDI units.The most powerful gasoline engine in the A6 family is the 3.0 TFSI V6 engine that produces 300hp at 310 pound-feet of torque and covers 0 to 60 in just 5.9 seconds with a top speed of 130 mph. Besides, it’s interiors get top notch luxury treatment with wood decorative inlays in the dash, center console and door panels, power-adjustable heated leather seats and a Bose Sound System with 13 high-performance speakers placed throughout to create a dynamic stereo experience.The base price for the 3.2FSI engine is $ 45, 200*. Perhaps, this is Audi’s way of kicking the butt!

Wish You Were Here!

Recently, a friend of mine busted his new Ferrari California while driving on the chock-a-block bandra roads. And all he got was a broken suspension and a bruised ego! But in Zillertaller Hohenstrasse, Austria the story plays out differently! Here you can wring the throttle to the hilt without breaking a suspension or rattling your guts. The interesting bit is that you can rent luxury cars like the Ferrari California, Maserati GranCabrio, Merc SLS AMG and a variety of Porsches and drive your way through the twisty Alps. The company that offers such power-packed holidays is Elite Rent and they source out not only roads but also customised driving itineraries. In short, you get to choose your kind of car as well as the roads you wish to drive your dream car on.

This part of the stretch is about 40 km long and situated high up in the Austrian Alps in the Tyrol region. It starts at Ried im Zillertal, which is approximately around 50km east of Innsbruck. In fact, Hohenstrasse has long straight stretches coupled with some twists and turns to keep you dialing in a few steering corrections from time to time. This road is really not about cutting corners because just after a brief lull, there are other corners where you'd like to unleash some serious horsepower of the thoroughbred V8 of either the Ferrari, Maserati or Porsche. There's a particular section in Hohenstrasse which is quite similar to the road from Manali to Leh. But unlike the Manali-Leh road, most of the hairpin bends have good visibility so you know well in advance what's coming up from the other side. Frankly, this is the part where you have all the fun with late braking and hitting the gas pedal hard while exiting corners. But hey, try not aping Michael Schumacher at all times as even a Maserati or a Lamborghini can wiggle its rear owing to the Electronic Stability Program (ESP) working overtime! You might even come across the odd trucker. But barring these sporadic occurrences, you'll definitely get hell loads of adrenaline rush with icy wind blowing straight off the snow-capped peaks.

Le'Xa on old Vs view

Poets, artists and single girls have a love-hate relationship with these winter months. Yes, it's that time of the year again! Winters have got the cortege of Sunday brunches, romantic operas, art shows and mid-life insecurities and all call for the best. The art scene is truly glistening almost everywhere in the world including here in New Delhi. But London caught my eye this season with its Drawing Fashion exhibits at the Design Museum London. Showcasing fashion illustrations by the likes of Coco Chanel, Alexander Mcqueen and Christian Lacroix, the collection, has turned London into fashion lover's Medina (Paris is still the Mecca!). Joelle Chariueu an illustrator himself took over 30 years to put this collection together, which has become a sort of historical testament to the beauties that walked the ramp. It is on till next year March, so do try and catch it when you are in London next time. Closer home, New Delhi, at Exhibit 320 an independent art gallery, hosted something rather contemporary and equally fun called Feminine Recitals. Six female artists through their works voice various global issues; this is feminism with a twist, where the artist is not merely concerned with the rights and wrongs of feminist ideologies, but paints a bigger picture around it. Using the stream-of-consciousness technique, the artists voice these concerns through simple acts of cooking and cutting vegetables, through the Hindu rite of ‘Kanyadan’, etc. That’s not all; The Museum of Modern Art New York is also displaying the works of five Indian artists alongside the works of Picasso, Hessee etc. Titled On Line the exhibition traces the evolution of drawing from being just lines on paper to the huge mix-media medium that it is has become today. Rajani Shettar caught my attention, in particular with her eccentric installations made from bees-wax and lights! Another Indian-born artist Alia Syed dealt with issues of identity through her documentaries – one was about a dancer called Priya. Expression of the dancers stunning moves in colour tones was simply mesmerizing. I also came across a few works by the late Pakistan-born artist Nasreen Mohamedi. Known for her minimalist abstract drawings inspired by ideas of modernity and geometry of Islamic architecture, her work spiritual. Looking forward to the ever expanding canvas of the modern artist. After engulfing time, space and motion wonder what will it take on next.