Tuesday, May 31, 2011

The Roswell Incident : Documentary Film

"The Roswell Incident" is a Channel 4 Documentary about the famous UFO crash at Roswell, New Mexico in 1947 where 3 ETs (Only one is believed to have survived the crash later called EBE-1) along with other collected debris were recovered by the US Air Force and taken back to an Air Force / Military facility for further investigation.

Over the years there have been multiple official explanations and retracted statements by the authorities, all of which speak of a huge cover up by the powers that be.


The Alien Autopsy video is also featured towards the end of the film. After having heard about the physical description of the beings recovered from key witnesses I know the Alien Autopsy video is clearly fake !

The official story about Roswell has changed so many times that the truth now remains mostly elusive.


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Monday, May 30, 2011

I Am : A Tom Shadyac Documentary Film

"I AM" is an utterly engaging and entertaining non-fiction film that poses two practical and provocative questions: what’s wrong with our world, and what can we do to make it better? The filmmaker behind the inquiry is Tom Shadyac, one of Hollywood’s leading comedy practitioners and the creative force behind such blockbusters as “Ace Ventura,” “Liar Liar,” “The Nutty Professor,” and “Bruce Almighty.” However, in I AM, Shadyac steps in front of the camera to recount what happened to him after a cycling accident left him incapacitated, possibly for good. Though he ultimately recovered, he emerged with a new sense of purpose, determined to share his own awakening to his prior life of excess and greed, and to investigate how he as an individual, and we as a race, could improve the way we live and walk in the world.


Armed with nothing but his innate curiosity and a small crew to film his adventures, Shadyac set out on a twenty-first century quest for enlightenment. Meeting with a variety of thinkers and doers–remarkable men and women from the worlds of science, philosophy, academia, and faith–including such luminaries as David Suzuki, Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Lynne McTaggart, Ray Anderson, John Francis, Coleman Barks, and Marc Ian Barasch – Shadyac appears on-screen as character, commentator, guide, and even, at times, guinea pig. An irrepressible “Everyman” who asks tough questions, but offers no easy answers, he takes the audience to places it has never been before, and presents even familiar phenomena in completely new and different ways. The result is a fresh, energetic, and life-affirming film that challenges our preconceptions about human behavior while simultaneously celebrating the indomitable human spirit.

The pursuit of truth has been a lifelong passion for Shadyac. “As early as I can remember I simply wanted to know what was true,” he recalls, “and somehow I perceived at a very early age that what I was being taught was not the whole truth and nothing but the truth.” He humorously describes himself as “questioning and searching and stumbling and fumbling toward the light.” The “truth” may have been elusive, but success wasn’t. Shadyac’s films grossed nearly two billion dollars and afforded him the glamorous and extravagent A-List lifestyle of the Hollywood blockbuster filmmaker. Yet Shadyac found that more – in his case, a 17,000-square foot art-filled mansion, exotic antiques, and private jets — was definitely less. “What I discovered, when I began to look deeply, was that the world I was living in was a lie,” he explains. “Much to my surprise, the accumulation of material wealth was a neutral phenomenon, neither good or bad, and certainly did not buy happiness.” Gradually, with much consideration and contemplation, he changed his lifestyle. He sold his house, moved to a mobile home community, and started life—a simpler and more responsible life – anew.

But, at this critical juncture, Shadyac suffered an injury that changed everything. “In 2007, I got into a bike accident which left me with Post Concussion Syndrome, a condition where the symptoms of the original concussion don’t go away.” These symptoms include intense and painful reactions to light and sound, severe mood swings, and a constant ringing sound in the head. Shadyac tried every manner of treatment, traditional and alternative, but nothing worked. He suffered months of isolation and pain, and finally reached a point where he welcomed death as a release. “I simply didn’t think I was going to make it,” he admits.

But, as Shadyac wisely points out, “Death can be a very powerful motivator.” Confronting his own mortality, he asked himself, “If this is it for me – if I really am going to die – what do I want to say before I go? What will be my last testament?” It was Shadyac’s modern day dark night of soul and out of it, I AM was born. Thankfully, almost miraculously, his PCS symptoms began to recede, allowing him to travel and use his movie-making skills to explore the philosophical questions that inhabited him, and to communicate his findings in a lively, humorous, intellectually-challenging, and emotionally-charged film.

But this would not be a high-octane Hollywood production. The director whose last film had a crew of 400, assembled a streamlined crew of four, and set out to find, and film, the thinkers who had helped to change his life, and to seek a better understanding of the world, its inhabitants, their past, and their future. Thus, Shadyac interviews scientists, psychologists, artists, environmentalists, authors, activists, philosophers, entrepreneurs, and others in his quest for truth. Bishop Desmond Tutu, Dr. Noam Chomsky, historian Dr. Howard Zinn, physicist Lynne McTaggart, and poet Coleman Banks are some of the subjects who engage in fascinating dialogue with Shadyac.

Shadyac was very specific about what he was after, wanting I AM to identify the underlying cause of the world’s ills – “I didn’t want to hear the usual answers, like war, hunger, poverty, the environmental crisis, or even greed,” he explains. “These are not the problems, they are the symptoms of a larger endemic problem. In I AM, I wanted to talk about the root cause of the ills of the world, because if there is a common cause, and we can talk about it, air it out in a public forum, then we have a chance to solve it.”

Ironically, in the process of trying to figure out what’s wrong with the world, Shadyac discovered there’s more right than he ever imagined. He learned that the heart, not the brain, may be man’s primary organ of intelligence, and that human consciousness and emotions can actually affect the physical world, a point Shadyac makes with great humor by demonstrating the impact of his feelings on a bowl of yogurt. And, as Shadyac’s own story illustrates, money is not a pathway to happiness. In fact, he even learns that in some native cultures, gross materialism is equated with insanity.

Shadyac also discovers that, contrary to conventional thinking, cooperation and not competition, may be nature’s most fundamental operating principle. Thus, I AM shows consensus decision-making is the norm amongst many species, from insects and birds to deer and primates. The film further discovers that humans actually function better and remain healthier when expressing positive emotions, such as love, care, compassion, and gratitude, versus their negative counterparts, anxiety, frustration, anger and fear. Charles Darwin may be best known for popularizing the notion that nature is red in tooth and claw, but, as Shadyac points out, he used the word love 95 times in The Descent of Man, while his most famous phrase,survival of the fittest, appears only twice.

