Spotlight

Mushrooming Boutiques

The boutique business has recently grown by bounds and leaps. There have been major developments. It becomes evident the moment you step out from your house. Invariably you will spot the artistic calligraphy on a fancy signboard. The living room of a flat, the garage or even the tiny space below a staircase easily accommodates a neat little shop.
First impressions can be quite amazing when you vaguely glimpse the handmade dresses through the sliding glass doors. It's a pretty sight of neatly displayed outfits. It's heartwarming to think that our country's fashion industry has achieved an impressive goal. Disappointment often hits hard when you walk through the sliding doors. Except for one or two pieces in the forecourt most consist of repetitive designs. What assails your sight is an array of the same old block printed and hand painted designs. There is a major lack of innovation or expressive artwork. There is a similar slump in the quality of the fabrics as well. As a result these become a sort of one-time use outfit no matter what the price paid by customers. It is just not possible to wear such types of dresses on a regular basis.
Inexpensive Indian outfits are also sold off as local items whether they are saris or salwars. Everything is a faç
ade. There is a continual inauguration of a brand new boutique which introduces new fashion designers. Although it is a good indication for the local cloth industry what haunts is the underlying duplicity. Displaying large quantities does not automatically guarantee quality. This is the opinion of most noted designers and creators. New shops are coming up just about everywhere. Most of the owners have at one time or other worked as an employee or supplier for famous designers. Later they open up their own shops based on that experience. The problem lies in mass copying of the old designs and reproducing them on cheap low quality fabrics to create a large market. So what's the result? Customers get neither quality nor any form of innovation in terms of style. They put on the same old dresses day in day out.
New designers are graduating from the large number of fashion institutes in the country. The gifted show their skills in their output. The rest have the tried old technique of copying from the masters. The copying often extends to not only the outfits but also to the labels. Cheated and dissatisfied customers are the outcome.
In this day and age of the rat race everyone has to survive in business against stiff competition with others. But that does not mean willfully tarnishing the image of a profession by mindlessly creating copies. If only the amount of effort spent copying was channeled toward personal designs, plenty of creativity would shine through. This should be the goal of all those associated with the fashion industry. That way the customers would get relief from the monotony and the industry could achieve its desired target image.

By Sultana Yasmin
Translated By Ehsanur Raza Ronny

News flash

Anokhi's new Gulshan outlet

Looking for a place that offers you an exclusive range of trendy and fashionable clothing? Well, here's a place to start: Anokhi has just reopened another outlet. Located in House 13, Road 108, Gulshan 2, right opposite the Bon Chid nursery (behind the Wonderland amusement park), this boutique offers a wide range of fashionable women's wear, and starting from its opening on July 5, a new range for men and for children, as well as household accessories.

Anokhi is the brainchild of Humaira Khan, who began designing and creating women's wear since 1989, shortly after her graduation. What initially started as a hobby, designing exclusive outfits for a few, soon became a business venture, and Ms. Khan went on to become one of the pioneers of the single-day exhibitions that are the lifeblood of such boutiques.

Anokhi offers a wide range of trendy women's wear, which includes salwar kameez, sari, and fatuahs. The focus is on Indo-Western blends, in tune with the growing demands for easy-to-wear clothing. What makes the Anokhi label stand out is the use of dazzling color combinations and unusual cuts, which is bound to brighten up any wardrobe. There is also a small range of men's kurtas, and household items like bed covers and tablecloths.

The items available might be a tad bit on the pricey side, though. The fatuas cost from anything between Tk 150-1500; cotton saris cost Tk 1200, cotton kameezes range from Tk 1000-2200, while the starting price for exclusive formal wear is Tk 2500. The starting price for men's kurtas is Tk 2500 onwards.

If you're willing to pay a little more to look glamorous, then Anokhi is definitely worth a look-see.

