Andres Aquino’s ‘Fantaisie Nocturne’ in spotlight at CFW

Andres Aquino’s latest couture collection, "Fantaisie Nocturne," will be shown at Couture Fashion Week (CFW) on Saturday, February 18, 2012 at 8:00 p.m. in the Grand Ballroom of the Waldorf Astoria.

The collection is inspired by the sophisticated beauty of the art of Erte - the father of Art Deco - and the whimsical art of Henri Toulouse-Lautrec. Sumptuous fabrics, embroideries and exquisite trimmings feature prominently in the collection.

Fantaisie Nocturne fuses the sophistication of Paris with the energy of New York.

"I love art, poetry, architecture, dance and history," says Mr. Aquino. "All of these influence the components of color, romance and fun I strive to incorporate into my fashion designs. Paris has always inspired poets and artists, and New York energizes the creative process."

The show will open with Princess Tarinan Von Anhalt’s Jet Art label. Jet Art’s latest collection features luxury original and giclee denims and accessories. The evening culminates in the Andres Aquino evening couture collection, accompanied by an array of entertainers.

Andres Aquino, a successful entrepreneur and founder and producer of Couture Fashion Week, is also a writer, poet and fine art photographer. He has received multiple awards for his contribution to the fashion industry including the EL Award (El Diario New York), Legacy Award (Latin Fashion Week, Washington, D.C.), and Style Fashion Leader & Inspiration Award (SUNY Westchester Community College), among others.

Teenage fashion trends - Handbag fashion.

Formal Long Wavy Hairstyles for Women

Formal hairstyles are the kinds of hairstyles you could wear to special occasions like weddings and proms. They come in various shapes and styles, including upcurls,long wavy hairstyles, downcurls, upsmooth styles, downsmooth styles, half up/half down updo styles, plaits and braids. Long wavy hairstyles does not just look amazing; it also provides an abundance of styling options for women. It does not matter if you do not have waves courtesy of Mother Nature; you can still create stunning wavy hairstyles for your long hair.
Julianne Hough wearing formal long wavy hairstyles while attending the Netflix screening of The Wizard of Oz in Central Park in NYC.
A formal long wavy hairstyles can be described as structured, soft, elegant and classic looking. It’s the kind of hairstyle you’d wear to a formal occasion such as a wedding, prom, or any important function that requires dressing up. These hairstyles vary from soft graduated layered looks to heavier all one length cuts. Shapes can be made to vary with shorter sections of hair, such as the bangs, used to change face shape perspective, or shorter top layers used to add height and body.

Long Wavy Hairstyles

Long Wavy Hairstyles

Audi’s Plans For The 2012 Auto Expo

7th January,2012 is drawing nearer and all the auto manufacturers, Indian and foreign are gearing up to showcase their products and technology at the 2012 Auto Expo to held in Delhi from 7th to 11th January, 2012. Recently the German luxury car manufacturer, Audi revealed its plans for the 2012 Auto Expo and apparently it seems Audi is going to cater to every type of visitor that is going to be present at the occasion. At one end, it will be showcasing the Q3, compact SUV while at the other, the R8 Spyder.

The Q3 will be debuting in Indian market by mid 2012 and Audi plans to showcase the model at the expo as a part of it. The Q3 will be having 2 engine options, the 2 litre TFSI petrol and the 2.0 litre turbo diesel. The TFSI petrol churns out 211 BHP of power while its diesel sibling produces 176 BHP of power. The R8 Spyder with its 5.2 litre V10 engine is definitely going to one of the show-stoppers at the Expo so make sure you don’t miss out this car by any chance. Apart from these, Audi is also going to showcase its RS5 and the performance version of the A6, the S6. The S6 is powered by a 4.0 litre twin-turbo V8 that produces 414 BHP of power and can reach to 100 kmph in just 5 seconds. From its hybrid portfolio, it is going to showcase the A3 E-Tron concept that houses a 1.4 litre TFSI motor producing 211 BHP of power coupled to a 27 BHP electric motor. Sadly, the A4 facelift expected to arrive in the first quarter of 2012, will not be making it to the Auto Expo.

