Bona Fide Hustler Makin’ Her Name. M.I.A. brazenly cites knock-offs and counterfeits as inspirations for her latest venture: a subversive capsule collection for luxury label Versace’s more “affordable” line, Versus. Medusa heads and graphic street prints will splatter a range of silk shirts and jersey dresses, all part of the 19-piece range, available in stores from October 16th. “Versace’s designs have always been copied, now it’s Versace that copies the copies, so those that copy must copy the copies. So this will continue,” she told WWD. And we’ve gone cross-eyed. [British Vogue]
California’s $700 Billion Dollar Man. Indian-American Neel Kashkari, who earned the aforementioned moniker for managing the financial bailout program during President George W. Bush’s administration, may run for governor of California in 2014. Kashkari, whose approach is described as unorthodox and libertarian (he roams entourage-free and gasp — admits to voting for President Obama in 2008!) could represent the ideological face-lift that the GOP needs. [San Francisco Chronicle]
24 India Doesn’t Suck. Comedian Rohan Joshi’s fairly optimistic about Jack Bauer’s Indian counterpart, though he’s not excusing the show’s creators for some exceedingly trite dialogue. Read his giggle-inducing review, where he sheds light on why its not just a vanity project and delves into the crucial distinction between “Michael Bay ridiculous” and “bad student film ridiculous”, among other things. [Mumbai Boss]
Brand NaMo: He’s on saris, tees and even etched on mithai pieces — Indian PM candidate, Narendra Modi, may be taking cues from the merchandising machine that accompanied President Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign. Journo Sandip Roy‘s intelligent take on the comMODIfication (we couldn’t resist!) of Indian politics. [First Post]
Aarti Virani is an arts and culture writer based in Hoboken, New Jersey. She has written for publications including Vogue India, The Wall Street Journal and Travel + Leisure. Follow her on Twitter at @aartivirani.
