By Shamita Shetty & Shobhitha Krishnan Third Year FCS-B
Meet Comet's cheeky ode to the vintage Indian matchbox, now with a striker strip, a story, and serious main-character energy. Every Indian household has one matchbox lying around in the kitchen drawer, the puja shelf and that one random junk drawer by the door. Comet just turned it into a sneaker, inspired by the design language of vintage Indian matchboxes, 'Maachis' blends nostalgia, visual culture and streetwear innovation complete with a functional striker strip and a collectible matchbox-inspired package. The matchbox first arrived in India as an import from Sweden and Japan, but it didn't take long to become a household staple, the humble "maachis" we all grew up reaching for without a second thought. As India industrialised rapidly after independence, matchboxes turned into more than just an utility item; they became a canvas for storytelling. Their bold graphics, quirky mascots, and punchy typography made them an unlikely icon of 20th-century Indian visual culture, one that most of us have unconsciously absorbed without ever really noticing. Comet's newest limited-edition drop draws directly from that bold, vibrant visual language. Crafted in premium beige and red suede, Maachis comes alive with the matchstick's signature red, paired with nostalgic typography and vintage-inspired graphics lifted straight from classic Indian matchbox art. 'Maachis': The Sneaker That Proves the Humble Matchbox Was Always a Design Icon Image Credits: Comet Image Credits: Comet ADVERTORIAL By Shobhitha Krishnan
Each pair from this 800-unit limited run arrives in a matchbox-inspired shoebox striking, playful and unmistakably Comet. The unboxing is created to be just as memorable as wearing the shoes themselves. From the oversized sliding box to the nostalgic butter paper and graphic detailing, every element is built to surprise, delight, and spark a story. But the real surprise is hidden on the sneaker itself. Tucked beneath the back tab is a fully functional striker strip capable of lighting an actual match. It's a playful nod to the classic Western image of cowboys striking matches on their boots, lending Maachis a rebellious, iconic edge that turns it from sneaker into an engaging conversation piece. Part homage, part streetwear statement, Maachis is built to ignite more than just a flame; it's literally meant to spark social feeds and group chats alike. “Maachis is us going back to something every Indian household grew up with and asking what if this everyday object was actually a design icon all along? We wanted the sneaker to feel like you'd found it in your grandmother's kitchen drawer, but built for the street." — Utkarsh Gupta Co-Founder of Comet Image Credits: Comet
INSTAGRAMSOCIAL MEDIA- BY SHAMITA SHETTY
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Why I'm Still Thinking About These Beauty YouTubers A Decade Later A love letter to the 2014–2016 era of beauty YouTube and the creators who influenced my makeup journey and sparked a lifelong passion for beauty. They say 2026 feels like 2016 again, and honestly, I get it, but probably for different reasons than most people. Between 2014 and 2016, I was 10 years old, and beauty YouTube was my entire world. Before short-form content, before trends lasted a week, before every GRWM was squeezed into 30 seconds, there was peak beauty YouTube: 20-, 30-, even 40-minute full-glam tutorials where creators actually taught you every step. My sister and I would watch them for hours, after school, at lunch, whenever we could. It became our thing, our version of watching TV together. I was definitely too young to care about the perfect winged liner or a smoky eye, but I was completely fascinated. Those videos did more than entertain me—they introduced me to brands I could only dream of owning. I still remember walking past Sephora and luxury beauty counters, spotting products I'd seen online and feeling genuinely excited. I'd save pocket money from birthdays and family visits for months, sometimes years, just to buy one thing. Beauty content back then built anticipation. It made you want something slowly. Now it's 2026, and beauty moves at the speed of the algorithm, fast, reactive, and constantly changing. It's almost the opposite of what it was a decade ago. But that era left a lasting mark on me. Looking back, so much of how I think about beauty today started with those long YouTube videos and the memories BLOG By Shobhitha Krishnan
