Cool moves for the Indian summer

Be close to Mother Nature

This summer, draw your inspiration from the elements of nature…wear it on you or draw it into your homes. This season its ‘au natural’ meets ‘style’ meets ‘contemporary designs’ all the way. Also keep indoors with a work from home format. Do up your productive zone to add that zest and the zing to your work place. Backwaters are an ideal way to cool off. Netbooks will soon add to the gizmo segment and find interesting works of upcoming artists at unconventional hot spots in your city.

- Chillibreeze Business Research Team

Cotton World

This year, take out all the girly stuff that you own as fashion seriously gets a demarcation in terms of feminity and masculinity. Designer Jattinn Kochhaar says that there has been a shift from the asexual mode that fashion had fallen into due to overriding economic and social factors. This season it’s an over the top feminine look that will rule the ramp and the streets in all its avatars. Skirts, tops, frocks, cut offs etc. in varying lengths will be in. This season’s fabric will be the ubiquitous cotton, especially the raw, spun variety that gets softer with every wash. Colour code: the colours of the summer - lime green, mango yellow, daylight white, and beige.

May 6, 2008
Source: Times of India

Designs on the young

The market for children’s wear is growing at an enviable rate and children and their parents are spoilt for choice. Minus the school uniform segment, the market is estimated at around Rs. 17,000. Organised players have around 14% of the overall market share and the sway truly belongs to the unorganised players. With the market growing at a rate of 18% to 20% annually, its business time for players like Lilliput Kidswear Ltd, the Giny Jony label owned by the Lakhani Brothers, Weekender Kids, Ruff Kids, Li’l Tomatoes, Pooh, Catmoss and Little Kangaroo. The potential in this segment is luring apparel chains as Koutons Retail India Ltd, SP Apparels, Spykar Jeans, Raymond Apparel Ltd as well as International Brands as Mothercare, Espirit, Harry Porter collections etc. Even high fashion gurus like Tommy Hilfiger are readying to enter into this market. What’s making this segment a high octave volumiser is the clear change in attitudes, higher disposable incomes and net margins that are close to 20%.

May 5, 2008
Source: Mint

Greened In

Thailand’s trained its eyes on India and at the 12th Thailand International Furniture Fair (TIFF), the country made its intention loud and clear. With an innovative line of furniture called Future Natural that weds traditional craft methods to steel, aluminium and chrome, Thailand is looking to capture the Asian market with furniture that is not just traditional in its look and composition, but is strong, sturdy and high end in terms of the technology used. The inspiration has been singularly from the environment. Thai motifs are used to the hilt making it a true marriage of Ikea with local Thai craftsmanship. The designs are funky, cute and modern and with the new green code, Future Natural may just be what you have been looking for all this while.

May 8, 2008
Source: Mint

Coloured Corridors

Fresh talent in the world of art often finds it difficult to procure spaces for commerce. An innovative way to deal with this space crunch has been solved by Mumbai’s Inox theatre where you can have a brush with upcoming talent in the world of art while you buy popcorn. In Delhi, browse through canvases as you sip your coffee in Café’ Turtle, the lobby at the Metropolitan Hotel or even inside a living room, Asha Narang Spaaks living room to be precise. The pavement outside Mumbai’s Jehangir’s Art gallery is also home to a mind numbing array of easels, brushes, colours and men and women hard at work with these. Take home pieces from one of these unconventional points and turn your home, office or party zone into a classy, place that announces your taste in all the good things in life.

May 4, 2008
Source: Indian Express

Home Work

Working from home is the latest format doing the rounds on the professional circuit and it’s not just the women who are opting for flexi-hours and a flexi routine. Men are beginning to have a go at this routine too. So for those in this work format, it’s only fair that you do up your productive zone too. Creating an office atmosphere that’s not too clinical and certainly not cubicle restricted is the overbearing theme. Interior designers and decorators agree on certain things like insulating the room from kids, getting essential equipment like personal computer or a laptop, a printer, a fax machine, a wi-fi connection…the works, creating the correct storage spaces and of course putting up the right kind of lighting. Securing the correct professional ambience that is highly personalised is the overriding aspect of setting up a professional pad .Estimated costs around 5-7 lakhs.

