GAURI AND NAINIKA

GAURI & NAINIKA

Studio
Khasra No 30,
A 1/13, Saidulajaib
M B Road
New Delhi - 110030
Tel : +91 11 41671232 / 41671296

info@gauriandnainika.com

Gauri & Nainika Karan launched their label Gauri & Nainika in January 2002 in New
Delhi. An eveningwear brand with styles ranging from cocktail dresses to elaborate
bespoke gowns, the label offers glamorous, elegant and chic clothing for women.
With a design philosophy that is distinctly feminine and European, their collections
are being retailed at exclusive boutiques in India and the Middle East.
Inspired by European fashion history, art, music, books, personalities, theatre, old
Hollywood, red carpet glamour and pictures of their mother from the 70s, the brand
has always had an extremely feminine and romantic design philosophy with styles
that are luxurious yet understated. With a strong emphasis on fabric, cut & colour,
the designs focus on shape and flattering silhouettes. By combining tailoring with
drapery, the garments are meticulously crafted and have a timeless appeal where
old world charm, fantasy and elegance are brought bang up to date.

Femininity forms the essence of the label where the paradoxical combination of
drama and subtlety can be seen in even its simplest styles.
The label caters to those who like to dress with a sense of occasion. The styles are
for a self-determining woman who is sophisticated, elegant and embraces femininity
in fashion.
Gauri & Nainika Karan grew up in New Delhi. Though originally students of
economics, they were always inclined towards fashion and the creative arts. After
studying at The National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT, New Delhi), they
launched their ready-to-wear label Gauri & Nainika. They grew up inspired by the
classics and the romantic look of old Hollywood heroines such as Audrey Hepburn
and Grace Kelly whose timeless elegance has been incorporated in their designs.
Gauri & Nainika is an evening wear brand with a completely western design
sensibility and styles ranging from semi-formal to demi-couture ones, the label offers
glamorous, elegant and chic clothing for women.
Gauri & Nainika Karan grew up in New Delhi. Though originally students of
economics, they always found fashion extremely fascinating. After studying at The
National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT, New Delhi), they launched their label
Gauri & Nainika. They grew up inspired by the classics and the gloriously romantic
look of old Hollywood heroines to whom glamour truly belongs actors such as
Audrey Hepburn, Grace Kelly and Hedy Lamarr whose timeless elegance has been
incorporated in their designs.

Inspired by anything beautiful, from European fashion history, art, music, books,
personalities, theatre, Hollywood and red carpet glamour to pictures of their mother
from the 70s, the brand has always had an extremely feminine and romantic design
philosophy with styles that are luxurious yet understated. With a strong emphasis on
fabric, cut & colour, the designs are all about shape and flattering silhouettes. By
combining tailoring with drapery, the garments are meticulously crafted and have a
timeless appeal where old world charm, fantasy and elegance are brought bang up
to date. Femininity forms the essence of the label where the paradoxical combination
of drama and subtlety conspire to create styles that never date.

PR ACTIVITIES BY GAURI AND NAINIKA
EVENTS:
Wills India Fashion Week spring summer 2012
Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI) presents Asia's biggest fashion and trade
event, the Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week (WIFW) Spring Summer 2013 from
October 6 to 10, at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi.



The five-day fashion event witnesses participation from an assorted mix of leading
as well as upcoming designers. In this edition as well, we are looking at creations by
the best in the Indian fashion industry that continues to strengthen the business of
fashion taking it to newer heights with every passing year.

Each season of highly anticipated WIFW organized by FDCI promises five days of
excitement, with each season witnessing constantly increasing interest and
participation from established and up-coming designers, buyers and affiliates.

With an objective of encouraging designers and helping them build global fashion
brands, the platform provided by FDCI not only supports designers but also
generates excellent business opportunities for them. Wills Lifestyle India Fashion
Week - Spring Summer 2013 promised to be the most spectacular fashion event of
the season.

