VOGUE India April 2022

ANYONE WHO GREW up in the golden age of YouTube, long before Instagram came to occupy the first rung of the social-media ladder, would be familiar with Lilly Singh, who became a mainstay of the digital zeitgeist of the time. The 33-year-old has a special brand of made-for-the-internet energy that I can’t help but marvel at. And as someone with limited reserves of social media stamina, I can completely understand her need to balance her high-octane online presence with something grounding, as she explains to Sadaf Shaikh in this month’s cover story, ‘In full bloom’. The solution came to her during a seven-month hiatus from social media, when she began writing her second book, Be A Triangle: How I Went from Being Lost To Getting My Life Into Shape, which…

Nick Sethi Florida-born Sethi has always been interested in capturing the essence of the human spirit. In this month’s cover story, ‘In full bloom’, the New York-based photographer depicts the usually animated Lilly Singh in a fresh, pared-down avatar. Page 48 RADHIKA IYENGAR In ‘Small wonder’, Iyengar, a journalist, takes a microscopic look at Pakistani printmaker Bushra Waqas Khan’s convention-stripping, doll-sized gowns before they go on display at India Art Fair this month, and comes away with fresh perspectives on identity and belonging. Page 44 SNEHA MEHTA In ‘Surf ’s up’, Mumbai-based Mehta, who covers design, food and culture, and writes for publications including US Vogue and The Juggernaut, traces India’s burgeoning boarding culture through the surfing schools emerging across the country. Page 58 Nikhil D As a creative director, fashion consultant and the co-founder of model…

“WE WORE A lot of thrifted clothes while growing up in Nagaland. They were not necessarily trendy but interesting, one-of-a-kind,” explains model Carol Humtsoe, the owner of Carol’s Shop & Tea Room. Indeed, she could be describing the offerings of her own boutique. Despite being in its early stages—and currently accessible exclusively via Instagram—Humtsoe’s clever eye for curation has already begun drawing attention from in-the-know clientele, including film producer Kiran Rao and model Archana Akil Kumar. Even a cursory glance at @carols.shop reveals Humtsoe’s eye for prints, silhouettes and fabrics. Consider the gauzy, perma-crinkled mint-green blouse photographed flung across long grasses, the playful, floral shirt captured on model Roshni Sharma, or the open-weave wicker basket Humtsoe carries through the fields at sunset. Each item is handpicked by Humtsoe herself, sourced from…

ONE OF THE most novel things about a couture creation is the bespoke, handmade nature of it. For Maria Grazia Chiuri, creative director of womenswear at Dior, championing embroidery as something that is integral to the architecture of haute couture is important—not just in the clothes that walk the runway but also as a thread that weaves itself through the miseen-scène. Collaborating with Indian fine-artist couple Madhvi and Manu Parekh, the House of Dior, with the help of artisans at India’s Chanakya School of Craft, created a series of 22 artworks that ran floor to ceiling as the backdrop for its spring/summer 2022 runway show at Paris Haute Couture Week. As models in immaculate whites walked out, it was the colourful, meditative lines of the couple’s paintings in the backdrop that…

IT’S THE RING made of rings. A little over two decades since Bulgari introduced the B.Zero1 line, in 1999, it has turned into an essential part of jewellery wardrobes around the world. A ring—or three, or five—are sandwiched between two flat bands embossed with the Bulgari logo. Inspired by the Colosseum, the piece evokes the sense of place that has been the hallmark of the Roman house’s story. Now, with the B.Zero1 New Classic, a row of diamonds comprises a sparkly wave undulating over the three-band ring that comes in 18K white, yellow and rose gold versions. From the outset, the B.Zero1 has inbuilt the hallmarks of timeless design—unisex, fluid yet solid, distinctive. Pieces from the collection go as well with your Stella McCartney dresses as your jamdanis. The name,…

WE’VE NEVER met a candy-coloured jewel we didn’t like. In an ode to its founder’s 200th birth anniversary, Louis Vuitton celebrates with a colour-packed collection titled ‘Bravery II’. Francesca Amfitheatrof, the house’s artistic director of watches and jewellery, creates a compendium of colourful jewellery that borrows heritage details such as the closing clasp and riveted edges of the first trunk ever made by the maison in 1954. Here, rainbow shades are scooped into earrings that drop in pigments of blue, lilac and yellow suspended from a green stone, while necklaces, rings and bracelets pay a brilliant homage to the house’s archives.…