The Asian Awards 2015 - Red Carpet & Media Room Coverage

With cameraman Riaz Jugon waiting on Park Lane for the celebs to arrive

Last year I was invited to The Asian Awards as a guest, this year I worked there, covering the event for Asiana.tv. Sitting pretty dolled up at a table and being fed a five star three course meal is what most people were up to, but me and my crew spent three and a half hours freezing our socks off outside the venue awaiting the celebs to arrive then worked a further four hours in the media room again, all in the name of getting a story. But I wouldn't have had it any other way. Working at an awards ceremony is more fun than just attending one. Here's what happened...

Perfecting my presenting look

I planned my outfit the night before, an ensemble I created from various accessories I had at home, teamed with a dress designed for me by Birmingham based designer Sati for a previous event I presented at, but hey, I'm not one to not wear the same outfit twice, as long as it's styled differently!

My hair and make-up artist for the event was Naveeda but in order to get it done, I had to visit her on a boat where was was busy doing a photoshoot!

I love the rosy pink doll-like cheeks Naveeda created for me, it's one of my fave beauty looks

Shooting on The Golden Hinde II, the boat that is parked up by London Bridge (I've walked passed it so many times so it was surreal to be aboard!) Pic: Alex Pichon

Red carpet reporting

I recently blogged about what it's like working on a red carpet and this was one of the tougher ones. All the celebs arrived, got papped by the photographers then many headed straight inside. As I was stuck behind a barrier there wasn't much I could do, but I still managed to speak to some of the guests including...

I was at the end of the line of reporters, so on one side of me I had another journalist and at the other side is where the fans started. The space was packed with young girls - Zayn Malik fans awaiting his arrival; his first media appearance since quitting boyband 1D. Some were actually hyperventilating when he arrived! See more pics of that here.

Backstage at the media room

I didn't get to watch the actual award ceremony but once winners were announced they were led back stage to the Media Room where I was waiting for them! The biggest honour for me was speaking to fashion designer John Rocha, I have utmost respect for him (and although I don't usually wear trousers, I have one pair, designed by him, and they are spectacular!)

I recently interviewed Danielle Bux, the wife of football pundit Gary Lineker for a magazine article so it was nice to catch up with her again and with her hubbie this time!

The current sporting hero of our times, I also interviewed this cricket star, one of the billionaire Hinduja Brothers (he and his brothers are worth £14billion!) and Maya, the daughter of Dr Amar Bose of Bose technology fame.

I also managed to make Sanjeev Bhaskar giggle which is clearly an achievement!

And nabbed a word with presenters Sunny and Say who as ever, looked remarkable, I love their style as a pair.

Elsewhere...

Amidst the working, my colleague Fariha and I had our own Bond Girl moment with celebrity BodyGuard Yousaff Khan (who was looking out for Zayn Malik and Shah Rukh Khan on the night) but joined us for a dinner of lentils and rice (which is all us journos were fed!), got stopped by presenter Gok Wan, who told me I looked amazing, had a gossip with the lovely Bollywood ambassador Raj....

..and got to admire Shah Rukh from a distance (I wasn't allowed to speak to him!) One day eh?!

The video I made of the event is up on Asiana.TV and my You Tube channel so be sure to watch it! After finishing up post -midnight I had to hot foot it home to get ready to present my radio show in the morning where I also chatted about the event. 

As for next year...who knows if I will be working there or guesting there? Hmmmmmmmm!

Working At The Asiana Bridal Show 2015

Image: Taken from Avaaya's Instagram account

I'm not normally awake and getting ready for work at 5am, but The Asiana Bridal Show is one of the occasions I'll happily get out of bed for. It was my fifth year working at this annual bridal fashion show in London and my third year presenting the official video for the event. My task involved capturing on camera, all the backstage gossip from the models getting ready in hair and make-up, to a sneak preview of the fashion show, interviewing the designers and organisers and recording the essence of the event.

Never one to shy away from dressing up, I was looking forward to getting glammed up for the occasion. Trouble was I really, really struggled with my outfit. Having worked the three weekends leading up to the show and the day before it, I had little time to prep/try on ideas. The night before I had it down to three outfits but in the morning none of them worked so minutes before my cab was due to arrive I put this ensemble together. Thankfully it worked! So with that sorted it was then over to the Nina Ubhi Hair & Beauty Institute to ensure I looked the part - Nina did my make-up while her head hair stylist Zaheer (pictured) looked after my locks.

This year the catwalk was once again designed by Maz Events and it turned out to be one of the most original fashion show runways I've ever seen. Bridal events normally involve pretty, floral, dainty catwalks but this one took inspiration from the streets of Mumbai. Depicting a classic street scene it was comprised of authentic props with nods to the infamous slums. In fact when I interviewed Rita from Maz she said one of the main inspirations was the film Slumdog Millionaire and the idea of juxtaposing high couture fashion with the hustle and bustle of every day life. Here are some more close ups of the staging...

The models walked out from both of the doorways, I couldn't resist getting up on stage for a pic!

I couldn't wait to get my hands on the corner shop either! It was filled with real stock!

There were three fashion shows during the day featuring 10 designers and boutiques. I'm not posting any pics from the catwalk this year asI was too busy to take any but do a search and you'll find pics on - try Asian Fashion Blog as a starting point, catwalk trend reports will be posted on Asiana.TV soon too.

For the video we spent a lot of time backstage capturing the atmosphere of what it's like working at a fashion show - everyone taking selfies, last minute spritz of hairspray, styling jewellery and accessories, steaming garments, make-up touch-ups, food (interesting the models like their chicken and chips!) and general fun and messing around - indeed I couldn't help have a giggle with these sword bearing gents modelling Ahsan's Bespoke Menswear.