The 1940s woman for their Spring/Summer 2012 collection heavily inspired GAURI
and NAINIKA. The show began with visual references of classic icons Lauren Bacall
and Rita Hayworth and models walked wearing shirt waister dresses, pencil skirts
and pussy bow blouses - all with vintage 1940's touches - whether this was
displayed via gold naval buttons, flying goggles as hair accessories or the seamed
stockings all the models sported. The palette at the beginning of the show was
burgundy, pale pink and teal blue, but as the collection developed in to full length
flowing silk satin gowns, we saw fuchsia pink, vibrant green and black and White
stripes. At this stage of the show, 1940's took a flirty twist with ruffled hemlines and
cut out backs.
Audrey Hepburn and My Fair Lady. Two of the most iconic images in fashion history
served as inspiration to the Karan sisters, otherwise known as Gauri and Nainika.
Their love of old Hollywood glamour has been well documented almost all their
offerings so far have been derived from that era.
This time, they chose to use a strictly snowy colour code, creating white gowns with
black accents in the form of sashes, ribbon straps and fascinators. Exaggerated
ruffles served as the only embellishment, varying in size and structure. Some circled
the neck to mimic the drape of a scarf; some skirted the hemline in a design likely to
be spotted at a Mormon wedding. One even sat prettily on the derriere, acting as an
external bustle.
Through it all, the hourglass figure was celebrated, even though Miss Hepburn was
Kate Mosss predecessor in waif chic. Curves are elegant, this collection said, and
its only fair to agree.
LAKME FASHION WEEK GRAND FINALE 2011
Here's the thing about the grand finale of the Lakme Fashion Week. If it were a
movie, we'd have probably given it five stars.

Modern day fairy tale was the theme of Gauri and Nainika's show. So the settings
were idyllic woods and the ramp was a replica of a cobbled path.
The dresses were based on Lakme's summer palette and the collection was
designed in subtle pastel shares with vibrant highlights and feminine tones.
Some of these dresses did indeed have a dream-like quality to them. Heck some of
them made you wistfully wish you were getting married!
It was, however, a fashion show and it did leave a lot to be desired.
The ramp for instance was completely ill equipped for the show dresses of at least a
dozen models got stuck at various points on the ramp.
And while the stilt dancers were a welcome change in the beginning, towards the
end, you were looking forward to seeing the Lakme girls on the ramp rather than
seeing them doing a repeat performance of what they'd done twice earlier.
Finally, there was the big faux pas that had Indrani Dasgupta fuming. As the oldest
of the five Lakme girls walked from the wings, voice of the confused announcer
boomed: 'Liza!'
For a second it seemed to us that Indrani was confused and even somewhat miffed
but the model moved on and even smiled at someone in the audience.
Feminine, glamorous, wearable, Bollywood favorites Gauri & Nainika will be the
grand finale designer for Lakm Fashion Week Summer/ Resort 2011.
The designer duos eponymous label will draw inspiration from Lakms upcoming
Fantasy Collection. Gauri & Nainika are hoping to tap into the rich colour palette and
the otherworldly dimension to create their upcoming collection.
[The Fantasy Collection] is an exploration into the feminine and almost dreamy
influences that drive the many moods of all women. With its fresh, vibrant colors of
nature, Lakms summer palette provides that element of richness and a touch of
idyllic that every woman craves for. We hope that our collection will unfurl a whole
new world of sparkling fantasies for women, they said.
Going by the wonderful, yet wearable creations of Gauri & Nainika, were looking
forward to the Lakm Fashion Week already.
They said, Like most girls, we have grown up being fascinated by fairytale fantasy
where everything is perfect and magical with a hint of the unusual and exciting. A
place where all your dreams come alive and your imagination knows no boundaries.
So when Lakm came to us with the idea of the Fantasy collection for the Grand
Finale, it seemed like a perfect collaboration. To be able to translate all these
thoughts and ideas into reality has been nothing short of exhilarating.

The last few months have been a thrilling journey, almost like falling down the rabbit
hole. The endless discussions on everything from the designs, draping, the fabrics,
colors and of course the music, the hair and make-up, sets, shooting the ad
campaign etc. everything has been a high. The best thing about fashion is that one is
constantly inspired and never jaded. An idea can strike you anytime and anywhere.
Sometimes we cant believe that our work involves taking inspiration from our
favorite films, theatre and the whimsical world of fantasy such as Alice in
wonderland. Theres nothing like thinking of work as fun!
Of course theres also a certain amount of tension that comes with planning a show.
The constant whirlwind of ideas and wanting everything to be perfect keeps one on
edge. Though some amount of anxiety is essential as well as it keeps you going and
makes you aspire to do better than the last time.
The grand finale is so much more than just a show. With so many professionals
coming together, the energy is always high and the atmosphere inspiring. We are
thrilled to be working with some of the best talent in the industry, whether in terms of
music, sets, choreography or hair, make-up and the entire Lakm team. Its
incredible to think that such an immense amount of planning, creativity and hard
work goes into that 20 minutes.
FALL WINTER- GREY GOOSE TOUR, CIBO DELHI
This was back in 2010. It was a promotional event by Grey Goose in Delhi where
Gauri and Nainika had showcase one of their collections.