The Beauty YouTubers Who Changed It All For Me I watched countless beauty creators growing up, but a handful genuinely shaped the way I see beauty today. Kaushal Beauty was one of the first creators who made beauty feel relatable. Whether it was a full-glam transformation or an everyday makeup look, she made beauty seem fun, expressive, and accessible.Then there was Tati, the queen of my beauty wishlists. Her Monthly Favorites, Hot or Not, and drugstore makeup videos were must-watch content for me. Her reviews were detailed, honest, and somehow always left me wanting to try whatever she recommended. The Era Of Long-Form Beauty Content I think anyone who grew up watching YouTube back then would relate to this, there was something very special about beauty YouTube in that era. Tutorials weren't rushed, creators took their time explaining each step, and every new upload in a week felt genuinely exciting to look forward to. A twenty minute video didn't feel long, it felt nice and comforting. Whether it was a glam makeup look, a monthly favourite video or a beauty haul, I watched every second of it. I still remember being completely fascinated by products that were the it-girl essentials back then, like Urban Decay's Naked Palette, Laura Mercier Translucent Loose Setting Powder and M.A.C lipsticks. It all felt like a dream and was something that everyone seemed to own, living non stop in my head long before any of it made it to my makeup bag. Image Credits: Youtube
Tanya Burr introduced me to soft glam before I even knew there was a name for it. Her rosy cheeks and signature winged liner made beauty feel wearable rather than intimidating. She also single-handedly convinced me that I needed half the products from M.A.C. For Indian beauty lovers, Corallista (Ankita Chaturvedi) was essential. Her content felt relevant in a way international creators sometimes couldn't. She helped me discover products that were actually available to me and taught me to see beauty through an Indian lens. And then there was Christen Dominique, whose eye makeup tutorials completely fascinated me. Between her dupe videos, seasonal looks, first impressions, and endless experimentation, she made beauty feel creative and exciting. I'm still a fan to this day. Together, these creators didn't just influence my makeup style, they shaped my entire relationship with beauty. The Golden Era Of Beauty YouTube Will Always Have My Heart Today, beauty moves at lightning speed. Trends appear and disappear overnight, tutorials are measured in seconds instead of minutes, and there seems to be a new product launch every single day. As fun as it is to discover beauty content on social media, there's something about the 2014–2016 beauty YouTube era that I still miss. Image Credits: Youtube
Gym to street : How athleisure quietly took over everyday dressing Athleisure isnt about just gym anymore, its all about avoiding an outfit change in today's time and that’s probably the real reason why atheisure has lasted . We have been wearing leggings with oversized tshirts or maybe just wearing a kurta to go downstairs for years now. But now, the whole idea has been stretched much further. Joggers being paired up with structured jackets, sports bra layered under shirts and activewear is now being styled with the same amount of thought as the rest of our wardrobe . Athleisure has started playing with few pieces that don't immediately scream " activewear " in the first glance. Flare pants is one of those. They bring in easy movement and a little drama that just adds onto your outfit everyday. It is something that could be worn for your workouts, going to college, grocery shopping or simply just a dinner. In addition to these flare pants, we also have a new trend of wrap-around tops trending all over the internet. Brands like Pace Active, Truvvo, Kica and BlissClub, are bringing this style into Indian activewear, making it feel less like something you would only wear to Pilates and more like an actual everyday piece. You can simply tie it in different ways to make it look like a different top, wear it over your leggings, your flared pants or just pair it up with jeans. It keeps changing depending on what you want to do with it, which is basically the whole point of athleisure now. The new rules of comfortable dressingImage Credits: Kika activeImage Credits: Truvvo EDITORIAL By Shamita Shetty
Celebrities are playing a big role in making this normal, be it airport looks or post workout paparazzi pictures. But the interesting part is that we dont need celebrities to validate it anymore. " Off-duty" has become an everyday mood. Maybe that's where athleisure is headed next. Not more gym clothes pretending to be fashion, but fashion becoming more comfortable, more flexible and a little less obsessed with dressing for the occasion. At this point, nobody really asks if it's gym wear or everyday wear. If the outfit works, it works. Think about a normal day with many plans throughtout your day like going for coffee , meeting a friend, have a business meeting and maybe end your day with a dinner. Do you really want four different outfits ? probably not. This is where athleisure wins. A pair of flares with sneakers can start the day casually and you can end the day by layering it with a jacket with some accessories. Joggers can look completely different with a fitted top. A sports bra can disappear under an oversized shirt and suddenly it's not gym wear at all. The styling does the heavy lifting. Your outfit has plans too And then came celebrity Off-duty styleImage Credits: INSTAGRAM @haileybieber , @bellahadid , @kendalljennerImage Credits: pexels