“It was a revelation to me that for tens of thousands of years, indigenous cultures taught a very different story about our inherent goodness,” Shadyac marvels. “Now, following this ancient wisdom, science is discovering a plethora of evidence about our hardwiring for connection and compassion, from the Vagus Nerve which releases oxytocin at simply witnessing a compassionate act, to the Mirror Neuron which causes us to literally feel another person’s pain. Darwin himself, who was misunderstood to believe exclusively in our competitiveness, actually noted that humankind’s real power comes in their ability to perform complex tasks together, to sympathize and cooperate.”

Shadyac’s enthusiastic depiction of the brighter side of human nature and reality, itself, is what distinguishes I AM from so many well-intentioned, yet ultimately pessimistic, non-fiction films. And while he does explore what’s wrong with the world, the film’s overwhelming emphasis is focused on what we can do to make it better. Watching I AM is ultimately, for many, a transformative experience, yet Shadyac is reluctant to give specific steps for viewers who have been energized by the film. “What can I do?” “I get asked that a lot,” he says. “But the solution begins with a deeper transformation that must occur in each of us. I AM isn’t as much about what you can do, as who you can be. And from that transformation of being, action will naturally follow.”

Shadyac’s transformation remains in process. He still lives simply, is back on his bicycle, riding to work, and teaching at a local college, another venue for sharing his life-affirming discoveries. Reflecting Shadyac’s philosophy is the economic structure of the film’s release; all proceeds from I AM will go to The Foundation for I AM, a non-profit established by Shadyac to fund various worthy causes and to educate the next generation about the issues and challenges explored in the film. When he directs another Hollywood movie, the bulk of his usual eight-figure fee will be deposited into a charitable account, as well. “St. Augustine said, ‘Determine what God has given you, and take from it what you need; the remainder is needed by others.’ That’s my philosophy in a nutshell,” Shadyac says, “Or as Gandhi put it, ‘Live simply, so others may simply live.’”


Shadyac’s enthusiasm and optimism are contagious. Whether conducting an interview with an intellectual giant, or offering himself as a flawed character in the narrative of the film, Shadyac is an engaging and persuasive guide as we experience the remarkable journey that is I AM. With great wit, warmth, curiosity, and masterful storytelling skills, he reveals what science now tells us is one of the principal truths of the universe, a message that is as simple as it is significant: We are all connected – connected to each other and to everything around us. “My hope is that I AM is a window into Truth, a glimpse into the miracle, the mystery and magic of who we really are, and of the basic nature of the connection and unity of all things. In a way,” says Shadyac, a seasoned Hollywood professional who has retained his unerring eye for a great story, “I think of I AM as the ultimate reality show.”




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Saturday, May 28, 2011

Electronic Awakening : A Documentary About Our Trance~Formation !

In Electronic Awakening, director Andrew Johner lifts the veil on an underground spiritual movement that has developed within electronic music cultures worldwide. This close encounter with the mysticism of rave questions the origin of religion, and offers insight into future of man's spirituality. It investigates this culture's significance to the prophecies of 2012, how this bizarre and sacral relationship to electronic music has evolved the group overtime, and where it all seems to be leading them...

Electronic Awakening features interviews and footage from...

Daniel Pinchbeck Alex Grey Terence McKenna Ken Kesey Erik Davis Starhawk Michael Gosney Dr. Robin Sylvan Goa Gil Mark Heley Dr. Chiara Baldini Dr. Graham St John Dr. Anthony D’Andrea Garth of Wicked DEFSF Techno Alliance Moontribe Pioneers Sobey Wing LuxVibes and many more...

with Graphics from Doctor Spook and Paradise 2012

Music by Crystal Method, Vibrasphere, Androcell, Random Rab, Jason Knight, Govinda & TBD !


Here's a brilliant article by the film maker Andrew Johner ...

Where's the Party in 2012?

Perspective on the Electronic Music Culture's relationship to the 2012 meme


For years a great cross-section of the human population has been curious about the date December 21st, 2012. Much of this curiosity has been recently satisfied through a multitude of books, films, and scholarly theory. However, another question remains in a curious mist of uncertainty.

Where's the party going to be the night of the grand Halabaloo?
In the summer of 2006 I began working on a documentary film as part of a project to finish my degree in anthropology. The subject of my research was the spirituality of electronic dance music culture. Having never been to an electronic music event, let alone listened to much electronic music, I traveled out to the West Coast of the United States for the first time with a handful of tickets to parties and festivals I had never heard of to document the mystical undercurrent of the scene.

A whole myriad of prophetic, esoteric conceptions and beliefs awaited.

Downstream from counter-culture, new age, and general psychedelic phantasmagoria, an ocean of free-form spiritual narratives created a web of neo-mystical realities, a whole multitude of micro-religious frameworks that all in some way weaved into the metaphysics of dance-floor transcendentalism.

As I trekked from party to party, whether they were intentionally spiritual gatherings deep in the mountains, or outlandish hedonic revivals in concrete jungles of urban society, I began to hear rumors circulate about a party on December 21, 2012. The idea of wild super-massive rave at an ancient ruin the day of our envisioned doomsday, as well as beginning, seemed to link to a general tone of prophetic belief that made up a major part of the esoteric trace within the rave community.

There was an obvious influx of mysterious ideologies circulating around the Mayan Calendar which permeated the scene. I immediately questioned the presence of so much Mayan mythology within the community, and also the adoption of the 13th Moon Dream Spell calendar. The Calendar, created from time codes hidden within the original Mayan Calendar, had stimulated a movement for peace through the adoption of a ‘new time' in New Age, and other spiritually bent fringe groups all over the world. The Dream Spell Calendar had also become prominent in the rave scene. Party flyers were dated with Mayan glyphs, Mayan art and other Mayan symbology was displayed around dance floor décor, clothing, and artwork, and other externalized traces of an internal belief structure manifesting within the scene.

Within the mathematical cosmogony of the DreamSpell, pervades the principle that our species is about to transcend ordinary third-dimensional existence, into a forth-dimensional, or in some translations, a fifth-dimensional reality.

It was a bizarre idea to encounter, and it was even more bizarre to have an ecstatic dancing experience progenerate this notion.

The adoption of the Dream Spell Calendar, also posts a neo-apocalyptic narrative circumventing the end-date of the Mayan Calendar in 2012, while at the same time hosting a mathematical philosophy of a major shift in human cognition through the transformation from which a higher-dimensional existence would ensue during our alignment to the center of the Galaxy on December 21, 2012.

“When all this information came in, it just seemed to fit what we were already doing, evening though it had no real connection, the idea worked.”
–DJ Solus September 2006

I am at a festival called Lightning in a Bottle, an electronic music festival outside Santa Barbara. I am sitting with a group of people inside a tent between a propane lantern that blazes with a low electric hiss. The pumping thunder of mega-watt speakers' pound through the nylon tent walls. Just outside, a sea of people dance in a giant clearing amidst laser beams and flashing neon lights. The roar of their celebration amidst pulsating electronic rhythms echoes the futurism of a ‘techno-tribe' emerging.