CHIVAS FASHION SHOW 2010
Tisca Chopra, Vidya Malvade were at this event who were dressed by Gauri and
Nainika here. This was the JJ Valaya showcase at Chivas tour in Grand Hyatt that
took place on 8th Jan 2010 in Mumbai.

WILLS INDIA FASHION WEEK 2009
On 15
th
October 2008, Gauri and Nainika had a fashion show at the first day of the
wills India fashion week 09. Their show was the opening show of the whole fashion
week.
CELEBRITIES DRESSED:
- Alia Bhatt in Gauri & Nainika at Amitabh Bachchans 70th Birthday Party
- Mumbai 2012 Bipasha Basu in Gauri & Nainika at IIFA 2012


- Chitrangada singh in Gauri & Nainika at the filmfare nomination party mumbai jan
2012
- Chitrangada singh in Gauri & Nainika at the filmfare nomination party mumbai jan
2012
- Deepika Padukone in Gauri & Nainika at the Screen Awards - January 2012
- Minissha Lamba in Gauri & Nainika Cannes Film Festival May 2011
- Parineeti Chopra in Gauri & Nainika at the GiMA Awards 2012
- Priyanka Chopra in Gauri & Nainika at the Grammys - Los Angeles Feb 2012
- Bipasha Basu - 55th Filmfare Awards 2010
- Deepika Padukone in Gauri & Nainika at the Tissot launch
- Farah Khan in Gauri & Nainika at Karan Johars Birthday Bash - Mumbai 2012
- Neha Dhupia in Gauri & Nainika at Karan Johars Birthday Party 2012
- Preity Zinta in Gauri & Nainika at Karan Johars Party - Mumbai 2012
- Bipasha Basu - IIFA Toronto 2011
- Bipasha Basu in Gauri & Nainika at the Players premier, Jan 2012
- Bipasha basu in gauri and nainika at the launch of IBIZA Town, New Delhi april
2012
- Katrina Kaif - 55th Filmfare Awards 2010
- Sonakshi Sinha - 56th Filmfare Awards 2011
- Aishwarya Rai - Longines Event 2009
- Bipasha Basu - IIFA 2009
- Gauri Karan, Sussanne Roshan, Farah Khan, Genelia Dsouza, and Nainika Karan-
all in "Gauri & Nainika" at the Farah Khan show HDIL couture week Mumbai
- Dia Mirza - 17th Annual Star Screen Awards 2011
- Preity Zinta - 54th Filmfare Awards 2009
- Katrina Kaif - Filmfare Awards
- Prachi Desai - Zee Cine Awards 2011
- Katrina Kaif - Rajneeti Film Premier

- Deepika Padukone - 53rd Filmfare Award, Mumbai 2008
- Sridevi - Stardust awards 2009
- Sushmita Sen - 54th Filmfare Awards 2009
- Deepika Padukone - ITA Awards 2010
- Bipasha Basu - Vogue India Event Jodhpur
- Aishwarya Rai - Drona Film Premier
- Aishwarya Rai - Lux Event
- Bipasha Basu - Cannes Film Festival 2011
- Prachi Desai - IIFA Toronto 2011
- Priyanka Chopra in Gauri & Nainika at the Tag Heuer sponsored Polo match New
Delhi 2007
- Among the others include Vidhya Balan, Asin, Shreya Ghosal, Sonali Bendre etc.

