In a hallmark celebration of the ethnic diversity and inclusivity, in 2017, the club changed its name from American Women’s Club to American Club of International Women (ACIW).  For Deputy Principal Officer of the American Consulate, Jennifer Larson, who has not only found sisterhood in the club, the mela offers her something to look beyond work.  Although, we still keep the American-ness, with our continued association with the US Consulate. The event will see local charities showcasing their cause and selling their products. And this need for a community actualised a year later in the form of American Women’s Club of Bombay with mere 13 members. Another interesting event was the Gala of 1955 where the dress code was Western high fashion made from Indian fabrics. She says, "With the mela and other volunteer opportunities, it helps to have a life outside work, especially when you are new to India. During the time, when the wave of Western fashion had hit the city of Mumbai, Americans adopting the Indian fabric became such a talk-of-the-town that the Bombay Express mentioned in an article "Americans were more patriotic than the locals. Kagan, the American Counsul General of Mumbai says, "We have explored Bandra, Fort, Andheri; seen different cultural things, and participated in different cooking demonstrations, museums walks, book clubs, and craft clubs; and supported various charities. Not only were they new to the city, but also shared the desire to explore it."Apart from the social activities, philanthropy is integral to the club.". I don’t think I would have tried yoga if it weren’t of this woven jacquard mattress fabric Manufacturers group, and I have been doing yoga ever since.Jennifer LarsonSince the formation of the club, every year the members organise several social events and activities. Throughout the year, they host fund-raising events like galas, auctions, and other events including the upcoming ACIW Charity Shopping Mela."

To regale their own stories, in 1960 they even wrote, choreographed, directed and performed a musical Ever the Twain. Cynthia Gire, who is the Honorary President of the club and the wife of Edgard D.The club that was intended for American women, over the years, opened its door to offer membership to women of nationalities other than American and Canadian." This expatriate community has about 150-200 members from countries including Germany, France, Switzerland, Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, Korea, China, India, etc.In 1927,while playing the host at a Christmas party, Mrs. It will also include local artisans and vendors setting-up pop-up stores. This musical was a story about a New-York based spinster who meets a Juhu-based businessman through a matrimonial advertisement and ends up living in the city.The club that has offered its members a ‘home away from home’ helps these women explore the city through their program Coffee Mornings. Talking about the change, President of ACIW, Hanifa Haji, says, "We thought that this is our 90th year, let’s do something to commemorate that and the club members overwhelmingly voted for the favour of this name-change.  On the 25th anniversary, in 1953, in association with the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the ladies of the club organised a special screening of the 1952 released movie Ivanhoe, with a special message of regards by Elizabeth Taylor.  Entering into its 90th year on September 12, the club now known as the American Club for International Women with members across 34 nationalities recently celebrated its anniversary in American Consulate. Frances Brown Brough discovered that along with her, there were 22 other American women who were living away from home in the new thriving port-city of Bombay.  It’s a great opportunity for a lot of people who have just moved here, to kind of get involved and learn about the city.

It has been over a decade for Fashion Stylist Shilpa Bhatia since she forayed into the world of renting clothes and accessories. The Clothing Rental, that started off as a clothes renting website is now present at two locations in Bandra and Worli in Mumbai and rents clothes all over the world.In conversation with this correspondent Bhatia shares more about her journey, the reason she decided to start it and how much the industry has progressed in the last 15 years.From running a clothes renting website to having an offline stores in Mumbai, how has the journey been?The journey began quite organically. Back in 2005, I noticed a need for high quality fashion clothing that could be affordable and we launched the rental concept when not many international brands existed. We hoped to make fashion affordable.How did you come across the idea of renting clothes? How receptive an option is it in India?Noticing the trend of raw materials and labour costs going up with time, we realised good quality would cost a lot more than it did in the past.In past buying heavy weight pure silks was fairly common, however, over time the fabric weight started dropping and finding 100 per cent silk or cotton became trickier. Noting this trend, we felt there was a need for good quality clothing. However, how does a normal person wear the fancy stuff without burning a hole in their pocket?Also often, the need for the outfit is only on one occasion with very low chance of repeating the same outfit.

A good suit for men can cost anywhere from 20-30k and unless you have a need for this suit on a regular basis, we dont see our clients wanting to wear it more than once or twice a year.However, renting it for INR 3000 for an event, once in a year, is a far more economical option.As for receptivity, we have been around for over a decade. Initially people hesitated to wear an outfit possibly worn by someone else, however even in luxury PR, one piece is often worn by multiple celebrities. Noticing that a piece was worn by a celebrity and now can be worn at an affordable price, many have started opening up to the concept.Who are the majority of consumers for you?The wedding industry is a big customer; occasion wear is one of the primary reasons for fashion outfits to exist.Economically it seems like a wonderful idea, has the audience caught on?Yes, weve survived over a decade; we must be doing something right.Has it ever happened that rented garments are not returned? Is that a pertinent issue?Weve had very few occasions where a client has run away with a piece and refused to respond or pick up our calls. We keep improvising to prevent such issues.What are the rules for a person who wants to rent clothes?We ask the customer to pay the rent and a refundable security deposit. For certain customers we request ID proof and other documentation if we have any concerns.What has been one of the most memorable moments in your journey?Seeing our merchandise on a big banner Bollywood production was a great moment. I went to watch a movie with my family and I was like ..,"thats mine, thats mine...thats mine". I guess I must have annoyed everyone else sitting around me, but I was super proud to see what weve created.What has been one of the funniest moments when it came to customer interaction?There was a time when a customer came and told my manager, they were my friend and asked for a discount.I was sitting right there and certainly didnt know them and she looked right through me, so certainly she was no friend of mine.What are the challenges you face while dealing with the customers interpretation about the product and services?Educating and explaining the process to make a customer understand the concept is extremely time consuming. Often a customer will expect you to refund the deposit and the rent amount claiming they returned the piece so now we must return the money too.Then there are some who expect the million dollar service and will bargain to Mattress protector for sale take it free. We meet all kinds, since weve opened our doors to retail the Indian consumer in general is extremely ill mannered, they use tactics to bring the product or service down to gain a freebie.What are your future plans?Our future we plan is to stabilise and have an organic growth. There have been way too many changes in past few years, from multiple competitors, demonetisation, GST and overall suppressed demand. In such times, I believe staying calm and building strength is more important than going all out on expenses and scaling.