From interview to interview, my own perceptual interpretation of transcendent ritual through festive cultural rupture rang a shared mental picture as to what the experience meant for people.

The owner of the tent leans over the lantern, shadows disappear from his face and he looks directly into my eyes and begins to speak with a tone of affirming gravity,

“This is my family. The world that we build out here is the real world for us. People say that 2012 is the end of the world, but we all know that it is the end of their world and the beginning of ours”

Through my ethnography of the electronic music culture, I had been observing a movement towards a primordial return, integrating a ritual technology as a mode of transformation. It was my belief that the kinetic engagement of the dance itself was the main source of esoteric undercurrents which permeated the scene. Of course psychedelics play a huge role, but the experience had on the dance floor created by intense movement and electronic dance music was the real cultural source for a shared vision of future transcendence into an alternate dimension of reality altogether.

The integration of the phenomena and phantasm that encompasses the self-guided dogma incorporated in the 2012 initiative weaves so neatly into the transcendental impression these sonic environments encapsulate. When looking closely at the initiative of the 2012 meme, a new world-view of collective spiritual transcendence is indication of the honest expression of the cultures internal desire to alter their perception.

In the face of a quickly changing environment which instinctually demands a transformation of the ways in which humanity both perceives and carries out his existence, the idea of global destruction and creation has long fed into the mythologies of human groups as apart of this internal expression for dramatic change.

Never before in the history of humanity have we seen a single millenarian idea so widespread. Yet, a prophecy of global transformation would require a global culture to bare its vision, and the electronic dance community appears to be one of the many appropriate carters of the revelation.

Another interesting facet of the integration of this new ‘mythos' with the electronic dance community, is the move to outdoor environments, and the integration of intentional ritual and ceremony to their night-long ecstasies. This juxtaposition gives the party experience an authentic communal, as well as tribal sensation, one that implies meaning and value to the experience. With this experience comes a temporary transformation of the perception of the individual undergoing the experience. Cognitive processes are gently and sometimes savagely altered.

As the techno-shamanic psychedelic environment integrates into a social-cultural framework, identities change on individual and collective levels as the music itself takes the mind of the individual into an experience of alternate planes of thought, the myriad of techno-tribal cultural identities swarm in around the dance itself, and reality is but for the instant of a weekend ‘shifted.'

The integration of psychedelics into these events allows one to further integrate their imagination into the experience of the environment that surrounds them, in a cyclical feedback relationship between the experience and the experience. Systems of belief and thought are replaced, both temporarily and permanently. The environment yields to an alternate dimension of being, and the experience, though brought on through an arsenal of synthetic arrangements, momentary replaces traditional perceptual frameworks. Memory of the experience remains and over time evolves cognition.

We live in what we believe to be is real. Every time someone experiences reality in the mystical playing field generated at these parties, the more the experience integrates back into the ‘familiar.' The concept of consciousness shifting, takes on a very subjective nature as dance ritual reinforces the pragmatism of the experience.

As conversation of a shift in the collective reality of the dance community ensues, the number 2012 pops up in more and more conversations. The party becomes a vehicle for the collective transformation of an entire human group as their collective memories build up a shared perception of a new experience.

It's an old trick in human behavior that corresponds with the inner workings of our minds. For thousands of years, cultures and their traditions all over the world have used music and dance as part of the ritual and ceremony for the integration, and stability of their tribal structures. Key to this article, it not only promotes community, is promotes the subjectification of their mythologies and their prophecies.

What man is actually interpreting through the development of a mythos is not an interpretation of a particular vision or story but the energetic experience of the dance itself. What one experiences in an ecstatic state of trance is the experience of their internal desires. Since our internal desires are primordial, they are instinctually connected with nature and the environment around us.

Thus, as our environment changes, and we see threat to our current cognitive processes and cultural value systems; the alteration of our belief structures through a hyper-onslaught of groundbreaking scientific information, the desubjectification of religious systems, a globalization of the sacred, the meltdown of the industrial world, and environmental threats, transformation of mind and spirit permeates the internal psyche within these spaces of liminality.
The tribal experience of dancing beyond the realms of the ego produce a strong feeling of connection with community through music, and the rupture of traditional cultural systems that seem to no longer be working. This creates a Petri dish for the development of new cultural frameworks and the reordering of the groups cognitive processes to better adhere to the changing environment. Dance is an instinctual human behavior to demoralize and reframe perception as a means of evolution of mind and body.

Myth is product of ritual, it is the interpretation of these eternal desires for change. Myth is the narrative of a primeval reality, translating deep spiritual desires, moral craving, social and the practical requirements for social transformation. Myth expresses, enhances, and codifies belief.

In turn, myth creates reality.

Consciousness requires narrative. Individual consciousness and the collective human consciousness requires the framework of a story in order to direct its initiatives for change. When one's current reality is threatened with drastic alteration it naturally begins to weave narratives of explanation that will offer hope and resolution to guide its actions through the transformation.

The millenarianism that is character of the dance community displays this very quality of the development of a transcendental mythology as a means of reframing its own cognitive processes to alter mind, body, and spirit to better suit our own personal interface with the environment.

Dance-based millenarian movements have happened throughout history, in cultures all over the world. When the Lakota Natives were threatened with oppression and reservation life, they immediately reacted with the development of a pan-Indian religion known as the Ghost Dance. It was characterized by the emergence of a prophecy that a particular ritualized dance would bring a peaceful end to the Anglo expansion, the return of the Buffalo, the salvation of the community, leaving the earth filled with food, love, and faith. This narrative was typified by clean living, honesty, and cross-cultural cooperation as a means of salvation and resolution alongside the dance itself.

For the dance community to adopt the undercurrent of a similar narrative proves a structural framework to the development of mythos as a form of cultural revitalization. Though the salvation of humanity and the world lies within our individual change in lifestyle as a means of adhering to the shifting environment, the characterization of death and rebirth into a new world fits the prophetic initiative as well: Salvation through dancing.

Though the dance community has added the awareness that the process of bringing about such change, will not come through a mystical transformation but through the cultural rupture brought on by the act of ritualized dancing itself. The intentionality of the culture reads into the natural magic of sound, and its influence on neurological states. Experienced within a large group it creates a bond of the collective psyche and the subconscious initiative of the group permeates through the experience.

Consciousness instinctively fabricates new translations of experience, the development of new ideas of origin, and prophetic direction.

