Bollywood and Fashion
Signature line of clothing that are inspired, crafted and fine-tuned by film stars themselves is the hottest new trend in the world of fashion.
Jennifer Lopez has it and so do Sarah Jessica Parker, Eminem, Britney Spears and loads of other international celebrities, so why should Indian film stars be far behind.
Not content with merely endorsing clothes brands or gracing the opening of clothes stores, hot and happening Bollywood stars are increasingly getting involved with fashion wear at the sketching stage itself.
John Abraham and Hrithik Roshan lead the list when it comes to adding a very personal touch and bringing out signature fashion collections. While John has tied-up with Wrangler, Hrithik is working very closely with ITC in a bid to find a way into your wardrobes.
John's involvement with his own line needs to be seen to believed. Each piece of his collection comes with small notes sticking out from the inside pockets containing personal comments from the actor himself on the design, style and how he came up with the look.
Like John, Hrithik's association with ITC's John Player began as a brand endorsement but has taken a personal turn.
Atul Chand of ITC said in an interview: "The association benefits both. It brings alive the personality of the brand and helps establish a style statement for the star or a specific character the actor is trying to popularise."
Apart from the above two, actor Fardeen Khan, after severing ties as brand ambassador for clothes brand Provogue, is set to launch his own line. Model-actor Milind Soman is even working with designer Madhu Jain to revive handicraft in Kashmir.
The stunning Malaika Arora of "Chaiyya chaiyya" fame has been turning down lucrative offers to sign up as brand ambassador by the dozen. She wants to bring out her own clothing line that will be an extension of her identity.
The linkage between film stars and fashion goes way back. In a nation where film stars are often equated with god, the kings and queens of celluloid have known to influence millions of people who try to think, dress, walk and even talk like them.
There were times when an entire generation of girls would style their hair in line with the hair-do of the leading female actors.
Young boys would ape clothes and even mannerisms of leading actors. Mothers of girls getting married would take posters of films to their tailors for getting wedding trousseaus made.
But at the same time some of the clothes that actors wore were so outlandish that even the most ardent fan would never follow suit. The thought that film stars could get into the clothing industry was once inconceivable.
"Today more than ever before fashion and showbiz go hand-in-hand," says model-actor Samita Bangargi who launched her Fall Winter collection some four months ago.
Samita got involved in the clothes business after she was asked by a jeans brand to design for them. She was quick to recognise the potential in the trade and launched her own brand.