To say that Nisha Vedhara, Designer and Director of style studio; Love Niche is passionate about her job is an understatement. Nisha grew up around fashion, her mum was a designer in India and Nisha absorbed as much as she could before bringing her own designs to the UK and setting up her boutique Love Niche.
Nestled in the heart of über trendy Newcastle city centre, Nisha owns and runs Love Niche Studio, a small but achingly stylish boutique on Clayton Street which not only stocks and sells clothes, but also offers a personal styling service for clients old and new. Nisha travels to Italy, France and India to personally select the pieces that make up the Love Niche collection. Anyone can access the service, you don’t have to be in the upper echelons of the fashion elite to be styled by Nisha, you just need to be able to get to the studio and she’ll do the rest. Simples.
Newcastle is now considered soooo cosmopolitan that it has its own annual Fashion Week in May and in the run up to NFW the city turns its urban cool dial up a notch in preparation. As the event draws nearer the North’s fashionistas begin to up their game. It’s no surprise then that on March 30th, Newcastle’s Fash Pack, myself included of course, assembled in trendy nightspot Bonbar for a fashion event that’s become an annual hot ticket. Hosted by Love Niche, in association with Hooker and Young Hairdressers, Terry de Havilland and North East glossy; La Di Da magazine, the relatively new event is always a very slick presentation.
Guests were greeted on arrival by hostesses and handed a goodie bag and given the option to purchase deluxe raffle tickets, a dedicated selfie area complete with Love Niche background, gold picture frames and flower crowns was set up in the entrance for show goers to tweet and Instagram their pictures.
I arrived at 7.55pm wearing a Jean-Pierre Braganza denim jumpsuit and L.A.M.B. heels, fashionably late as it were, (the invite said 7.30pm) and the venue was already packed with TV personalities, models, bloggers, editors and people just generally inspired by and passionate about fashion and style. Guests ordered from a bespoke drinks menu created specially for the event and sampled canapés from silver trays strewn with gorgeous flowers provided by The Scene Setter, the same company who created those gorgeous flower crowns.
The evening opened with a talk on style; Nisha is passionate about style and shares the opinion of Gabrielle Chanel: “Fashion comes and goes, but style is eternal”. When she speaks it’s easy to see that she is the driving force behind her own brand and that she is truly about female empowerment. she passionately tells the audience that it’s definitely “not about size” the way that so much of the fashion industry is and that it’s more about “a feeling”.
The show itself features some of Nisha’s own designs as well as items which are stocked in the Love Niche boutique, it opens with resortwear and models in bikinis and kaftans in glorious colours walk the makeshift runway which traverses the entire bar area ensuring that everyone can see what’s on offer. The hair is divine; fishtail plaits looped back on themselves topped with flower crowns handmade specially for the event.
As we move into daywear it becomes apparent that Nisha is not about one particular movement or segment of fashion, there’s something here for everyone. From the dedicated fashionista to the 9-5 office worker and everyone in-between, we’re all catered for. The next section of the show is all about “achievable glamour”. think fifties style printed co-ords with bare midriffs, wide legged trousers giving a nod to riviera chic and a DIVINE one shouldered red pannier dress that could have sauntered off the Dior SS15 runway, (I’ll definitely be popping in to the studio for a closer look at that one) all topped off with a line of oversized sunglasses.
The final phase of the show was real high-octane glamour. Full length gowns, sequin covered disco ball frocks, and show-stopping frothy floor sweepers. As the show draws to a close, the line out showcases those amazing red carpet worthy frocks one last time and attention is drawn to Nisha as she appears on the stage in a figure hugging black dress to take her bow. She thanks everyone and makes an emotional statement about how overwhelmed she is at the support for tonight’s event.
As far as event dressing goes, Love Niche has you covered. I don’t think I’ve seen such an extensive range of red carpet style gowns available in the North East and with a range of accessories carefully sourced and selected to match, you really do have a one-stop shop with Love Niche, and it’s right in the centre of Newcastle. Whether you have a prom coming up, an event, wedding or just a big night and you want to go all out in the style stakes, Love Niche is certainly worth a visit. You’ll find that there’s something for every price range, from high street to high-end and you’re likely to end up with something pretty unique.
Fun, Fashion, Friends and Flower crowns all in one night, what more could a girl want? Oh yes and I won a raffle prize too….
Pixie x
To find out more visit Love Niche online at:
www.love-niche.com
www.lovenichelondon.com
Want to engage with Love Niche on social media?
Twitter: @LoveNiche & @LoveNicheLondon
FaceBook: www.facebook.com/LoveNicheStudio
P.S. After having my actual camera stolen at London fashion Week I was left using my iPhone, hence the pictures of my (über cool) “Collective” and I! I promise to update with pictures of the models as soon as I can get hold of them!