Humanity naturally begins to weave new stories for itself as the environment surrounding the collective subject changes.

An interesting coincidence, in 1987 a event known as the Harmonic Convergence, was held by New Age groups all over the world to usher in an era of awakening into love and unity through divine transformation that would be fully awakened on December 21st of 2012. That same year of 1987 has historically been identified as the birth of the rave scene. It was the year that the ecstatic experience of a ritualized dance became popularized in urban youth all over the world, the beginning of a culture which defined its own initiative as a revolution of peace, love, unity, and respect, through the ecstatic unification of sound, mind and body as a collective group.

For years the numeric value two thousand twelve has been whispered on the edges of dance floors all over the world. It is most apparent in the psychedelic trance community as an underlying mythos that defines the revolutionary synergistic electro-fusion of mind body and spirit.. The 2012 narrative is a form of interpretation most commonly now used to define the experience and the worldview that permeates the reawakening of a primordial experience.

Again I am in-between parties, staying in a cabin in Mount Shasta conducting and interview with the Shan-man, owner of The Village Oracle in Weed, California. We are sitting out in the sun, the icy tip of Mt. Shasta beaming in the background.

We are talking about the integration of the 2012 mythology into the cultural framework of the electronic dance community, and the role that the parties actually are playing in the process of global awakening into a new mode of thinking. He describes the party as a welcome mat, “They are like a doorway in,” he describes, a doorway that leads into a mystical world of archaic, magical phantasmagoria that the experience of transition into indicates not only transformation of the self, but the world to follow.

He states later in the interview, “We know that we are all heading towards one huge gathering.”

What I see as one of the most interesting features of the 2012 initiative in terms of the electronic dance community is the idea of a synchronized global gathering on the date the calendar ends, December 21, 2012. On that date the earth lines up with the sun, which lines up with the Pleiadian Star system and the elliptic of the galaxy; a celestial alignment that the earth has never before experienced.

The Dance community already celebrates a model of this end-date ritual, called Earth Dance. This is another synchronized party linking 360 dance-floors all over the world as an intentional ceremony for peace. Though this ritual is conducted annually, the preparation for an even larger synchronized dance ritual to celebrate a celestial event as rare as our alignment to the center of the galaxy offers an interesting notion that humanity should very quickly becoming aware of. This will be the most massive, pan-human ritual ushering transformation in the history of human kind.

With the constant development of the mythos surrounding the 2012 meme, what will such preparation, and practice of such a ceremony alter of the consciousness of those participating in the ritual?

The alignment of dance rituals to celestial events is traditionally the source of a mythologies link to the stars. Which means, that our collective human narrative is fashioned and reshaped by the movement of the stars. Meaning that our collective human story is a translation of this energetic experience of the cosmos. How will the energetic experience of the alignment be translated?

The creation of new myth perhaps, a new story of human kind.
So to answer the introductory question, as to the location of the partyI have heard several rumors.

Some rumors have entitled it "The Party at the End of Time". The collective pattern of gossip seems to congeal to 7 principal locations.

There is word that these locations may very well be planetary chakra points. To my knowledge, these points are Titicaca Lake between Bolivia and Peru, Mount Shasta in California, Uluro Kattjuta, the big red rock in the middle of Australia, The Tor in Glastonbury, The Great Pyramid in Egypt, and Mouth Kailash in Tibet, and Kuh-e-malek Siah a not so tall mountain located in the Tri-point area of Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan. These are the main points to my knowledge, however I have also heard of the Haleakala Crater, the El Tule, Table Mountain, Bali, Mount Fuji, and the Sergiev Posad in Moscow to be locations also.

Wherever the party is, and no matter what happens on December 21st 2012, the most important and beautiful part is that people from all walks of life, from all different cultures and countries will be United in a dance, a celebratory ritual to usher in the Galactic New Year, and a new dawn for mankind. Because when it comes to mankind's own part in the great theater of the 2012 alignment, if anything on our part is going to bring about any real and dramatic change, a massive global rave sounds like a damn fine go at it.

If anyone has any other information to share of the massive Party at the End of Time, I would very much like to include it in my documentary for all the world to see.

Please forward all information to: Jeronimo@TheFederationOfEarth.com


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Thursday, May 26, 2011

Ice Beige Ravia

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Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Dull Rosewood Chevro

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Mango Chevro

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Beige Ashley

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Turquoise Sydney

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Aqua Ice Francis

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Bottom: Aqua Ice crepe silk flared lehenga has been fully embellished with heavy floral cord work. 4 inches wide heavy embellished border on hemline. Fully lined. Hidden waistband.
Dupatta: Aqua Ice crinkle chiffon dupatta jamawar dupatta has dual heavy embellished border all around. The center of the dupatta has small ornaments and cord work all ove.r Soft-ball round edges. Lined where required.
Embellishments made with sequins, beads, kora, dabka, naqshi, pearls, Swarovski crystals, diamantes, cut-glass, resham, French knots, and rhinestones. 100% natural pure fabrics. Fully handmade embellishments. 100% same as shown. Hemming finish.

Ash White Hayek

DR2915 Romantic Party Dresses 2011, High-end Fashionable Embellished Dress with Lapel Detailing
Top: Ash white crepe jamawar shirt has lapel detailing. Embellished from neckline and empire line with antique work. Floral design all over the shirt. Front high slit. Tail back hem. Plunging V neckline. Fully lined. Hidden zipper at back. Piping edges finish.
Bottom: Ash white raw silk cropped pants have splits on cuffs. Fully lined. Hidden zip closure.
Shawl/Dupatta: Ash white chiffon dupatta has scattering sequins shower. Antique copper border edges. Hemming finish.
Embellishments made with sequins, beads, kora, dabka, Swarovski crystals, diamantes, rhinestones, pearls and resham. 100% natural pure fabrics. Fully handmade embellishments. 100% same as shown.
Made in Pakistan.