Masaba Gupta's Couture Debut Comes With Her Own Baggage, Literally At Chardi Kala, House of Masaba's first outing at FDCI Hyundai India Couture Week, jewellery wasn't an accessory to the bride, it was stitched into her. This was also House of Masaba's debut at Couture Week, and it showed in how much thought had gone into the collaboration with Indriya Jewellery, the show's co-presenter. Jewellery wasn't just worn here, it was built into the clothes. Jhumkas and gold drops were sewn directly onto lehenga skirts, blouses came with crystal and bead chains cascading across the torso, and ornamentation kept turning up in places you wouldn't expect it, worked into necklines, stitched onto blouses, folded into headpieces. It was a clever provocation on paper: what happens when you stop treating jewellery as something added at the end and start treating it as part of the garment's construction? A few looks pulled it off. But across an entire collection, the device wore thin fast, and what began as inventive started to feel repetitive, even distracting from the clothes underneath. The show opened in near darkness with Sarojini Naidu's voice filling the room, lifted from a 1928 speech where she argued that Indian women had quietly shaped the country's culture even as it looked conservative from outside. It was a heavy way to open a show from a designer known for colour and chaos. Then came the first look: Carol Gracias in a sherwani over an anarkali skirt, carrying a briefcase stamped with a map of India. Grand as it was, the briefcase gave it away, this wasn't a conventional bridal offering. Image Credits: Instagram @houseofmasaba RUNWAY REPORT By Shobhitha Krishnan
Which is also where the collection's inclusivity felt half-finished. Casting plus-size influencer Sakshi Sindwani alongside veterans like Madhu Sapre and Carol Gracias was a real statement about who gets to stand on a couture runway. But the more revealing, body-conscious silhouettes still went almost exclusively to the thinnest women in the show, which made the inclusivity feel more like a casting choice than a design one. So yes, Masaba, I'm coming for my lehenga. The collection's reference points were personal to Masaba in a way that felt consistent with everything else about the show. Nandi bulls, palm trees and foliage motifs ran through the pieces, pulling from both Indian mythology and her Caribbean heritage, and that dual inheritance showed up again in the silhouettes: dhoti saris, pullovers folded into lehenga skirts, bralette blouses, all rendered in a maximalist palette of fuchsia, red, black and gold that occasionally tipped from bold into overbearing. Some of the motifs were scaled up so aggressively that they worked against the garments carrying them; a couple of the more voluminous lehenga skirts looked like they were wearing the models rather than the other way round. Image Credits: Instagram @houseofmasaba Image Credits: Instagram @houseofmasaba
In Conversation With Masaba Gupta, on Brides and Baggage with Team ELLE M Chardi Kala Takes the Runway: Masaba Gupta on Indian Couture Week and What’s Next asaba Gupta's couture debut at India Couture Week didn't open with a bride , it opened with Sarojini Naidu's voice filling the room, and a model carrying a briefcase mapped with India. By the time the first anarkali appeared, it was clear Chardi Kala wasn't going to play by bridal rules. I sat down with Masaba to talk about why. ELLE India: The show opened with Sarojini Naidu's 1928 speech before a single look appeared. Why start there? Masaba: I wanted people to sit with an idea before they saw a dress. Chardi Kala is about resilience and joy existing together , that's very much her spirit too. I didn't want the audience arriving with only bridal expectations in their head.Image Credits: FDCIImage Credits: Instagram @houseofmasaba FASHION INDUSTRY INTERVIEW By Shamita Shetty
Image Credits: FDCI Image Credits: Instagram @houseofmasaba ELLE India : Couture weeks can lean heavily into spectacle - trains, crystals, drama. Where does Chardi Kala sit in that? Masaba: We have the drama, don't worry! But I wasn't trying to perfect the bridal formula, I was trying to poke at it a little. Grandeur can hold personality , it doesn't have to flatten it. ELLE India: If someone remembers just one thing from Chardi Kala, what do you want it to be? Masaba: That the bride has a life beyond the wedding day , and she's allowed to bring all of it down the aisle with her. ELLE India : You cast Madhu Sapre and Carol Gracias alongside newer faces like Sakshi Sindwani. Was that a deliberate conversation between eras? Masaba: Completely. I wanted the runway to feel like it had memory and momentum at once , women who've shaped how we think about Indian fashion, next to the ones shaping it now. ELLE India: That briefcase in the opening look stayed with me the most. What was it doing there? Masaba: Everything, honestly. A bride isn't erased the day she gets married , she's still got a life, a job, an opinion, a slightly chaotic handbag energy. I wanted the clothes to carry that forward instead of asking her to shed it.