PRESS COVERAGES:
ARTICLES ON MAGAZINE COVERS
- Femina - November 2012
- Vogue - August 2012
- Filmfare - July 2012
- Femina - Buyolicious - November 2012
- Hello! - March 2012
- Better Homes Garden - November 2012
- City Scan - November 2012
- Filmfare - November 2012
- Filmfare - November 2012
- Verve - January 2012
- Grazia - October 2010
- Hi! Blitz - November 2007
- Hello! - December 2011

- Filmfare - August 2011
- Vogue - September 2011
- Filmfare - June 2008
- L Officiel - February 2010
- Vogue - August 2008-
Cosmopolitan - May 2009
- Maxim - March 2010
- Better Homes and Gardens - November 2010
- Vogue - December 2007
- Grazia - March 2010
- Femina - May 2008
- Cosmopolitan - March 2008
- Verve - April 2009
- Cosmopolitan - March 2011
- Marie Claire - August 2006
- Enhance - April 2009
- Hi! Blitz - March 2007
- Cosmopolitan - February 2006

MAGAZINE ARTICLES
- Harper's Bazaar : Jun, 2011 : This was a four page article on a general review on
Gauri and Nainika
- Hi Blitz : Jan, 2009
- Beautiful People : Oct, 2008

- Vogue India : Jul, 2008 : Two pages

- Hi Blitz : Apr, 2008

- Forms Magazine : Mar, 2008 : Two pages
- Verve : Feb, 2008 : Four pages

- Elle: Sep, 2007 : Two pages
- Hi Blitz : May, 2007 : Two pages
- Beautiful People : Feb, 2007
- Cosmopolitan: Nov, 2005
- Femina: Aug, 2005: Three pages
- Cosmopolitan: Dec, 2004

MAGAZINE EDITORIALS
They even have a lot of magazine editorials but most of them are paid for and hence
do not make a part of their public relations directly but are more concerned with their
advertisements


NEWSPAPER ARTICLES
- Chitrangda Singh in Gauri & Nainika at the HT Delhi's Most Stylish event : Dec,
2011

- Anushka Sharma - Delhi Times Front Page : Sep, 2011

- Bombay Times Grand Finale : Mar, 2011

- Lakme Fashion Week - Delhi Times : Mar, 2011

OUTDOOR SHOOTS

Again these do not form a part of their PR efforts directly because most of these are
paid for and they are advertisement campaigns. But yet to name a few, they did the
following:

- LFW Grand Finale Ad Campaign - March 1, 2011

- The Taj Mahal Palace Hotel Mumbai - Calendar - January 1, 2010

SOCIAL MEDIA

They have a Facebook page with 1005 likes currently and a twitter account with
1210 followers. They are very active on these social networking websites

and post their achievements or up comings here on a daily basis to keep their
target audiences informed well in advance. They have their own website again which
they use as a portal to show their achievements and that provides other information
as to how to contact them and their store locations etc.
OVERVIEW
It can be clearly seen here how Gauri and Nainika are yet growing in the industry
and how they are using public relations effectively to do so. But they yet have not
been able to explore all the opportunities it provides completely and hence have not
yet achieved maximum growth possible in this field. This just shows the hidden
opportunities that can be explored by them if they use all PR tools to the utmost and
then they too can be one of the few that dominate the whole industry. Thus while
concluding here I would only like to say that there is a lot of untapped potential in the
market by them which if explored properly can make them achieve the highest levels
of growth the industry and ever seen.

SUGGESTIONS TO GAURI AND NAINIKA FOR ACHIEVEING
FURTHER GROWTH IN THE INDIAN FASHION INDUSTRY
We have seen how the two above-mentioned designers i.e. Gauri and Nainika and
Manish Malhotra to have used different public relation strategies to achieve growth in
the Indian fashion industry. Here we are going to tap the differences between the two
and suggest various other strategies that can be used by Gauri and Nainika to
further boost their dominance in this highly competitive industry.
As mentioned earlier, for PR fashion we have the following tools that can be used at
their maximum advantage to grow in this industry. They are:
- Press releases
- Press conferences
- Interviews
- Charitable events
- Events for various social causes
- Big Launches
- Fashion shows
- Celebrity dressing
- Television shows

- Social media
- Handling media relations, etc.

