Atul Chand, Chief Divisional Executive, Wills Lifestyle with Manish Arora,Grand Finale, Designer, WIFW, Sunil Sethi, President, FDCI at the unveiling of the Grand Finale Designer for WIFW SS'09

Picture Courtesy:FDCI


By

Kunal Majumder


October is a busy month for the fash frat. While New Delhi will witness two fashion weeks, several designers will be participating at international events like the London Fashion Week and the Tranoi Fair.

Spring/summer 2009 show

The five-day Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week (WIFW) Spring/Summer 2009 commences on October 15. Designer Manish Arora will showcase his collections at the finale. Called the ‘Manish Arora Circus’, the work will interpret the drama of circus in his own signature style. He will also create an exclusive collection for Wills Lifestyle that will be retailed through Wills Lifestyle stores.

WIFW also announced the names of 18 designers participating for the very first time at WIFW. This list includes some of the well-known names like AG2 by Adarsh Gill, Sanchita Ajjampur and accessory designers like Shelina & Camelia and Priyanka Murarka Jool Kurry.

Other Fashion Week

Delhi Fashion Week, the initiative by the breakway fashion body, Fashion Foundation of India led by Sumeet Nair, is scheduled to begin on October 14.

“The Fashion Foundation of India will work closely with the participating designers to enable them to best present their collection to the buyers and the media,” said Meera Ali, spokesperson, Fashion Foundation of India.

Ali claimed that the format of the Delhi Fashion Week is based on feedback received from buyers, eminent people from within the industry, media, international agents and the designers themselves.

Global showcase

Meanwhile, young designers Gaurav Gupta and Varun Sardana along with other eminent names like Tarun Tahiliani and Rohit Bal participated at the prestigious Tranoi Fair in Paris. Fashion Foundation of India had offered grants to these designers. This time, Tranoi Fair has India as the theme. Titled ‘Made in India, the fair has an Indian pavillion from October 2 and then from March 2-5.

Fashion designers Rina Dhaka and Nitin Bal Chauhan exhibited their collections at the spring/summer 2009 edition of London Fashion Week. The exhibition played host to over 210 top British and international ready-to-wear and accessory designers ranging from the edgy and cool to the contemporary and commercial. Dhaka showcased her collection in the ready-to-wear segment while Chauhan’s collection was exhibited in the Estethica segment.

Wearable Art

Three Indian design outfits have been shortlisted to be showcased at the famous fashion art show, Montana World of Wearable Art 2008, based in New Zealand. FDCI has promised to provide a cash award of Rs 30,000 each to the designs shortlisted.

The winners include NP Jayaraj and Pooja Bedi of Pearl Academy of Fashion, New Delhi, Pooja Gosain of NIFT, New Delhi and Pooja Rajput of SNDT College, Mumbai.

IFF, Kuala Lumpur

This year’s edition of International Islamic Festival (IIF) at Kuala Lumpur is expected to attract a number of fashion designers from South Asia. To be held in November, the theme of the festival is ‘Discover the Beauty of Modesty’. The event aims to popularise Islamic couture. With the aim to promote young talent, IIF plans to launch the IIF Young Designer’s Award this year.

Design award

In another development fashion journalist and former beauty queen Meher Castelino and designer Rahul Mishra will represent India at the International Apparel Federation (IAF) in the Netherlands. Castelino will be part of the jury while Mishra would be competing for the annual IAF International Design Award 2008.

Pix courtesy: FDCI