Ahead of Diwali, shopping enthusiasts in Delhi had a field day at the fashion and lifestyle exhibition Manjari at Sheraton Hotel, Saket. Sporting no less than 50 stalls by talented designers in apparel, jewellery, shoes, accessories, kitchen furnishings and home décor, the exhibition had it all. Still visitors were left asking for more.
This was the first year of Manjari though Vaachhi Global – the organising company – has held similar exhibitions under the label Estyle Fiesta before. Owner Vinita Guliani informed Metrolife on the occasion, “We endeavour to bring forth new younger designers with a fresh perspective towards design. This time also, we got designers from as diverse regions as Kolkata, Jodhpur, Hyderabad and Kashmir. We want visitors to experience as much variety as possible and feel happy to get such a great response at the maiden attempt itself.”
Indeed Manjari had some really quirky and yet interesting designs. 22-year-old Alisha Bhasin brought bags, shoes, coasters, boxes, trays and other merchandise hand-painted by her. “Earlier, I used to paint greeting cards and mugs but they would not sell more than Rs 200 which didn’t match up to my effort. Then my customers suggested that I should work on bigger merchandise like bags which would fetch me more,” she said pointing at bright colourful feminine figures, cartoon characters and witty one-liners on her goods.
Bhavini, another young jewellery designer, had the most classy contemporary jewellery pieces – each exclusive in design. She expressed, “I have used semi-precious stones in my work. You can team them with Indian dresses – suits, sarees, or westerns like power suits or plain tee and jeans. These are all statement pieces in themselves.”
Apparel, though, was the mainstay of the exhibition with the maximum number of stalls displaying Diwali special elaborate suit-salwars, anarkalis, sarees, gowns etc. Heena Gajwani, who had the brightest of collections, said, “I have used lots of zardozi, kundan, hand-stitch and machine-stitch work in my designs. I assemble full trousseaux as well and have done it for a few brides. All of my outfits can be customised as per the customer’s fancy. You only need to make a request.”
No doubt the visitors were more than happy to make orders and requests. Geetika Gaur, a college student, informed us, “I have bought three suits from here and now, I am looking for matching accessories. It’s great to find such exquisite stuff, all
under one roof.”
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