Indian scarf flutters at the Oscars

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal">washington: the indian flag may not have scaled the oscar peak with the failure of <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">lagaan</span> to bag the statuette, but an indian scarf was certainly peeking out of the academy award bag. indian fashion designer jagriti chaddha made a "breakthrough" contribution to the academy awards "goody bag," a much sought after gift basket that typically contains extravagant items like new style watches, latest perfumes, and other trendy designer ware.<br /><br /><center><img height="75" width="90" src="-00.jpg" alt="-00.jpg" border="0" /></center><br />this year’s bag contained hand-crafted scarves of silk and merino wool from chaddha’s company flying fig. the scarves, designed by chadda’s mother tito metke and made in india, are worth up to $1000 each. other items in the oscar bag included a $1,400 ebel watch in the "classic wave" design, a one-ounce bottle of joy, "the world’s most expensive perfume," being reintroduced into the market after a long absence, a black leather carrying case for cigar and flask, worth $228, by piquadro of milan, and a tag heuer sport vision sunglasses, worth $235-$345. while talk of celebrity trinkets and gee-gaws might seem trivial to many, seen purely from the business angle they constitute a multi-million dollar opportunity in the ever-growing haute couture world. fashion houses and brand names compete fiercely for the honour of having goods in the bag, which are given only to the oscar presenters and winners – just 125 on sunday night. many companies use the opportunity to introduce new line of products. chaddha, who was born in chandigarh and now lives in new york, said getting her wares into the bag was the biggest break yet for her fledgling company founded only in 1999. "it’s a wonderful opportunity to grow our business," chaddha said in an interview, crediting her pr firm steel rose, for the break. "the scarf is a thing of beauty, whimsy and enchantment." the 125 hand made scarves were designed and hand made within a month at various outlets in india after her firm was sounded out by the academy, chaddha said. she hopes to see the item adorning the likes of julia roberts, jennifer lopez, and halle berry, just some of the glamourous stars who took home the bag. apparently, hollywood stars look forward to the goodies as much as any wannabes. "you might think that actors that pull down millions of dollars per film would be the last ones to get excited about a few freebies. you’d be wrong. even superstars are human, and who doesn’t like getting presents every now and then? the fact is, killer gift bags have become the sine qua non of any successful hollywood event," <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">newsweek </span>magazine wrote in a recent article on the gift basket craze. chaddha said she dreamt of making it big in the fashion world since the time she was 14. she named the company flying fig after a surreal dream about a fig tree in the compound of her grandfather’s mansion in chandigarh. the specialty scarves are currently available only in new york’s neiman marcus outlets, but the the oscar publicity, the company hopes to have it fluttering widely soon. <span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">related stories:</span><br /><img src="C://DOCUME~1//ADMINI~1//LOCALS~1//Temp//cms_files//4887879-open//images//ticker.gif" alt="C://DOCUME~1//ADMINI~1//LOCALS~1//Temp//cms_files//4887879-open//images//ticker.gif" border="0" /> <a href="articleshow.asp?art_id=4881147">no man''s land beats lagaan</a><br /><img src="C://DOCUME~1//ADMINI~1//LOCALS~1//Temp//cms_files//4887879-open//images//ticker.gif" alt="C://DOCUME~1//ADMINI~1//LOCALS~1//Temp//cms_files//4887879-open//images//ticker.gif" border="0" /> <a href="articleshow.asp?art_id=4872229">well played lagaan xi, says bollywood</a><br /><img src="C://DOCUME~1//ADMINI~1//LOCALS~1//Temp//cms_files//4887879-open//images//ticker.gif" alt="C://DOCUME~1//ADMINI~1//LOCALS~1//Temp//cms_files//4887879-open//images//ticker.gif" border="0" /> <a href="articleshow.asp?art_id=4857366">''we felt as if we had cheated the nation''</a><br /><img src="C://DOCUME~1//ADMINI~1//LOCALS~1//Temp//cms_files//4887879-open//images//ticker.gif" alt="C://DOCUME~1//ADMINI~1//LOCALS~1//Temp//cms_files//4887879-open//images//ticker.gif" border="0" /> <a href="articleshow.asp?art_id=4852116">india third time unlucky at the oscars</a><br /><img src="C://DOCUME~1//ADMINI~1//LOCALS~1//Temp//cms_files//4887879-open//images//redbull.gif" alt="C://DOCUME~1//ADMINI~1//LOCALS~1//Temp//cms_files//4887879-open//images//redbull.gif" border="0" /> <a href="articlelist.asp?catkey=4174009&daysactive=365">full coverage: oscars 2002</a><span style="" color:=""> </span></div> </div>