Yet another busy week on the Chennai social scene with a mixed bag of fashion, wellness, shopping and music. My week began with some bubbly and pastels for Vandana Srikanth’s birthday brunch at Black Orchid. Anyone who knows me knows I love a theme, and we happily followed the birthday girl’s orders. ‘Vandy’ herself was all sparkles and feathers, as we toasted to a fabulous year ahead.
Later in the week, we saw multiple launches and pop-ups, with a special award to some people who managed to make it to as many as three events in one day. With their make-up intact and not a hair out of the place, might I add! Let me quickly take you through what Friday looked like. First stop was at Prince Jewellery on Cathedral road for Ancient Secrets an exhibition of Antique Indian Jewellery. We spotted most of Chennai’s fashion mavens, and the ladies couldn’t get enough. The next stop was at the launch of Label Afeera, at a new venue in Nungambakkam. Fathima Afrin, the designer behind the brand, has a legion of fans, all of whom turned up in full force. Everyone loved the delicate detailing and the unrestricted colour palette. After quickly picking out their favourites, guests moved to the last stop, the Lime Soda Pop-up at The Folly. We saw many of the same faces the next day at Phoenix MarketCity for the opening of Vilvah, where it was all about organic skin care. Side note: their goat milk shampoo continues to be their bestseller.
In a break from the usual and while we’re on the subject of wellness, paying Chennai a visit this week was Vibhuti Arora, a Face Yoga instructor from Delhi. The session titled Glow Inside Out, by the Punjab Women’s Association, saw the ‘beautyprenuer’ and ‘face yogi’ teaching the crowd a thing or two.
It’s also great to see music and performances back on the list of things to look out for and while Chennai‘s hip-hop scene is a largely underground movement, we saw the best the city had to offer congregate at Black Orchid on Sunday night. Amid intense rap-offs, we also spotted Dhee and Santhosh Narayanan. The crowd loved Hiten Rohra’s set and it goes without saying we’re looking forward to more hip-hop nights like these.