CELEBRITY SURPRISES AT LFW

From a New Delhi ‘It’ girl Pernia Qureshi making her debut on the fashion ramp, to stylist to the stars Sapna Bhavnani tying up with PETA for her second collection, this season’s Lakme Fashion Week seems to have a mixed bag of shows
Now, you can shop hau

Delhi ‘It’ girl and celebrity stylist to stars like Sonam Kapoor, Pernia Qureshi, will make her debut at the upcoming Lakme Fashion Week (LFW). And since there’s no love lost between the Mumbai sartorial spectacle and its Delhi rival, it seems odd that she would choose to travel to the west coast to showcase a collection for the first time. “I didn’t really plan to make my debut at all,” she insists. “But I met the team at Lakme and they told me that there was an opportunity to show. Also, since it’s the smaller of the two fashion weeks, it makes sense for a newcomer to use this as a platform.”
Pernia’s collection will mimic her girlie sensibilities

Pernia, the brain behind the much-celebrated style in the film Aisha (2010), is front row pedigree, having grown up watching shows of her icons like Rohit Bal, Suneet Varma and Meera and Muzzafar Ali. Ask if she’s picked up any tips from them and she responds, “Designers who also have a good sense of styling elevate their collections. When I watch a Suneet Varma ramp show, and then visit the store, I can tell the difference. This is why I’ve decided to style my own show too.” The debutante has visited Parisian flea markets to pick up vintage shawls and is also creating special jewellery for the show. She admits that she isn’t worried about negative reviews or disinterested buyers, since she already has a worldwide platform on which to retail her designs.
“I am my own buyer,” she says with a grin. “My clothes will be retailed exclusively through my website, perniaspopupshop.com. We’ve introduced a never-donebefore concept called ‘Shop off the runway’, whereby customers can literally place orders for the LFW collections, seconds after the show ends. Some of our regulars are enthusiastic buyers, so we thought of this for them.”