May 4, 2008
Source : Economic Times

Ek Gilassy

Add a touch of real class to your table décor. Set off the dining space with stylish goblets, wine glasses, and other drinking aids that promise a dining experience that’s not restricted to just formal sit downs. See the Mumbai based interior solutions brand, The East India Company Home, for its impressive range of glass ware stocks a stunning designer crockery collection. It’s priced at Rs 650-800 per glass or goblet that are finished with skilfully crafted pewter.

For high end luxury in glasses, luxury interior solution brand Ravissant retails several international brands such as Versace, Rosenthal, Bvlgari, Royal Doulton, IVV and Merdinger in India which sell between 1500-18,000 per piece. Also there is Elvy, a brand essentially from Europe trying to make its mark in India. Their toasting beauties give the edge of class and are priced between 2795-3695 per set. Want more? Go for Swarovski Crystalline Toasting Flutes, which are priced at 20,945 for a pair.

May 4, 2008
Source: Economic Times

Market Moves

Here’s a chance to own premium luxury goods without shedding too much of your wallet weight. High end luxury brands like Gucci, YSL, Burberry, Prada and other big brand names are in a quandary over how best to tackle recession and improve sales and profit figures. The conflict: should the brand expand its consumer base and price its goods at a more affordable rate or should they keep up with their uber-lux status.

Gucci has decided on the former and has forayed into the perfume and sunglasses segment while keeping its pricing neat and affordable. Gucci intends to make itself more mid segment friendly. Similarly other Houses as Chanel have been research smart and have gone into areas that are markedly different. The i-pod segment to be precise. All these are done with an eye on the market. So if uber lux is on your wish list, maybe this is the time for indulgence.

May 5, 2008
Source: Economic Times

On a Road Roll

The April showers has proved to be pretty lucky for the automobile industry with almost all the segments doing well and overall sales figures posting a growth rate of 9.8%. Navaratri, fears of a price hike, excise cut for small cars may have been the magic wand for cars that saw a jump of over 17%. This time around its time for the bike segment and the three top players in the market, Hero Honda, Bajaj and TVS are hoping to turn around things. The first step in this direction is to pass down the lower excise duty benefits to its consumers. So if one wants to make an investment on the roads, this is the time. Also with the go green theme in the automobile sector, it’s getting better and better for the consumer, the environment and definitely for the economy.

May 9, 2008
Source: Times of India

Sailing Ventures

Kerala tourism industry has been doing its homework and in its latest offering, conference facilities and seminars aboard a vessel on the majestic backwaters are being offered to those who want to couple business with a fair deal of aesthetics and serenity. The Alappuzha-based CTN Agro and the Coir Group offers a six bedroom boat that offeres conference facility to 150 persons. Pulickattil Houseboats MD Tomy Pulickattil, feels that larger vessels provide economies of scale in operations and are attracting both foreign and domestic clients for meetings and conferences. Kerala’s back water cruise is on a makeover and clearly on a roll.

May 7, 2008
Source: Economic Times

Chip in you

Intel Corp is looking to push for micro processors into people pockets, via cell phones and other gadgets. They are forwarding the agenda via “mobile internet services” or MIDs which are small in every sense, in terms of size and pricing. A line of new age laptops are to be brought out called Netbooks that can cost you as little as Rs 12,000 which will be somewhere in between the smart phone or Blackberries, which have a very rudimentary internet capability, and a note book computer that has a full internet facility. Intel Corp. is looking to provide this advanced technology in cell phones and even i-phones. That’s taking communication to really dizzying heights minus a huge dent in the pocket.

May 5, 2008
Source: Mint