New Delhi., April 05, 2005
New Delhi, March 31 : Amid old photographs, a special
video and installation art depicting her life and
times, Bina Ramani, India's original society queen,
said goodbye to fashion designing and Delhi in the
way she .......More.
Bina
Ramani
From being a revivalist of Indian fashion to an agony
aunt for The Asian Age, Bina Ramani is usually dogged
by controversy. As elusive as she may be, controversy
and Bina Ramani-Mailhot seem to go hand in glove.
In fact, Bina Ramani is one of the most difficult
designers to track down yet, she is high on the social
A-list - throwing gala bashes, hosting charity events
and generally being seen in all the right places.
Born Bina Lalvani, her family named their business,
a television brand after her - Binatone. She was raised
in London but rumours have it that she was actually
cut off from the family when she divorced her first
husband, Andy Ramani.
It was only in the late 80’s that Bina moved
base to India and set up an export business. It was
also at about this time that she made headline news
by featuring in the Spanish edition of Vogue as one
of India’s hottest designers.
Bina recently married Canadian painter Georges Mailhot
a few years back. Her talent, however, for bridging
the gap between past and future, with her designs
and her social revivals, remains uncontested.
She began her designing career at the same time as
Ritu Kumar, Rohit Khosla and Bhanu Athiya. "I
guess I started the movement in a way," she says,
talking of the work she did with her exports. In fact,
she merged Indian and Western identities to pre-empt
the current global Indian citizen with fusion fashion.
Adds Bina, "It is an extension of our personality
as Indians in the year 2000. I was the first to work
with accessories, you know, jewellery and bags, I
had the first boutique, then there was the whole of
Hauz Khas, which helped create awareness about the
idea - Indian fashion's come a long way since those
days."
The Haus Khas village in Delhi became a number one
fashion location after Bina Ramani opened up her boutique
there called Once Upon A Time. Built among Mughal
ruins, the 12th-century village was Delhi's premier
fashion location in the decade which saw Indian fashion
come into its own, along with one of Delhi's first
night clubs, No Exit.
"Personally I am very thrilled I was able to
help the villagers - today the landlords' sons and
daughters are in the fashion, furniture, modelling
and food businesses!"
But all that paled when in 1998, a model, Jessica
Lall, was shot dead at Tamarind Court, a restaurant
being run by Bina’s daughter Malini, now a fashion
designer herself. Bina was subsequently arrested but
was released on bail almost immediately - and no case
was filed against her.
But not one to wallow in self-pity, Bina's hoping
to make of Delhi's Qutub Colonnade, in Mehrauli village
on the outskirts of the capital, what she made of
Hauz Khas. Once a zenana, or harem-house, it was converted,
by turns, into a prison and an asylum after independence.
Says Bina, "I've developed the upstairs of the
Colonnade now with a collection of designer stores,
to maybe stock about 10-12 younger talents, give a
chance to people like Puja Nayyar, Kimono, Abhishek
Gupta. Mehrauli's going to be the new address for
Indian fashion, all within one square mile.
Besides, Hauz Khas has also become unfashionable
now - it's too crowded for one, 20 shops were controllable,
you know, now it's lost its identity, the landlords
have become greedy, there are parking hassles. Yes,
there are still two or three very good boutiques -
I suppose all said and done it's a wonderful place
to shop with wonderful surprises."
But what about her very own designing career? Says
Bina, "I’ve not taken a back seat. I'm doing
the same look I always did - rescuing antique fabrics,
old saris, one of a kind garments that are vintage
but have a modern look."
And where does she retail apart from Once Upon A
Time? "We export, to Paris (Nanaki), London (Brown's),
the States (Bergdorf, Bendell's, Portentina),"
says Bina in a matter-of-fact way!
Lastly, in Bina’s own words, what exactly is
fashion? "Fashion is in one's own perception,
it means different things to different people. For
me it's what I feel good in at that moment."
We’ll take her word on that
