This week, focus on
>> Where you can pick up bags made from stained tablecloths, old lace
>> Where you can shop for designer partywear

She's not someone you can look at and turn away, especially when she swaggers on ramp, those endless legs carrying a body that walks in stately calm, her face never flinching, rarely smiling. Monikangana Dutta, an Assamese-Maharashtrian model, has been one of the most striking faces on the Indian ramp, and after landing a contract with global event management firm IMG, she's walked for veteran British designer Vivienne Westwood at her Spring Ready-to-Wear 2009 show in New York. "Ya, Vivienne is as crazy as she's made out to be her hair, clothes, dressing. She put me in a jungle girl outfit for the show! But she made me feel so comfortable," the model says, just before her mood goes for a toss. Again. 

While Monikangana is being hailed as the next big face to emerge from India after Ujjwala Raut and Lakshmi Menon, something she's not particularly peppy about ("Why would you want to club me with Ujjwala, Lakshmi or anyone else?"), she isn't in the mood to answer a simple query we have, either.  Why is she being called "Kangana" by the international press? "I don't want to talk about it," she says brusquely. Bad day?

Temperament she was born with? Moni (funnily, the Indian fashion industry has chosen to drop the "Kangana", calling her Moni), can we get a smile, please?

Be a Rag Princess. Earn good karma

What separates Luisa Cevese from omnipresent whistling dixies, is the artist's affinity to honesty. This Milanese embraced the benefits of recycling much before it turned into a social statement. "It was about a strong belief that you can create beautiful objects out of waste," Luisa says, about the idea behind transforming textile waste into contemporary, functional accessories.

The artist who's down in Mumbai to exhibit Fossilized Textiles, her range of bags at Bungalow 8, once worked for a silk mill in Italy, where she remembers being surrounded by "beautiful" waste that included stained tablecloths, old lace and prayer rugs with worshipped in-holes. "This can't be thrown away!" she remembers telling herself.

There is a certain quality of affection, Luisa reflects, that comes from use. "And time does something to a textile, which makes it more beautiful. I pick up fabrics when they are at an in-between stage. They are too damaged to be repaired, and not old enough to be collector's pieces."

After much introspection combined with copious experimentation, Luisa came up with a plan. Through an industrial process, she blended leftovers with a special resin, transforming good-for-nothing scrap into handbags, totes, wallets, placemats and rugs that are now sold at the exclusive shopping destinations including Moss and Barneys in New York, Moroso in Italy and Conran in London.

Luisa's last visit to India was 15 years ago.  "Everything has changed," she says, while driving down to Kutch in Gujarat, where she hopes to pick up antique Indian saris to create a new collection. "India has a deep connect with its textile culture. It's a market that appreciates new ways of production. My innovative work will find buyers here," says Luisa, whose tiny boutique-studio in Italy is rated as a must-visit shopping destination along with Gucci, Viktor & Rolf, Marni, Prada and Etro stores.

What are you going to paint the town red in?

Cherie D
Cherie D the brand was created in the UK where designer Sherina Dalamal was born. This 25 year-old's debut collection is titled Life is a Rose, and tells a design story via flowing ombre gowns, Grecian-style drapery and corset mini dresses. Inclusion of tulle and crystal flowers, layered chiffon rosettes clustered with pearls and stones as surface embellishment, continue the romantic pursuit.
Price: Rs 8,000 to Rs 14,000

Amit Aggarwal
Inspired by both, the mundane and the fantastic, this Delhi-based designer's fashion label, Morphe is marked by soft structures and free flowing forms. A vibrant colour palette and bold prints combined with lavish surface detailing give the otherwise feminine collection of mostly dresses, quirky edginess.
Price: Rs 7,000 to Rs 16,000

Gauri & Nainika
The 1950s iconic Hollywood beauty Grace Kelly is at the heart of this smartly stylised collection. Pencil dresses with overlapped hemline, structured, solid colour cocoon-shaped dresses in tweed and wool, sheath dresses in black and beige stained with rose the motif and a few red carpet black gowns are highlights of this range.
Price: Rs 6,000 to Rs 16,000