Now if we consider the case of Manish Malhotra, it can be seen how he has
effectively exploited all the above-mentioned 11 tools and PR strategies, which has
affected his current position in the industry. He is one of the biggest names that pop
up every time when someone talks about the Indian fashion industry. Over the years
he has grown and adapted well to all the changing environments and has ever
missed an opportunity to test a new idea. And his current position in the industry is
proof alone of this. Because of this he is able to attract many buyers who are readily
willing to pay a premium price just for his name on the tag of their clothes. It has
become more of a status symbol and all of this could have been only achieved by
well good advertising with public relations being a key to it.
Whereas, when we talk about Gauri and Nainika, they too have grown at an alarming
rate in the industry. No one ever thought that two girls from Delhi could alone
achieve such heights in the industry, which they have till today. They too have used
very efficient public relation tools during their journey till here. All of them are as
mentioned above.
But yet there is gap that we see when we talk about Manish Malhotra and Gauri and
Nainika. This is because of the difference in levels as to how they have differently
gone about their public relations. Gauri and Nainika have not till now fully exploited
all the opportunities in the market and hence are at a lower level when compared to
Manish Malhotra. This is because of various reasons and it is very importance for
them to tap the remaining opportunities this highly competitive industry has. A few of
these suggestions are as follow:
1. They have not done as many fashion shows as Manish Malhotra and they should
try and increase that because that is one of the most effective tools of PR in this
industry.
2. They have till date never dressed any celebrities for any particular movies. Manish
Malhotra again very well exploits this as we have seen earlier. The main advantage
of this is that once a movie does well, the designer automatically gets a lot of credit
and recognition for the work they have done in it. This again was one of the major
factors of success for Manish Malhotra.
3. Unlike Manish Malhotra, they have never done any charitable event or any event
for a social cause. Manish Malhotra did one for the aid of cancer patients which
again got him a lot of publicity. The advantage of this is that here the sentiments play
an important role and once the media knows about this, they are ready to do many
interviews with you about it since it is for a social cause. The public image of a
designer also changes with this along with them doing their bit t give back to the
society.

Thus they can try and do a few of those as well. At the least it will help the society in
a way and will also help to raise funds along with successful PR for them.
4. Manish Malhotra has been more active than them on social networking websites
and thus he has more likes on Facebook and people following him on twitter than
what Gauri and Nainika have. In the recent times it is seen how fast social media has
grown and today it is considered one of the most effective tools for public relation.
Hence it is of utmost importance that they get a little more involved in that because it
really helps in creating brand awareness, which is very crucial from any business
point of view.
5. They have again restricted most of their fashion shows to the Lakme Fashion
Week or the Delhi Couture week and thus not really exploited other cities such as
Bangalore etc., which are today very attractive markets for such sellers. Whereas
Manish Malhotra has done his shows all over the country and even a few oversees
and we can see what positive effects they have had for him. Thus this too can be
suggested to Gauri and Nainika to grow further in the industry.
6. Interviews with media personnel have always been considered very beneficial for
any fashion designer. But again these only happen when the journalists see that you
have done an event or something similar and they have something to write about.
Hence this simultaneously increases when one starts incorporating all the different
public relation strategies. This again works for both the designer and the journalist
because the designer gets their desired publicity in the media and the journalist get
matter to show to their target audience. Interviews can be of many types such as:
- Personal interviews
- Newspaper article interviews
- Magazine article interviews
- Television interviews
- Radio interviews, etc.
They should try to used these the maximum they can because these are very
effective and are far-reached. This is possible only through very good media
relations and this is where that comes into play. One should always try and keep all
media personnel very happy so that in return they have good things to write and say
about you.
7. Doing special appearances on television shows mainly the reality ones to promote
ones brand also has its positive effects on it. Television shows are watched by a
large number of audiences and when one promotes themselves through the help of
that, it reaches all the people watch that particular show. This has yet not been fully
exploited by both Manish Malhotra and Gauri and Nainika, which if done will also
show its positive impacts on both their brands.

8. As we spoke about media relations earlier, it is of utmost importance to handle
them very well and with a lot of care. Because it is always believed that they play a
huge factor in shaping a persons perspective towards a particular brand, and they
alone have the power to either make your brand or to ruin it. Hence very good
relations should be kept with all media personnel and efforts should be made to keep
them happy at all times. As and when time passes, one learns the tricks for these.
Manish Malhotra is already reached that level due to his vast experience but Gauri
and Nainika yet have to learn all the tricks needed to handle the media tactfully. One
does not want them interfering too much also with their work but at the same time
you need them to keep writing good things about you. This comes with experience
and Gauri and Nainika are coming along well in handling these also.