Alexandra Lehenga

DR4484 Sarah Salman Bridal Collection 2011, Pakistani Designer Sarah Salman Bridal Dresses CollectionTop: Blue willow crepe silk shirt features heavy embellished longer back tail. Heavy Swarovski crystals and colorful rhinestones embedding work all over. Diamond ornamental motifs on back hem. Front cut-away slits. Blue coral synthetic stones embedding on frontal motifs. Scoop neckline. Fully lined. Super-soft lining. Hidden zipper at back. Piping edges finish.
Bottom: Aqua Ice chiffon flared skirt/lehenga with back train. The skirt has been heavily embellished with stunning Swarovski crystals and rhinestones work in double border all around the hemline. Tall frontal ornamental motif with small motifs on sides. Heavy sequins shower in different sizes on the rest areas. Stitched with super-soft lining. Hidden zipper waistband. Piping edges finish.
Shawl/Dupatta: Aqua Ice chiffon dupatta has double heavy embellished border on blue-willow base. Traditional stunning designed border. Heavy sequins shower and small dotted ornamental motifs scattered in center. Lined where required. Piping edges finish.
Embellishments made with Swarovksi crystals, rhinestones, synthetic stones, diamantes, sequins, beads, kora, dabka, cut-glass, marorri, kamdani, badla and pearls. 100% natural pure fabrics. Fully handmade embellishments. 100% same as shown.
DRJ1020 Indian Pakistani Jewellery Online Shop London, Manchester, BirminghamMughalai meena kari style & color zircons stones studded necklace set made with 925 sterling silver, emerald & garnet colored tassels consist of Necklace, pairs of earrings two layers jhumka style, Kangan (bracelet) and Teeka . 

Pale Sky Alexandra

DR4483 New Collection of Shalwar Kameez Styles 2011, Salwar Kameez New Collection 2011
Top: Pale sky crushed crinkle chiffon shirt has royal blue shade on hems. Featuring heavy embellished neckline made with a series of traditional ornamental motifs and bead work on royal blue area. V-neckline with straight tab on front. Super-soft lining. Hidden zipper at back. Piping edges finish.
Bottom: Dark navy raw silk full length straight trousers. Fully lined. Hidden zip closure.
Shawl/Dupatta: Pale sky crinkle chiffon dupatta has double shade dip-dye effects. Scattering sequins shower. Piping edges finish.
Embellishments made with sequins, beads, Swarovski crystals, diamantes, rhinestones, pearls, kora, dabka, cut-glass, marorri, and kamdani. 100% natural pure fabrics. Fully handmade embellishments. 100% same as shown.
DRJ1001 Silver Gold Like Jewellery, Gold Like Jewelry, Gold Plated Jewelry, Zircons JewelryA delicious bridal jewelry set with three layered necklace , color zircons studded on 925 sterling silver with 24kt gold & rhodium platting. This set included necklace, pair of earings, forehead (jhomer) ,teeka & complimentary ring.
DRJ1055 Indian Pakistani Jewelry, Jewelery Online Shops Tampa, FL, USAJodha-a-akbar style bridal jewelry with heavy necklace ,Rubies color & color zircons studded on 925 sterling silver with 24kt gold & rhodium platting. Swarovski crystals tassels. This set included necklace, pair of earrings, teeka & complimentary ring.
DRJ1034 Kundan Jewellery Online Shop Kent, UK, Kundan Jewellers UKAntique style diamond like zircons studded necklace set made with 925 sterling silver, emerald color tassels consist of Necklace, pairs of earrings and ring. 
DRJ1023 Jewellery Women's Kundan Jewelry Jewellery Pakistan IndiaDIAMOND-LIKE set cubic zircons & fresh water pearls setting on 925 sterling silver with Rhodium plating that lasts forever. The set includes necklace, pair of earrings and ring.
DRJ1038 Indian Pakistani Jewellery Online Shops Northampton, UKTraditional style rubies like stones across shampane zircon studded setting in 925 sterling silver with 24kt gold platted. Rubies color tassels consist of Necklace, pairs of earrings, jhomer ,Teeka & a ring. 
DRJ1150 Jewelry Kundan Los Angeles, Jewelry Kundan New York, New Jersey, Washington, Virginia, Florida USATraditional Kundan set kundans & semi precious stones studded on 925 sterling silver with 24kt gold plating. rubies colors beads tassels. The set includes one necklace, pair of earrings, teeka and a ring.
DRJ1100 Indian Pakistani Jewelry eBay, Pakistani Indian Jewellery on eBay, Jewlry Sellers eBay USA, UKStylish small jewelry set with gems stones studded on 925 sterling silver with gold platting. Rubies color gems stone tassels. The set includes one necklace & pair of earrings.

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DRJ1363 Diamond like jewellery sets London, Diamond like zircons jewellery 2011 collection online storeDRJ1198 Bridal Jewelry Collection 2011, Pakistani Jewelry 2011, Indian Bridal Jewelry 2011 Colllection

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DRJ1152 Nilofer Shahid Jewelry, HSY Jewelry, Karma Jewelry Collection, Diya Jewelry Designer Collection




DRJ1364 Pakistani Jewellers in London, Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, Pakistani Jewellery UK

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DRJ1122 Gems and Diamond Jewelry Los Angles, California, Diamond Like Jewelry L.A, CA, USA



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silver jewelry

                                                                                  DRJ1437 Latest Jewelry Designs in Pakistan, Latest Gold Jewellery Designs in Silver Pakistan

Stunning Zircons diamond-like set has

scrollwork design and thin chain necklace and long earrings. Colored stones setting work with zircons. Design created with multiple motifs. Also includes a teeka and a ring.

Blue Green Akabira

Blue Green AkabiraDR3237 Pakistani Fashion Boutiques New York, Pakistani Bridal Shops New York, USA



Top: Blue green Charmeuse silk long shirt has drop side hems. Amazing floral embellishments on shoulders and armhole with delicate work on neckline. Dark indigo edges on neck and hemline. Thin stand collar with V front neck. Piping edges. Tail back. Fully lined. Hemming finish. Hidden zipper.
Bottom: Blue green  raw silk flapper trousers. Hidden zipper. Hemming finish.
Shawl: Blue green chiffon dupatta have sequins work scattered all over. Dark indigo border edges decked with small ornamental motifs. Hemming finish.
Embellishments made with kora, dabka, sequins, beads, diamantes, Swarovski crystals and kamdani. 100% natural pure fabrics. Fully handmade embellishments. 100% same as shown.
Made in Pakistan.

Aqua Teal Akabira

Aqua Teal AkabiraDR3240 Designer Pakistani Fashion in USA, UK, Canada, Pakistani Designers



Top: Aqua Teal Charmeuse silk shirt has drop side hems. Amazing heavy embellishments on front, neckline and armholes. Stand collar V-neck. Border edges. Fully lined with super-soft fabrics. Tail back. Hemming finish. Hidden zipper.
Bottom: Heather gray crepe silk flapper trousers. Hidden zipper. Hemming finish.
Dupatta: Aqua Teal chiffon dupatta has sequins work scattered all over. Hemming finish. Border edges.
Embellishments made with kora, dabka, sequins, beads, diamantes, Swarovski crystals and kamdani. 100% natural pure fabrics. Fully handmade embellishments. 100% same as shown.
Made in Pakistan.

