“The show is not just a platform for the designers, but it means more than that. The ramp is the market, stalls are the business places and this fashion fair is a place where many business relations start. Buyers come here not only to buy clothes or for orders but they also come to see a designers consistency and then work out the business. It seems those days are not far away when India will gain a strong financial foothold in the global fashion market and will seize the strings to the fashion business worldwide!”_______________________________________
by Zubina Ahmed
(March 16, Kalkata, Sri Lanka Guardian) It's raining money on the ramp with a new line up of clothes fluttering and swooshing the Indian Fashion bazaar.With Wills Lifestyle being the title sponsor the ever booming glitzy, glamorous and glitterati fashion show The Wills India Fashion Week(WIFW) has unveiled itself in its 11th year yet again in New Delhi promising to be grand affair with nearly 84 designers and 40 shows.
The indigenous and international brands that are associated with WIFW event include ITC Group's Fiama Di Wills, Chivas, HP, Audi, Birla cellulose, Reliance Mutual Fund, Elle magazine, hotel Le Meridian with Big FM and Yahoo India as co-sponsors.Reiterating the synergy going into the agenda of fashion business, it is growing from strength to strength showing how the Indian Fashion Bazaar is growing beyond leaps. WIFW is the country's largest platform which nurtures and supports talent of the fashion Industry so that it can maximize its potential.
The Fashion Week is the culmination of months of toil and resolve of the designers who work relentlessly to produce their collection. It has the very best of Indian fashion industry that showcases their collection under one roof providing the worldwide buyers with an opportunity to get familiar with the changing fashion trends of India and buy the best of what is available. A large number of designers, both the established as well as the new ones are displaying their works at this year's show over a span of five action-packed days. It also includes ten budding designers and fifteen new entrants. The Indian designers like Manish Arora, Ritu Beri, Ashish Soni, Malini Ramani , Sabyasachi Mukherjee , Rohit Bal and many more have taken to Prêt-a-Porter and fusion markets, have incorporated the contemporary trends, moved across borders, collaborated with international designers and have also participated in international fashion events in an attempt to merge Indian sensibilities with world fashion ethos. Manish Arora was a big hit at the Paris Fashion Week last year.
The first day of the Fashion extravaganza kicked off with designer Vikram Phadnis's collection based on the theme 'save the earth'. Beginning with a ballet sequence giving an environment saving message, the first sequence saw warm, neutral, and earthy colours followed by muted tones of cream and ivory. The collection saw jackets, knee length dresses, pleated skirts and shirts. Most of the outfits were done with beautiful embroidery. Apart from headgears, big bags in bold colours were used as accessories.
The second day vibrated with designer Gayatri Khanna's show, which was graced by stylish Rosa, the ex-flame of Saif Ali Khan. Rosa walked the ramp in a short black dress with an interesting neckline designed by Gayatri Khanna. The collection saw knee length and baggy dresses, fitted pants, mini shift dresses and cape shaped dresses. Designer Zubair Kirmani's show was an interesting mix of blingy and muted shades. Circles, squares and lines used to create overall graphic prints, he presented a collection of shift dresses and tunics in colours like reds, neutrals and greys. Designer Samant Chauhan's creation was simple yet sophisticated combination of man-made fabrics. Samant's collection had simple jackets for men with motifs on front and back, skirt dresses, slim fit tunics and straight cut pants. The colour palette had colours like brown, beiges, silver and zinc. Varun Sardana's collection had an elegance with a strong statement of assured style as his collection was for those who are comfortable in their skin. The collection saw cigarette pants, cropped pants with fitted shirts teamed up with jackets.
The colour story had beiges, greys, pinks, greesn and few shades of black. But the show stealer was Manish Arora's collection based on the theme 'Warrior' which stole the limelight with models in ensembles embellished with crystallized Swarovski. "Warriors in my fantasyland, it was from gladiators to lions, to eagles to crystallised Swaroski elements to collaboration with many-many brands. Big international brands like Walt Disney to collaboration with Japanese artist called Tanaami, to collaboration with Indian artist called Subodh," said Arora. Tapestries and prints from the 17th century Baroque period with motifs like the lion head and eagle infused with contemporary art were popular motifs in his collection. Designer duo Rohit Gandhi and Rahul Khanna took inspiration from city life for their 'Lost in the Urban Maze' collection - the grid lines of the city mimicked in sleek suits and dresses in various shades of brown and blue. Creative designs were not the only thing that made news at the fashion week on Friday. The shoulder drape of a Belgian model slipped sideways during designer Rajesh Pratap Singh's show, exposing her breast for a second. Photographers clicked away but most in the audience remained oblivious to the slip-up.
Clothes coming undone on the ramp are nothing new to the fashion world, but in India it sent newspaper editors and TV producers into a feeding frenzy creating a flutter amongst them. WIFW is a huge event for Indian designers because this is the only fashion jamboree where the entire fashion fraternity comes together and showcases its collection to the world. The show is not just a platform for the designers, but it means more than that. The ramp is the market, stalls are the business places and this fashion fair is a place where many business relations start. Buyers come here not only to buy clothes or for orders but they also come to see a designers consistency and then work out the business. It seems those days are not far away when India will gain a strong financial foothold in the global fashion market and will seize the strings to the fashion business worldwide!
(Zubina Ahmed, art editor of the Sri Lanka Guardian. She also is working as a sub editor for The Statesman, Indian leading newspaper and a student of St. Xavier’s college Kolkata doing her bachelors in English.) - Sri Lanka Guardian
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