Apparently, September wasn’t planning on ending quietly.
Donatella Versace is starting from scratch. Triptii Dimri has entered the beauty business. Prada turned more than a century of history into eight floors. Morphe would like another chance. And Mumbai and Bengaluru have given us enough new tables, festivals and openings to make October look suspiciously full already.
Here’s what made it into the group chat.
TRIPTII HAS HER EYES ON BEAUTY
Triptii Dimri has joined Peep Beauty as an investor and co-creator, so this goes a little further than putting a famous face on a campaign. She’ll work across product development, creative direction and storytelling as the brand makes a case for treating coloured contact lenses like another part of your beauty routine. This time, she’s not just fronting the brand. She’s helping build it.
BANDRA’S NEXT BIG TABLE ONLY SEATS 14
Fourteen seats. No sign outside. No walk-ins. Chef Ashwin Singh’s FITOUR opens in Bandra on October 4, with a tasting menu built around his memories, travels and Indian flavours. Food is only part of it: sound, light and design have all been worked into the experience. In other words, this might be one to book before Instagram finds it.
PRADA’S ARCHIVE NOW HAS AN ADDRESS
More than a century after Prada began inside Milan’s Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, the house has turned its historic home into an eight-floor Prada universe. There’s fashion and private shopping, Marchesi 1824, Fondazione Prada’s Osservatorio and Pradasphere, a permanent exhibition tracing the house from 1913 to now. Prada didn’t open the archive. It gave it eight floors.
VANILLA MIEL HAS GONE DOWNTOWN
Pali Village has a sibling. Vanilla Miel has opened at Lodha Signet in Lower Parel, taking its pâtisserie roots into a larger all-day café with brunch, specialty coffee, ceremonial matcha and plenty of dessert. And yes, there’s a Crème Brûlée Latte. Some things simply make sense.
Barrel jeans. Bootcuts. Rugged jackets. Denim worn with even more denim JACK&JONES has tapped Vedang Raina for AW26, and the collection makes a fairly convincing case that skinny denim can remain wherever we left it.The Canadian tuxedo, however, would like another outing.
DESIGN PEOPLE, OCTOBER 9–11 IS TAKEN
India Design ID is back in Mumbai at Jio World Garden, BKC, bringing together 120+ Indian and international brands across furniture, interiors, lighting, décor and collectible design. There’ll also be installations, showcases and conversations across the three days. Save the dates now. Measure your living room later.
Bengaluru has another FOO. FOO Essensai 067 is the brand’s fourth address in the city and its first in Whitefield, with the familiar Pan-Asian menu, cocktails and a covered outdoor pergola with its own DJ console. So dinner can stay dinner. It just doesn’t necessarily have to.
If the opening notes of Kandisa still do something to you, keep October 10 free. Indian Ocean is headed to Sienna Piazza at Phoenix Citadel, bringing decades of Indian indie favourites to Indore. Some songs belong in your headphones. Others deserve a crowd.
HINGE IS GIVING US A SIGN. LITERALLY.
Dating apps have apparently entered their museum era. Hinge’s Museum of Signs lands at The Great Eastern Home in Byculla on September 30, turning all those tiny signals, coincidences and stories that lead people towards connection into an immersive experience. Guests have been asked to bring headphones. Do with that sign what you will.
One October plan doesn’t involve a DJ, tasting menu or guest list. The Privé Tribe × Shakti Souls are hosting a sound-healing evening on October 3, built around stillness, sound and slowing everything down for a while. Honestly, your calendar could probably use the silence.
THE PINK CITY JUST GOT A LITTLE MORE H&M
H&M has opened its first Jaipur store, bringing fashion, beauty and H&M Move together across two floors. Another international name on the city’s retail map.
Another reason to accidentally leave the mall with a bag.
DONATELLA IS STARTING OVER
No Versace. No archive to inherit. A completely new name. Donatella Versace is teaming up with REVOLVE to create an independent beauty and fashion business, with Donatella taking the creative lead and REVOLVE bringing its digital and commerce machinery. Beauty arrives first. Fashion follows. At 71, Donatella apparently likes a blank page.
REMEMBER MORPHE? IT WOULD LIKE A WORD
If the words 35-pan palette immediately transport you to beauty YouTube circa 2016, this one’s for you. After bankruptcy at its former parent company and several quieter years spent rebuilding, Morphe is plotting its next chapter. The brand that helped define an entire era of full-glam internet makeup now has to figure out what Morphe looks like in a beauty world that moved on without it. Now that is a comeback worth watching.
FOR FIVE DAYS, BANDRA IS THE VENUE
From September 30 to October 4, The Neighbourhood Festival is spreading more than 100 experiences across Bandra, Khar and Santacruz. Music, comedy, food, art and conversations are on the programme, with names including Imran Khan, Rohan Joshi, Abish Mathew and Gini. No festival grounds required. The neighbourhood is the festival.
DUA’S BACK IN HER SERPENTI ERA
Dua Lipa and Bulgari Serpenti are together again, this time in New York. The house is taking its famous snake to Manhattan with new High Jewellery and a larger-than-life Serpenti installation on the High Line. A Bulgari snake taking over New York? Actually, that tracks.
GISOU WENT FULL CHERRY CHOCOLATE
Apparently beauty isn’t done raiding the dessert menu. Gisou’s Cherry Chocolate Collection pairs a cherry-chocolate lip mask and hair perfume with lip oils inspired by praline, sticky toffee and dark cherry. Your beauty bag now smells considerably better than your kitchen.
SERIOUS SLICE FINALLY POURED THE WINE
The dough still gets 72 hours. Your dinner can now take its time too. Serious Slice has opened its third Bengaluru outpost in Indiranagar with its fermented pizzas, open kitchen and outdoor balcony, plus something new for the brand: wine and wine cocktails. Pizza and wine. No further explanation required.
For anyone whose October calendar already feels a little too full, here’s the counter-programming. The Kalakund Camping & Music Festival runs from October 2–4, with camping, live music, jungle trails, bonfires and outdoor experiences away from the city. Three days outside. Your notifications can manage without you.
So, what did we miss while we were busy? Quite a bit, apparently. Donatella started again. Morphe resurfaced. Triptii got a seat at the beauty table. Prada made its past somewhere you can physically walk through. Bandra found a 14-seat secret, Bengaluru found more pizza and wine, and somehow October acquired plans before it even began. Some of it you’ll book. Some you’ll save. Some you’ll send immediately to the group chat. Either way, you’re caught up.
We're making your inbox interesting. Enter your email to get our best reads and exclusive insights from our editors delivered directly to you.
