CHENNAI: The Samavesh hall at Savera Hotel was decked up with linen umbrellas, and shamiana spread across the hall with a colour palette comprising white, peach, green and pink to go along with the theme of the first edition of The Duchess Spring Fest. “We’ve put together 30 brands, most of them are exhibiting for the first time. Everyday wear is our focus and you can find a wide range of colours ranging from bling to pastels,” said Nina Reddy, joint managing director of Savera Hotel.
The exhibition presented by Zingbi had an array of curated products ranging from clothes, accessories, jewellery, home-style products from Delhi, Bengaluru and Chennai. We stopped by fashion designer Priyanjoli Basu’s stall that sells handloom clothes. “This is a great opportunity for us to showcase our pieces and the crowd understands the effort that goes into each product. We have blouses, crop tops, and drapes in checks and stripes, unlike the usual border and zari. These are dresses that go well for summer. We also mix textile fabrics like cotton, khadi and linen to give a breezy feel,” said Priyanjoli.
Nina points towards a tiny stall exhibiting a variety of designer blouses lined up on a steel rod. “Meher, is a tailor from Hyderabad who stitches blouses for me. I had asked her to send a few of her collection and she made 50 of them in four days. Ranging from `1,800 to `2,200 both half and full sleeves are available for all sizes,” she said. For all the jewellery junkies, Sri Jewels was the one-stop shop. The pop-up also had three workshops — Art of Ikebana — a flower arrangement art, an abstract art workshop conducted by a wall artist, and a professional makeup workshop by Aashana Shah, for beauty enthusiasts.