There was also a chance to get a closer inspection of all the catwalk outfits...

Aside from the three fashion shows is the rest of the Asiana Bridal Show which is essentially a giant wedding expo - filled with exhibitors to help out on every aspect of your wedding planning from food and decor to entertainment and cakes (I even spied a Batman cake!) The new Spring issue of Asiana Wedding Magazine was also launched at the show and here I am with my Editorial team Zahra and Fariha.

Asians are known for having massively excessive weddings and whatever one thinks of that, there really is no other culture that does weddings so beautifully with so much detail. Every single stand at the show is stunning, most blew my mind - but every year the 100 companies that exhibit really go to town. It's worth going to the show if you have an appreciation of creativity and design as much as it is if you're getting married. I particularly liked this one by Zara's Catering:

I so wanted this tuk tuk! It's actually a mobile photobooth by Mobile Moments

Image: Asiana

The biggest talking point of the event was the unveiling of the most expensive Asian wedding outfit ever made in the UK worth £100,000. How can an outfit be worth so much? Well it was encrusted with real diamonds. A collaboration between Birmingham based designer Sati and Dhir Diamond Jewellers, it was kept inside a glass box and attracted masses of media attention (BBC, ITV, national and local papers and this segment on the BBC Asian Network)...an unknown fact that I am allowed to share on my  blog is that I wrote the press release that got everyone interested in the dress...the second time in a row press releases I have written have been successful - I am not planning on becoming a PR any time soon, but I guess if I ever do decide to change direction I have developed some good work experience in the field!

The official is coming soon, can't wait to share it - the edit has been left in the hands of Richard on right, he was my cameraman too alongside assistant Deban from Epic Media. It was a bit of an experimental film but lots of fun to make. Will post the link here when it's up!  

Here it is! WATCH NOW. 

British Asian Fashion: Has it finally got its own identity?

Asiana Couture Catwalk (L-R Mani Kohli Khubsoorat, Ashan's and Aada by Gudu G) Image: Rafyl

I've recently entered my 5th year of working on a British Asian fashion magazine. I've lost count of how many fashion catwalk shows I've been to, the number of trend reports I've written and the thousands of images I've sifted through. 

The fabrics, designs, colours and embellishments are always extraordinary but unless you pay attention to detail, it's hard to sometimes tell them apart. There are some key designers who set the trends each season but over and over again you see the same things happening. It's like fashion in general: trends go around in circles so to someone who doesn't know much about Asian fashion their immediate reaction may be...'it all looks the same'...and truth be told I wouldn't blame them. 

If you were to look back at the last decade of British Asian fashion you'll spot similar things occurring: red Latin inspired ball gowns, red and gold churidar suits, heavy Mughal embroidery...is it because British designers are too lazy to start setting new trends, they keep going back to the old ones?

This doesn't happen in India; their designers seem to be far more progressive. Take Manish Arora...

These snaps were taken at Paris Fashion Week earlier this month and customary with his signature style they are are bright, quirky and have personality.

Similarly the calibre of designers who exhibited at Lakme Fashion Week in India also in March this year were at the top of their game for being influential. In fact if the mainstream fashion press ever do want to look at the what's happening in South Asian fashion they'll go straight to these established designers in India and won't even thinking about looking at UK talent.

Well it's time they did. 

A couple of weeks ago a new kind of fashion show took place in Birmingham bringing with it evidence that British based Asian designers are finally realising the importance of developing their own style. The Asiana Couture Catwalk held at Edgbaston Cricket Stadium was a showcase of contemporary fashion for men and woman and for the first time showed signs of originality and 'trends' emerging which could so easily impact on the wider, mainstream fashion industry.

I felt the standards were good enough to compete on an international scale. I don't mean that to sound patronising...I just honestly think the clothes have got better to the point they don't look like 'British Asian clothes for British Asian people', but have wider appeal. 

Here are some of the outfits to explain what I mean:

Mani Kohli - Khusboorat (London)

Bombay Stores (Bradford)

Gul's Style (Ilford)

Adaa by Gudu G (Birmingham)

Arinder Bhullar

Kiran's Creations

Ahsan's (Birmingham)

Kyles Collection (London - jewellery)

There is absolutely no reason a Western A'list celebrity shouldn't wear one of the bold, red evening dresses by Kiran's Creations, that a slender popstar star can't wear the gold lace catsuit by Gudu G or a British woman of any ethnicity wear one of the floaty, summer festival themed kaftans available from Bombay Stores. 

Similarly I've met white English men fascinated by Asian men's sherwanis - they aren't all cream and gold and made for weddings; this darker pair have a smart theme to them which could easily crossover as an 'acceptable' form of menswear in public by again, a man of any ethnicity, without him looking like he's just come back from travelling, or leads an alternative/New Age lifestyle.

So what does this actually mean and does it matter?

Well sadly I think we are still many years away from a mainstream Western fashion magazine featuring clothes by Asian designers...but if these designers continue to keep their standards high, try and push boundaries and 'design' rather than copy each other or rely on past collections then I hope one day they'll gain wider recognition and become a more valued part of the British Asian industry as a whole. 

And that's just for starters...

As for what I wore to the fashion show, I'm currently going though what I'm calling my orange 'Oompa Loompa' phase and this ensemble kind of just came together from things already in my wardrobe. I'm pictured with the best-dressed man at the show, jewellery designer Anees Malik. Whenever I see him he always looks unique, also I so rarely meet (or see) Asian men that have perfected their own original image so he deserve a special mention!

If you're interested in finding out more about what's happening in the world of British Asian fashion then you should check out Asian Fashion Blog, Author Nazma does a sterling job of keeping abreast of the industry and her blog is packed with great pictures and keep an eye on Asiana.TV. Enjoy! 

All catwalk images taken by Rafyl