Born in Sikkim (in a quaint village called Gayzing); raised in a gothic convent in Darjeeling run by Nepalese and Irish nuns; belted out Shakespeare facing the Himalayas, excelled in drama and flunked in math. Learnt very early to bite into lethal chillies with great aplomb; her Nepali blood can take the heat she says. Was fat as a kid but she preferred to be called chubby; hated cute. Hated dolls too. But was into golliwogs.
Studied B.A. Literature in LSR followed by M.A in Film Making at Jamia in Delhi. Her final student film was called “A Little Death”. It dealt with the nature of sexuality. It had no dialogues but cut to the Igor Stravinsky’s magnum opus “The Rite of Spring”. Worked at Discovery Channel. At some point discovered Fashion & Surrealism by Richard Martin which gave her a new direction..
Self-funded her first few trips to international fashion weeks in London, Johannesburg, etc. Made copious amounts of notes standing in the last row and got paid a measly 2000Rs. for each story….But the ghosts of Cecil Beaton, Sarte, Fellini, Coco Chanel, and Stravinsky protected her…
She hosted the first fashion programme on Indian TV called Simply Style. Also hosted the first fashion webisodes in India on lfwtv. She’s written a book that’s now translated in Marathi, Gujarati, and Italian called “A Little Guide to Italy”. Would like to write for an Indian newspaper one day; is a regular contributor to IHT and NYT. Her daily reads are Newsweek. New Yorker. Another Magazine. Economist. Moreintelligentlife(THE BEST). MumbaiBoss. BOF.
Has a nine year old daughter named Mai-rah (named after her favourite book Myra Breckinridge) whose appearance she compares to that of a cheeky street kid. Her favourite gift to her friends is the docu Century of Self. Can complete the Rubik cube in two minutes flat. Collects stones from historic places.
Calls Dorothy Parker her priestess of self-deprecation. Is single and happy. Wants to start her own blog once she reaches 5000 twitter followers…
“I flutter in many ways but I fly in none… The older I grow the truer it sounds.”
-Bandana Tewari. Lingering in the 30s. Fashion Director, Vogue India.
Tags: bandana tewari, fashion, fashion director, mumbai, street style, vogue india
November 30, 2011 at 14:35 |
one of the most interesting posts ever.
November 30, 2011 at 15:47 |
Wow! I had no idea about her life, apart from knowing about her being with Vogue.
December 1, 2011 at 13:07 |
I absolutely love Bandana. I’ve only had the pleasure of meeting her once, but she was witty, humble and FUN! Such an interesting post, Manou. x
http://www.bombaybubble.com/
December 3, 2011 at 21:10 |
Wow, i love this woman. Update the post with her blog link soon then.
December 24, 2011 at 04:39 |
She is beautiful, inspiring, and her twitter posts are hilarious. She should really get on with that blog STAT!
January 12, 2012 at 13:00 |
[...] Bandana says in an interview, “Bollywood is by far the biggest marketing tool for anything that you do in India.” Fashion, sadly, has to go through Bollywood if it has to reach the masses. I’m going to digress here. Does the common man follow Indian runway fashion? Where is the vision and interest of the masses? Is there even a need for Indian runway trends to reach masses? [...]
March 2, 2012 at 17:03 |
[...] I do on this blog..+ shooting a lookbook for NorBlackNorWhite in Dadar flower market, talking to Bandana Tewari & Little Shilpa..and just generally hanging out on the [...]