Mettalic Grey Masafi

Mettalic Grey MasafiDR3300 Indian Pakistani Shalwar Kameez Boutiques Sheffield UK, Salwar Kameez Sheffield



Top: Metallic grey Charmeuse silk shirt features scrollwork embroidery has embedded synthetic emerald green stones on neckline and among the scrollwork. Banarsi jamawar stand collar neck. Heavy sequined cuffs. Firebrick applique on cuffs. Fully lined. Hemming finish. Hidden zipper.
Bottom: Emerald green raw silk full length flapper trousers. Hidden zipper. Hemming finish.
Shawl: Emerald green chiffon shawl features sequins work scattered all over. Hemming finish.
Embellishments made with resham, synthetic emerald stones, sequins and beads. 100% natural pure fabrics. Fully handmade embellishments. 100% same as shown.
Made in Pakistan.

Sky Blue MasafiDR3299 Indian Pakistani Shalwar Kameez Boutiques Plymouth UK, Salwar Kameez Playmouth



Top: Sky blue chiffon long shirt has drop side hems. Fully adorned with floral embroidery work in self colour all over the shirt. Cognac hemline applique border. Neckline decked out with leaf sequins and Swarovski crystals. Split neck has straight cut inside. Full sleeves have beige appliquéd cuffs. Fully lined. Hemming finish. Hidden zipper.
Bottom: Antique gold banarsi jamawar full length flapper trousers. Hidden zipper. Hemming finish.
Shawl: Antique gold chiffon dupatta features cognac appliquéd border. Sequins work scattered all over. Hemming finish.
Embellishments made with leaf sequins, Swarovski crystals, sequins and beads. 100% natural pure fabrics. Fully handmade embellishments. 100% same as shown.
Made in Pakistan.

Deep Red Tibet

Deep Red TibetDR4201 Pakistani Designer Party Gowns, Pakistani Long Dresses 2011, Fashion Shows Pakistan 2011



Top: Deep red crepe silk empire waist long shirtdress has been heavily embellished with floral work from bodice. Climbing floral on empire line and front hem. Wide heavy embellished border on hemline edges. Synthetic ruby rhinestones studding. Round neckline. High slits on sides. Fully lined. Hidden zipper at back. Piping edges finish.
Bottom: Deep red crepe silk flared sharara/culottes have scatterings sequins shower all over.
Shawl/Dupatta: Deep red chiffon dupatta has scattering sequins and dotted ornamental motifs shower all over. Finish with 1 inch gold applique border all around.
Embellishments made with sequins, beads, kora, dabka, cut-glass, Swarovski crystals, diamantes, pearls, kamdani, rhinestones and marorri. 100% natural pure fabrics. All handmade embellishments. 100% same as shown. Hemming finish.
Made in Pakistan.

Wide Leg Trousers are hot this season. Don't get left out in the cold because you're not quite sure how to carry this look off. Check out our Do's and Don'ts for this 'must have' trend.

  • Do wear with a softer top to give this masculine look a feminine touch.
  • Don't pair with tight tunic styles, opt for a slightly looser style instead.
  • Do create a streamlined look with monochromatic tones from head to toe.
  • Do wear with a loosely fitted, belted sweater or tunic.
  • Do balance a petite frame by pairing with a fitted shirt with minimal details.
  • Don't forget to have fun - step out of your comfort zone and try something new!


10 Steps to Accessing the Power of Your Personal and Professional Image




The moment we see people, we make judgments about them. Our initial, split-second contact with a person is eye-to-body. We look at their face and clothes first, and evaluate them on a scale of attractiveness and whether we consider them friendly or threatening; but it doesn’t stop there. Immediately after that, we start making evaluations about their character, temperament and professional abilities. Whether we like it or not, our appearance speaks volumes about us before we say a word. Hence, your image needs to say that you are professional, credible, trustworthy and likeable. Here are 10 tips to help achieve this:

1. Your verbal and non-verbal communication styles must be consistent. Your appearance is your most powerful non-verbal communication tool. Consistency breeds trust; make sure that your body language and appearance are consistent with your message. Unless the language of the body synchronizes with your words, you will convey a hollow message at best, and an uncomfortable, dishonest one at worst.

2. A pantsuit adds instant authority and easy elegance to every woman’s wardrobe. Pair it with a classic white shirt and pumps for the boardroom or with a tank top and heels for a more relaxed look.

3. Don’t wear clothes that are uncomfortable or do not reflect your personal style. Regardless of your personality and lifestyle, there are options available in building a professional wardrobe. Fashion-411 has an easy to use fashion personality quiz to help you make these choices. Email us at mcole@fashion-411.com to request your copy.

4. As a businesswoman, you should project an image of professionalism while maintaining an updated and modern appearance. Purchase Trend or Trend-Classic combination garments that have been around long enough not to look faddish, yet create a current and fashionable image. If you wear all classics, you run the risk of appearing old fashioned. If you wear nothing but the latest fads, you appear to be victim to the whim of fashion. Trend or Trend-Classic styles will stand the test of time and are worth the investment.

5. Adding trendy accessories to an outfit is an inexpensive and simple way to convert a traditional classic look into a conservatively fashionable one.

6. Use the 8-count rule when choosing accessories. If you count the number of points of interest you have on your total outfit, the number should not exceed 8. Include belts, decorative buttons, rings, earrings, watches, glasses, pins, necklaces, embroidery, bracelets and shoe ornaments.

7. Invest in the right jacket. Every woman needs at least one great jacket that she can wear with jeans, slacks or a skirt. Even in a more casual work atmosphere, a high-quality casual jacket looks professional and works well for that last minute meeting when worn with a nice pair of trousers or over a dress.

8. Your hairstyle is the most important accessory you wear each day. Invest in an attractive, basic design and weight distribution, a professional color and cutting technique. A good haircut will pay off in easy maintenance and a polished appearance.

9. When available, purchase all three pieces to a suit – jacket, skirt and pants. This interchangeable set will make packing for a business trip much easier.

10. When visiting a company, find out what their dress code is so that you can dress accordingly. If the company has a casual dress environment, and your dress style is too corporate, you may be judged as formal or stuffy. If, on the other hand, they have a more traditional dress environment and you come dressed too casually, you stand the risk of not being taken seriously.


What is Investment Dressing?



Investment Dressing is the principle of methodically selecting your wardrobe pieces so that they are of good quality AND they compliment the items you already possess. There are two key components to Investment Dressing.

