Features | GREEN WITH ENVY

Frail cows are forced to walk in extreme heat and dust for days without food or water. Others are crammed into trucks in such high numbers that their bones break; and those who survive the ordeal are butchered in filthy abattoirs. Snakes are nailed to trees and skinned alive.
They say when you can't fight your thoughts you should stand up for them. so, when fashion designers Hemant and nandita couldn't convince themselves to craft creations out of leather, they stood up for the thought and saw themselves transform from designers to warriors. no wonder, the animal prints that formed their AutumnWinter '10 collection left a mark: deep, meaningful and enlightening. The duo showcased their 'Fake it' line in association with PeTA (People for ethical Treatment of Animals) in March'10 at the Wills Lifestyle india Fashion Week. The show was just the beginning of their drive against cruelty towards animals.
"When you think of winter, you think either of wool or leather," recalls Hemant of the time when they were working on their Autumn-Winter line. "We are not knitwear lovers. so, using leather was the next best option for us. but the cruel ways in which leather is derived forced us to stay away from it," he adds. They collaborated with PeTA india to design a special resort wear line in faux leather and rexine with animal inspired digital prints. "if you have a real heart, then fake should be your fashion statement," they say. And a real heart they believe can feel that the skin of beautiful animals is not a fashion adornment. The duo stand for ethical designs and oppose the use of hide and skin. "We're against animal murder," they say in unison....read more>>

words PURVA GROVER

Features | PET PLEASURES FOR YOUR MAN

Do you greet each other with excitement, overlook each other's flaws and easily forgive bad behaviour? if it's your pet, the answer is probably yes. but your spouse? Probably not.

In an article on Psychcentral, clinical psychologist suzanne b Phillips of Long island university explores what our relationships with pets can teach us about our relationship with a spouse or romantic partner.

"What is interesting in my work with couples is that although couples may vehemently disagree on most topics, they usually soften in manner and tone to agree that the dog, cat, bird or horse is great," Phillips says.

she argues that we all have much to learn from the way we love our pets. People often describe pets as undemanding and giving unconditional love, when the reality is that pets require a lot of time and attention, special foods and care. They throw up on rugs, pee in the house and steal food from countertops. yet, w e accept their flaws because we love them so much.

Phillips suggests we can all learn how to improve our human relationships by focusing on how we interact with our pets. Among her suggestions: ...read more>>

words TARA PARKER POPE

Features | DISPLAY PLAY - and PICK

PARMIGIANI

TOURBILLON ARLEQUIN

The Tourbillon at the core forms the aesthetic keystone of the piece, seemingly radiating a myriad of precious sparkles to create an original graphic perspective. Fully set with baguette cut trapezoid diamonds and sapphires, the dial’s invisible setting comprises of concentric arcs.

DIOR

CHRISTAL TOURBILLON

Captivating sapphire crystal takes possession to give superior tolerance to the Tourbillon movement. The balance wheel, the barrel and the winding mechanism now seem to float, suspended in a crystal-clear ensemble .... read more>>

words SASHA SOMYA

Features | NATURE'S BOUNTY

LOUIS VUITTON
Montre Tambour Quartz

Dazzle with this slim watch with quartz movement and diamonds on the dial and frame with a unique sea green strap. Price upon request

BREITLING
Chronomat 01 “diamondworKs”
it’ll be raining diamonds if this beauty graces your wrist. A quintessential mechanical chronograph designed with a unique diamond-set with a unidirectional rotating bezel. The hour-markers on the mother-of-pearl dial come with double diamonds. Price: rs 4,82,000

CHOPARD
Happy SportXL
Love the planet in this watch that sports a green mother-of-pearl dial with 5 mobile diamonds. steel lacquered green bezel, a quartz movement, water-resistant upto 30 metres and green rubber strap completes the look. Price upon request... read more>>

words SASHA SOMYA

Spot Light |  'I LOVE MY CURVES'

Neil Nitin Mukesh has four hands: two that god blessed him with and two more that he has passionately acquired; the camera and his laptop. And, after a few hours of interaction, we realise, a green head too.

Walk into the room and it’s difficult to spot the star amid a motley crowd around a table. We spot him at the centre, stooped over the laptop, giving a photograph an ‘interesting effect.’ “We are promoting green ethics through this photoshoot, so every image should reflect that thought,” Neil proclaims, as he expertly drags the mouse. While everyone takes notes, the talented actor experiments with shades of green, till he is satisfied, revealing the secret of his powerhouse performances. “ if you want to call me a perfectionist, do so. I am proud of it. if I take up a project, I can’t give it anything less than my best. I can’t sell fakes,” he says. We can’t help but agree with him as the zesty actor takes an interest in every aspect of the shoot — from designing the backdrop, planning his style, blowing balloons because he isn’t satisfied with their shape to spreading his green philosophies.

GO GREEN

“I don’t claim to be a staunch green warrior; neither can I alter my lifestyle drastically to save the planet. but what I follow and believe everyone can, is conserve natural resources....read more>>

Words SIMONA TERRON

Features | LESSONS ONLY EXPERIENCE CAN TEACH

Sometimes it’s the little moments that put life in perspective.

“I was shooting a film in Sarajevo a few years ago,” Richard Gere says, “and we did a press conference there to introduce ourselves to the community. There was a very shy young girl in the back of the room who raised her hand. She said, `On behalf of three generations of my family – myself, my mother and my grandmother – I’d like to thank you for continuing to make movies.”

“My first thought was, ‘I’m really old,”’ Gere says with a laugh.

He may be 60 and his hair may have been a glossy silver for a couple of decades now, but Gere’s smooth face and trim physique, both set off by an expensive grey suit, make him look anything but old. In fact, he looks decades younger than his birth certificate might suggest.

For his part, Gere professes himself amazed that, 30 years after American Gigolo (1980) made him a star, he’s still in demand in Hollywood.

“I’m still amazed when things come up,” he says during an interview at a Los Angeles hotel. “I’ve made over 40 movies with 40 different characters. How many characters are there in the universe? Yet they always surprise me and say, ‘We have one more for you.”’.... read more>>

words CINDY PEARLMAN

Features | THE GREATEST HITS WILL HAVE TO WAIT

Jon Bon Jovi hadn’t planned to release a full-fledged new album in 2009, much less to land the fourth No. 1 album of his career with The Circle.

His game plan was fairly simple: after the platinum success of Lost Highway (2007) and the rollout of a documentary, When We Were Beautiful (2008), he and his Bon Jovi bandmates were going to record a few new songs to be included on a greatest-hits album that he had promised his record company in exchange for its letting him make the Nashville-influenced, commercially risky Lost Highway.

This was in September 2008, Bon Jovi says, when “there wasn’t a heck of a lot to write about” in the waning days of the Bush administration.

“The stock market was still booming, everybody was living high on the hog,” the 47-year-old singer/songwriter says, speaking by telephone from London, wherehe was promoting The Circle. Then, come October, the world changed dramatically and you opened your eyes and your ears and there was a lot of subject matter. And October leads into December and the Bernie Madoff kind of things, and the stock market’s plunging and Detroit’s shutting down ... So we started writing a different kind of song.”   ...read more>>

words GARY GRAFF