 

 

New Tata Safari Storm Caught During Ad Shoot

New spy shots of the new Tata Safari have surfaced on the internet which was apparently caught during its ad film shoot in Pune. The new Tata Safari is going to be showcased at the upcoming 2012 Auto Expo to be held in New Delhi from 7th to 11th January, 2012. It has been under test for quite some time now and will compete with the Mahindra XUV500 at launch. The changes are not drastic but the Safari now uses the Aria’s X2 platform. This will improve the ride and handling balance of the SUV drastically. This updated Tata Safari is likely to get the name “Storm” along with Safari and not the name Merlin as was rumoured earlier. Looking at the spy shots, some of the changes are quite evident.

The front gets a more sportier and aggressive look with broader front grille and larger wrap around headlamps with projectors. The front grille and gets a thick chrome strip that projects into the headlamps. There has been some minor design changes made to the front bumper too. At the rear, it gets twin exhaust just like the Aria and they are neatly encapsulated inside the rear bumper. The exhaust also seems to have obtained some chrome linings. The Tata logo is more prominent and again a thick chrome strip runs right across under it between both the tail lamps. The tail lights also receive some design changes. However, on the overall the look of the car remains the same with the company just increasing the level of sport appeal. On the inside, a 4 spoke steering wheel design has been implemented. The dash also gets lots of wooden inserts to provide an upmarket feel. Safety features include 6 airbags, ESP, EBD, ABS and Hill Descent Control likely. The car is going t be powered by the same 2.2 litre Dicor engine that produces 140 BHP of power and 320 Nm of torque.

 

 

Hyundai Tucson Coming To The Expo!

The Hyundai Tucson came, saw and left India. Now in its next next generation, the new Tucson has not been officially confirmed for launch in the country. However multiple sightings of this CUV (crossover utility vehicle) suggest Hyundai is indeed interested to bringing back the vehicle to Indian roads. Now the Korean automaker plans to display the Tucson at the upcoming Auto Expo. This could be a good platform for the company to gauge customer feedback and conduct a small market survey to determine if they should launch the Tucson in India.

The Hyundai Tucson incorporates the Fluidic Sculpture design philosophy which has become common on Hyundai’s of today. A rival to the Honda CR-V internationally, if Hyundai go for local manufacturing, the company can instantly set the sales chart on fire by pricing the vehicle around Rs. 16 lakhs. This would also give the Mahindra XUV500 tough competition. Engines could be shared with the upcoming Sonata which would result in economies of scale. A market entry is yet uncertain as the Tucson will only be launched after the new Sonata and Elantra go on sale.

Renault Duster Compact SUV Spied In Chennai

Renault’s next model for India (after the Pulse) is the Duster compact SUV. The French automaker will showcase the Renault Duster at the upcoming Auto Expo next week. Just today, MotorBeam fan Ramakrishna spotted the vehicle with heavy camouflage in Chennai. The spied Duster had equipment to take down readings near the center console and was being driven extremely fast. It is no secret that Renault has been extensively testing the Duster in India. The company has heavily localized components and plans to make it’s Chennai facility a hub for the production of the Duster. Infact, the Orgadam plant could be the exclusive manufacturing location for the Duster in the world, with Renault exporting a big chunk of the production overseas.

The Renault Duster will be powered by both petrol and diesel engines. The 1.6-liter petrol unit will produce 106 PS of power and is an all new unit. The diesel unit will be the same one 1.5-liter K9K motor. The dCi motor will be available in two set of tunes, one producing 91 PS of power, while the other producing 108 PS of peak power at 4000 RPM and 240 Nm of peak torque at 2000 RPM. Mated to a 6-speed manual gearbox, the Duster diesel should return a fuel efficiency of close to 20 kmpl. Renault has also tuned the suspension and air-conditioning for India and we can expect the compact SUV to be priced between Rs. 8-10 lakhs, when it goes on sale in the middle of 2012.

Renault also plans to offer 4-wheel drive on the Duster but this might not be offered initially. History is witness that 80% of sales come from 2-wheel drive variants, so expect only the top model to feature 4×4 system as standard. Renault plans to launch 5 variants of the Duster in the Indian market and has an aggressive target of selling 50000 units of the right-hand drive Duster in India and UK in the very first year. The Duster uses the same platform as the low cost Logan and the interiors are quite similar too. However Renault has plans to modify the switches and dashboard to make it more attractive to the aam junta (common man). Remember, the Duster goes head on with the Ford EcoSport, with the latter being a sub 4-meter compact SUV.