The first component is the Wardrobe Capsule. This is a grouping of clothes that can be mixed and matched and worn together with minimal effort. Capsules should be built according to: a color palette, styles that work together and fabrics that are compatible. For optimum results, select 1 or 2 ‘anchor’ jackets to serve as the starting point for your capsule, choosing dresses, skirts, pants, etc. that match as additional pieces for the capsule. Versatility is the key to creating a successful capsule.

Once established, a capsule can be expanded and pieces added or replaced very easily. When considering a new addition to your wardrobe, make sure that the piece matches at least three to four existing garments. This will reduce the ‘cost per wearing’ of each piece in your wardrobe – leading us to the second component to Investment Dressing – Cost Per Wear.

Cost Per Wear is a calculation used to show the relative cost of a garment based on what you paid for it, how many other items you can wear it with and how long the garment lasts. If you buy pieces that match several other items in your wardrobe, are of top quality and timeless as far as trends are concerned, you will get maximum use out of the garments, bringing down their effective cost.

Here’s an example:

Take a $300 jacket
Divide it by the number of garments in the capsule (ie: $300/10 = $30)
The $300 jacket has been reduced to costing $30
Divide $30 by the number of times worn per year (ie: $30/15 = $2)
The $300 jacket has been reduced further to costing $2
Divide $2 by the number of years the jacket will be worn (ie: $2/5 = 40 cents)
The $300 jacket has been reduced to a 40 cent jacket with careful upkeep.

Sunday, December 10, 2006

Shopping feeds my soul!

I’ve always loved to shop and I take the term ‘shop until you drop’ quite literally! I love shopping so much I’ve turned it into an occupation J There’s something very special about the way I feel when I find that perfect gift or that pair of shoes that make me look like a million dollars AND they’re comfortable. I find the same joy helping other people shop. As long as I’m shopping – I am happy!

I’m not quite sure when my love of shopping began. Maybe it started at the age of 12 with my yearly trips to downtown Manhattan with my girlfriend Robin during the Christmas season. Every year we’d travel on the subway downtown to shop for gifts and then stop for dinner at one of the local restaurants. It was the ideal ending to a day of shopping for the perfect gifts for our families.

Or maybe it was the influence of my Aunt Mary, who I affectionately call ‘Tia’. She shares my passion for strolling through aisle after aisle in search of the one shirt that calls my name… ‘Monet, Monet’. Tia has been my partner in crime on many a shopping spree and I must admit - I think she can actually outlast me. We have closed many malls during her yearly visits to Georgia during Christmas. She, like me, won’t settle for anything less than that perfect gift that will bring a smile to the face of a loved one.

My mother on the other hand has never shared my enthusiasm for shopping. She often gets frustrated with my inability to run in and out of a store. She just doesn’t understand that I feel like I’ll miss out on a great bargain or the perfect necklace for the dress I just bought, if I don’t peruse the ENTIRE store. However, a recent experience brought her a little more appreciation for my shop-aholic ways.

Last year, my mother was diagnosed with colorectal cancer. She was living in Alabama at the time and would have to stay with us in Georgia during her treatments. It was hard watching her go through chemotherapy and radiation as well as several operations. She swiftly dropped down from a size 12 to a size 2, looking like skin and bones. My mother, such a strong woman, now seemed so frail. But her spirit was strong and carried her through her recovery like a stallion and she is now cancer free!! Part of her recovery was to allow me to help her pick out a new wardrobe. Her old clothes were much too big and made her look even smaller than she actually was. What a blast we had shopping hours on end. The final result brought joy to my heart seeing her look so beautiful again. Now she has become quite the fashion diva and feels good about her new body.

As it turns out, shopping is not only good for my soul, it’s been good for hers as she continues to celebrate life! So, whatever you are celebrating, whether it’s surviving cancer, finding new love or getting rid of an old one… shop therapy works wonders!

Thursday, March 02, 2006

Who is that woman in the mirror?

I remember some time ago, reading a great joke about growing older. I'm terrible at telling jokes, so I won't put you through the painful ordeal of hearing me stumble over the punchline, but basically it ended with a middle aged woman (MUCH older than me :-)) looking in the mirror and asking 'who is this stranger?!'

It was funny then; it's not quite as funny now :-) While my career as a fashion editor often requires me to keep my look updated and fashionable, I'm having some issues with the new face and body I now see in the mirror - who is this imposter?!

I just have to tell myself, what I preach to my clients - you can look good at any age and size, it's a matter of knowing the tricks. I must admit that the tricks I've learned in my profession have served me well. No one else seems to notice the changes that I'm having a mini crisis over! So, if you find yourself trying to get to know the new you, in your new body - here are some of my secrets to continuing to look like a hottie:
  • Thank God for black! I know we all have heard it before, but it is truly a charm. I don't suggest you go totally gothic, but a few classic black pieces will go a long way when you sprinkle color in with your accessories;
  • Heels are better than flats. While I long for comfort, my flats are no longer as flattering as they once were. Sure, there are times when they work, but more often than not a comfortable heel is my shoe of choice. The added height takes off at least 5 lbs of my extra weight :-)
  • Make up. I've never been one to wear a lot of make up and I never will, but there's a lot to be said for a little mascara, blush and lip gloss. My new favorite is my 'Sassy' lip gloss by Smashbox - it looks good on everyone!
Take my advice, these three tips work. Ask my husband - he recently confessed that after our lunch date last week, his buddies wondered how he scored such a hottie!

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Air Pollution Reduces The Size Of The Fetus During Pregnancy: Study

Washington, January 8: Air pollution reduces the size of the fetus during pregnancyResearchers Brisbane has given the world a reason to reduce pollution to consider that it plays an important role in shrinking the size of the fetus during pregnancy.

The study compared the research team led by Dr Adrian Barnett, senior Queensland University of Technology, based in QUT Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, embryos sizes of more than 15,000 ultrasound scans in Brisbane to levels of air pollution within 14 km of the city.

"The study found that exposure increased mothers' for the air pollution that fetuses were on average smaller in terms of abdominal circumference, head circumference and femur length," said Dr. Barnett.

According to Dr. Barnett, 10-year study examined fetuses between 13 and 26 weeks.

"To our knowledge, this study is the first of its kind as it uses ultrasound measurement as a direct estimate of growth, rather than using birth weight as a measure of retarded growth. When analyzing scans of women at different distances to monitoring sites, we found that there was a negative relationship between pollutants such as sulfur dioxide in diesel emissions, measurement andultrasound. If pollution levels are high in fetal size decreased significantly, "says Dr. Barnett."

He said the size of the fetus during pregnancy is important because research has shown for healthier babies were higher in childhood and adulthood.

"Birth weight is an important indicator of later health, for example, more children have been shown to have higher IQs in childhood and lower risk of cardiovascular disease in adulthood," he said.

