Indian fashion house Falguni Shane Peacock has returned to New York Fashion Week after an absence of almost a decade.
Celebrity stylist Law Roach, known for dressing Zendaya, Priyanka Chopra and Tom Holland, served as creative director for the show. The brand's return underpinned how India is emerging as the next fashion powerhouse, with a collection that easily blended breezy American-style sportswear with intricate couture-level handwork from India. The collection's name? New York It Girl-meets-Mumbai.
Having launched almost 20 years ago, FSP is run by the husband-wife team of Shane and Falguni Peacock, and has built a name for decadent couture that resonates with both an Indian and a western audience, shifting easily from sumptuous bridalwear for a home audience, to dressing the likes of Kim Kardashian and Lady Gaga.
Adept at blending Indian sensibilities with an international aesthetic, FSP has long understood the need to modify classic silhouettes to entice a wider audience, without losing sight of either. This has manifested through subtle touches such as shifting blouses into corsets and making loose lengths of cloth into stitched drapery.
In this show, the label took that one step further by leaning into traditional surface decoration, but now across modern sportswear and topped that with the most American of motifs – the baseball cap.
One sporty minidress arrived with its mesh encrusted with handmade metallic flowers, and was paired with wrists stacked with gold bangles, plus a baseball cap. Elsewhere a tracksuit was presented with its top cut away to reveal a formed corset densely embellished with crystals.
The high-low mix continued with a sleek satin trench coat sliced into a jacket and skirt, the hips smothered in silver beadwork, while a form-fitted dress had the several gymwear-style straps, but were decorated with a checkerboard of black and silver crystals.
While India has a legacy of hand work that stretches back millennia and is utilised heavily by labels from the West, few designers have truly been able to break into the overseas market. However, this seems set to change as the fashion spotlight is beginning to settle on the nation, highlighted when Christian Dior showed its pre-fall collection in Mumbai in March this year. With this return to New York, and backed by the powerful Law Roach, Falguni Shane Peacock looks well placed to smash through the barriers.
Quick facts on cancer
- Cancer is the second-leading cause of death worldwide, after cardiovascular diseases
- About one in five men and one in six women will develop cancer in their lifetime
- By 2040, global cancer cases are on track to reach 30 million
- 70 per cent of cancer deaths occur in low and middle-income countries
- This rate is expected to increase to 75 per cent by 2030
- At least one third of common cancers are preventable
- Genetic mutations play a role in 5 per cent to 10 per cent of cancers
- Up to 3.7 million lives could be saved annually by implementing the right health
strategies
- The total annual economic cost of cancer is $1.16 trillion
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
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DRIVERS' CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
1. Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) 171 points
2. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes-GP) 151
3. Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes-GP) 136
4. Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull Racing) 107
5. Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) 83
6. Sergio Perez (Force India) 50
7. Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing) 45
8. Esteban Ocon (Force India) 39
9. Carlos Sainz (Torro Rosso) 29
10. Felipe Massa (Williams) 22
States of Passion by Nihad Sirees,
Pushkin Press
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
GOLF’S RAHMBO
- 5 wins in 22 months as pro
- Three wins in past 10 starts
- 45 pro starts worldwide: 5 wins, 17 top 5s
- Ranked 551th in world on debut, now No 4 (was No 2 earlier this year)
- 5th player in last 30 years to win 3 European Tour and 2 PGA Tour titles before age 24 (Woods, Garcia, McIlroy, Spieth)
How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
