Fashion / February Fashion Scoop: Our Roundup Of The Month’s Buzziest News From The South Asian Fashion Scene And Beyond!

February Fashion Scoop: Our Roundup Of The Month’s Buzziest News From The South Asian Fashion Scene And Beyond!

Fashion Feb 07, 2019

by Tessa Johnson

Welcome to the revamped and first edition of the Fashion Scoop. Every month we’ll have our roundup of the month’s buzziest news from the South Asian fashion scene and beyond! This month we get ready for the Met Gala, explore Sri Lanka’s upcoming Kala Pola’s 25th Anniversary and wonder what was Gucci thinking and more!

New York, USA

The Met Gala Is Coming

In fashion, we can get lost in the complexity of it all. Every year I have had sit down and do research to simplify its theme. This year is no different. We will give the Coles notes version. Met Gala takes place twice a year in New York, it is a time when the crème de la crème of fashion, film, music and art, come together to raise money for the Met Costume Institute (currently on our bucket list for 2019!).

Met Gala was founded by fashion publicist Eleanor Lambert in 1948. A theme is always tied to the benefit extravaganza and past themes included Heavenly Bodies:Fashion and the Catholic Imagination, Manus x Machina and the unforgettable China: Through the Looking Glass!, Rihanna’s Guo Pei gown.

Our Roundup Of The Month's Buzziest News From The South Asian Fashion Scene And Beyond — **Our Roundup Of The Month’s Buzziest News From The South Asian Fashion Scene And Beyond: Manish Arora, Spring 2019 Ready-to-Wear Collection**. Photo Credit: www.vogue.com

The gala takes place on the first Monday this year it’s May 6. The night’s leitmotif is Notes on Camp by Susan Sontag. Curator Andrew Bolton has built and exhibition around the American writer. Think kitschy and exaggerated fashions. The king and queen of kitschy Manish Arora and Nida Mahmood. It is all about personal identity and non-conformity.

The exhibition will run from May 9 to September 9, 2019. In the meantime. Our eyes will be laser focused and streaming online to spot any Indian designers on the red carpet.

Colombo, Sri Lanka

Kala Pola 2019

This year marks the 25^th anniversary for Kala Pola in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The art fair took place on February 6, 2019. The fair’s initiative is to nurture and sustain the arts and livelihood of artists for a balanced social development. It offers aspiring and established artists an opportunity to gain lucrative financial sponsorship.

Since it’s start in 1993, attendance for the fair has increased to over 28,000 patrons.

According to the Colombo Gazette, Chairman of The George Keyt Foundation, Michael Anthonisz. The increase in attendance alone is a testament to the value generated by the initiative.

[The fair is] “a bona fide platform for artists and sculptors to launch and cement their careers,” said Anthonisz. “Kala Pola has over the years offered an unparalleled opportunity for many an artist to gain substantial exposure at a national and international level.”

Last year Kala Pola has helped artists earn sales grossing Rs. 15 million, ($280,002.19 CAD).

Milan, Italy

Oh Gucci!

The internet was on fire this morning. The Italian fashion brand pulled its named “balaclava” sweater from its shops Thursday which retails at $890USD. The controversial knit sparked comparisons to offensive golliwog and “blackface” imagery. The irony of it all, it’s Black History month.

It’s not the first time an Italian brand has crossed the line. Prada was force to pull it’s line of “Pradamalia” accessories collection in December. Dolce & Gabbana experienced an historic level of boycott from China. As it’s advertising campaign geared toward the Chinese market came of as racist.

Now, the brand is attempting to profit off the Lunar New Year by offering a selection of menswear.

It is daft in this day in age how some fashion brands continue to ignore the global climate. We will not mention Gucci’s “apology” but we will say do and be better guys.

Main Image Photo Credit: www.standard.co.uk.

Tessa Johnson

Author

Tessa (@tessajstyle) holds a diploma in Fashion Business Management from George Brown College and has Fashion Coordination and Styling certification from Ryerson University. She has been ANOKHI Magazine’s Fashion Editor for the last four years covering the runways from Toronto to India. Her love...

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