By Sabrina F. Ahmad

Women's World now in Dhanmondi

After UAE market Banani, Women's World is now in Dhanmondi. The new branch started its journey on the 29th June. Amidst friends and well-wishers the opening ceremony took place.
Women's World is the effort of beautician Taslima Choudhury, who is a graduate from Woman's World International School of Shahnaz Hossain, India on beauty care and exercise. She also has a diploma from the UK. Taslima started her first herbal clinic in 1994. She trained her own set of beauticians for the parlour, which enables her to apply her own ideas of beauty and skin care.
The speciality of this parlour is fashion make-up for models, bridal make-up and special skin care treatment. Skin care treatment includes Electro Therapy (ultrasonic therapy, steamer, vibrator, ozone etc,), treatments for acne, scars, rashes, wrinkles, dryness, pigmentation etc. The parlour also offers professional beauty care training.
Herbal products such as beauty packs, herbal hair oil and uptaan, prepared by Taslima herself are sold in the parlour. She first started to prepare these products in small amounts a few years back. Later it became a favourite among her clients and she had to increase the production. The name of the product is Botanix. Apart from their own products, the parlour also uses Shahnaz Herbal products for skin care treatment.
In ancient times, herbal resources were the only instruments available for skin care and beautification. The advent of chemical products took over for a while but herbs are back again. It is also the intention of Women's World to revive the natural world.
The Dhanmondi branch of Women's World is situated on the first floor of Ambala Complex, Road # 2, beside Rifles Square.

By Shahnaz Parveen

New Sunsilk with three times more conditioner now in stores!

Elida Hair Institute, Paris has committed itself to discovering the best possible Sunsilk for haircare. They have now created Super Conditioning Sunsilk. This new shampoo is supposed to have three times more conditioner, to make hair softer, shinier and more manageable.
Each of the variants have special ingredients, suiting specific hair types.
New Sunsilk Extra Shine Shampoo contains Sunflower Extracts, to bring back shine to dull lifeless hair. This variant is available in 200 and 100 ml bottles and in 7 ml sachets. New Sunsilk Silky soft shampoo contains lotus extracts. Available in 200 ml bottles and in 7ml sachet it helps in making hair tangle free, soft and silky. New Sunsilk moisturizing Anti Dandruff Shampoo contains citrus and jojoba extracts to get rid of dandruff completely and its moisturizer should leave every strand of hair soft and silky. This is now available in 200 and 100 ml bottles.
This year Sunsilk adds a new product to it's line, Sunsilk Ginseng. Ginseng is supposed to penetrate deep within the hair, making it strong and preventing split ends. This is available in 200 ml bottles.
The New Sunsilk is now available in a wider range of packs. Starting from the 200 ml pack for 110 taka, to the 100 ml pack for 55 taka and onto the 7 ml pack for only 2 taka.

LS Desk

A true taste of Asia

Tommy Miah

Mango Chicken

Ingredients
8 pieces of chicken breasts (boneless)
2 tblspns of ginger paste
2 tblspns of garlic paste
1 tspn of white pepper powder
Salt as per taste
½ cup of cheese grated
4 green chillies
¼ tspn of mace powder
¼ tspn of nutmeg powder
2 tblspns of chopped coriander leaves
1 egg
1/2 cup of fresh cream
1 cup mango pulp or freshly squeezed mango
Butter for basting
Recipe
Cut chicken breasts into two-inch cubes. Apply ginger paste, garlic paste, white pepper powder and salt to the chicken cubes and keep aside.
Mash the cheese to make it into a smooth paste. Add Finely chopped green chillies, mace powder, nutmeg powder, coriander leaves and salt.
Add egg and mix well. Add chicken to the cheese mixture. Then add fresh cream and mix delicately. Keep in the refrigerator for about two to three hours.
Put chicken onto the skewers and cook in a moderately hot tandoor or a pre-heated oven (200 degrees Celsius) until it is just cooked and slightly coloured.
Apply a little butter for basting and cook for another two minutes till chicken is fully cooked.

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Hanging Out

Want A Big Bite?
Go To Big Bite!

Want a big bite to eat? I suggest that you go to Big Bite. Yes, if you are wondering, it is that ominous place (at least I thought) behind tinted doors in Hatirpool sandwiched between Hallmark and Eastern Plaza. Trust me the big red glaring signboard is such that you can't miss it. Although Big Bite was born right after Eastern Plaza, it was only last Wednesday that I ventured in. My aunt had always recommended it and now I know why.
As I stepped in I was taken aback. This joint is not one of those cramped up popular places where you have to fight old people to get a seat. It's very, and I mean very spacious. The walls are adorned with haphazard pictures of Elvis, James Dean, those cute Hallmark black and whites and Garfield posters. What caught my attention was the black and white chequered floor. Most of the black was worn out due to continuous use. It certainly has a discothè
que look with overhead spotlight things and so on. They have a regular food bar from which you can order readymade food like wrapped sandwiches and such. And for the bigger, badder bites there is an inside kitchen. I highly recommend the chicken cheese club sandwich and the chocolate milk shake.
What big bite needs is a facelift because the interiors are getting really worn down. Other than that the food's good and it's a great place to hold a party if you can book it with all that space just lying around.
So for your next big bite, go to Big Bite! Bon Appetite!

By Tahiat-E-Mahboob