Dr. Barnett said it was wise for pregnant women to try to reduce exposure to air pollutants, most of which is due to vehicles.

The study is published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives International.

Friday, May 20, 2011

Zara Fever Grips Indian Retailers

 
Spanish retail brand's ability to pull shoppers makes it most-preferred neighbour in malls

World's largest clothing retailer Inditex entered India with its flagship brand Zara on a Friday in May last year and that day the South Delhi outlet recorded the largest single-day sale by an international retailer in the country.

Less than a year later, Zara fever has gripped several retailers who are chasing shop space next to the Spanish brands outlets to leverage on its ability to pull shoppers in herds.

"Zara has nailed it," Natasha Chopra, who heads personal shopping services at Select Citywalk mall in South Delhi where Zara opened its first shop, said. "It's a hot favourite among shoppers because it offers trendy styles between 1,500-2,300."

Zara's ability to chase fashion trends around the world, move a design from a drawing book to shop floor in two weeks and launch new lines sometimes twice a week has helped it ensure steady flow of consumers who now embrace global trends like never before.

It's fast. It's fashionable. And it has won the attention of several apparel brands; both Indian and multinational, that now launch more collections in a year and have stylized their shops.

"Zara has been selling very well over the past ten months in India," said the head of a rival international brand. "Its success has proven that there is definitely a market for fast fashion, especially in western women's wear," the person added, requesting anonymity.

CHASING ZARA

The day Inditex's Indian joint venture with Tata Group's retail arm Trent opened the first Zara outlet; it sold apparel worth a record 90 lakh, according to industry estimates. The 18,000 sq ft shop at Select Citywalk sells 5-6-crore clothes a month. The average sales at Mumbai's Palladium Mall outlet is similar, while it's nearly 4 crore a month at DLF Promenade shop in New Delhi, industry insiders said.

Inditex refused to confirm this. "Please let us leave this in complete confidentialityLet us say that we are really honored by the good reception that our customers are given us in India," its global spokesperson said.

But other brands' rush to become its neighbour and mall developers' keenness to host it reveals Zara's crowd-pulling power. In January, retail planning consultancy Asipac Projects received requests from some international apparel brands, jewellery major and a cosmetics chain have sought shop space bang opposite Zara outlet at Hyderabad's City Capital mall, which will be operational by 2013 end, an official at retail planning consultancy Asipac Projects says. 

At Select City Walk, two store executives with international brands operating near Zara said customer visits in their stores have increased nearly 20% since Zara became their neighbour.
DLF Promenade in South Delhi, where Zara opened its second store in June, settled for a revenue share of 7% of sales, compared to 8-20% that developers usually charge, to attract the Spanish retailer. The mall developer also deleted the minimum sales guarantee clause for Zara and did the interiors and air conditioning of the store that usually retailers do.
Clearly, many brands would rather leverage Zara's visibility than fight it.

ZARA'S SECRET

Zara's early success in India reflects its impressive global growth. Amancio Ortega Gaona founded Zara in 1963 as a maker of ladies' lingerie in the Galician town of La Coruna with just 5,000 pesetas, or $83. Today, the 75-year-old Ortega is the richest man in Spain and owner of the world's largest apparel retailer ahead of GAP.

Zara owes its success to its control in every part of the business from design to distribution. It controls fabric supply, design, cutting and finishing that goes to company-owned stores. It even owns a large part of production.

It has 200 designers who chase fashion trends and refreshing designs all the time. And it takes just 2-3 weeks for a new fashion idea to reach store racks, while most apparel brands typically take six months to get new merchandise to the store.

From high-waist trousers for women's corporate wear and casual suits at price points that count to new trends such as animal magnetism-fashion lingo for animal motifs on clothing-and flesh-coloured apparel, Zara has a huge product range that changes almost every week.

If a new style is not a hit within a week, it goes off shelves. Even popular styles don't stay long. Zara makes small quantities of each style to retain a sense of exclusivity.
Thanks to its success, the 12.53-billion Euro Inditex will launch Zara's urbane, more premium counterpart Massimo Dutti in the country in less than a year.

Inditex and Trent have earmarked 4-5 store locations for Massimo Dutti, which straddles men's, women's and children's apparel and accessories, across Mumbai and New Delhi, retail industry executives said.

CHALLNGES AHEAD

But the road ahead is not easy for Zara. The competition is strong. Western fashion market has been growing steadily in the country where more people now travel abroad and are exposed to global trends due to rising incomes and aspirations, improving lifestyles and infrastructure, and Indias rise as an economic power.

More than 20 international brands have been entering the country every year since 2005, according to Third Eyesight, a consumer goods and retail planning consultancy.
Zara effect of not, many fashion retailers focus more on design novelty, widening product lines and premiumising stores.

"Retailers here have been evolving very rapidly, learning as they grow and growing as they learn; from each other and from the rest of the world," mall management firm Star Centres MD Pranay Sinha said.Premium men's formal wear brand Van Heusen has expanded into sport, club wear and women's wear and increased store sizes to 5,000-7,000 square feet. "Our competition benchmarks have changed," Madura Fashion & Lifestyles Van Heusen brand head Ajay Ramachandran.

ITC's Wills Lifestyle has doubled the number of new collections it launches in a year to eight for women and six for men, said Atul Chand, divisional chief executive of lifestyle retail business at ITC. Brands like Wills Lifestyle, Raymond and Reid & Taylor owner S Kumar Nationwide have roped in western design houses to modernise their stores and improve display and have hired executives with international experience.

"Brands have realised that the fashion industry is still young in India and that they have to think global," S Kumar Nationwide Apparel & Retail President Ashesh Amin said.

All this may impact Zara's prospects. With a model that depends on 100% imports within India's high duty regime, low penetration of women's western wear and the need for upscale real estate locations to fit its large-format stores, it could be challenging for Zara.

A person who has invested in fashion brands in the country and follows Zara like a hawk said it is not easy to sustain six fashion cycles in India. Head of an international apparel brand said it is premature to declare Zara a success in India just yet.

"Zara has done exceptionally well in two malls where incidentally all brands have high sales. But in New Delhi, the largest market for premium brands itself, its third store in Rajouri Garden has not performed as well," the person said.

Star Centres' Sinha, who earlier headed Select City Walk, said it will be difficult for Zara to repeat its first shops success in other malls, but the brand is here to stay. "Whether Zara emerges as a market leader or not, it may be too early to tell. That it will not fail is an easier one," said Sinha.

Originally published in the Economic Times 27th April, 2011 written by Sarah Jacob & Pramugdha Mamgain; they are associated with theBangalore/New Delhi