The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Designers come together for a cause

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jun 29, 2005

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Designers come together for a cause

Staff Reporter

Fashion gurus auction their works in Bangalore to raise funds for SOS India

CHILD'S PLAY: A child walks the ramp with a model at the SOS Fashion Auction on the SOS Children's Villages of India campus.

BANGALORE: It was time for the SOS Fashion Auction on the SOS Children's Villages of India campus last week.

Nineteen leading designers from all over the country got together to auction their creations for a cause: to raise funds for the children of SOS India.

Showcasing their works were designers Manoviraj Khosla, Ritu Kumar, Ritu Beri, Satya Paul, Raghavendra Rathore, Rajesh Pratap, Abu Jani and Sandip Khosla, Wendell Rodricks, Rohit Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, Sabyasachi, Paresh Lamba, Suneet Verma, Ravi Bajaj, Manish Arora, Neetu and Raj, Gunjan Sandhu, Namrata G., Ashish Soni and Anamika Khanna.

Pradeep Singh, National Director, SOS Children's Villages India, said: "With this, the fashion industry has shown that they not only have glitter in their shows but also in their hearts as well, which shows their concern and care for children in need."

After the show, Charu Sharma, cricket commentator and TV personality, took over as auctioneer. The first piece to be auctioned was a Kalamkari sari.

The designer wear that went under the gavel included women's wear by Manish Arora, Wendell Rodricks, Ritu Beri, Suneet Verma and Ritu Kumar; an exquisite hand-crafted sari designed by Ritu Bajaj; a new-line sari by Satya Paul, a sari by Sabyasachi and a lehenga-choli designed by Anamika Khanna.

The menswear featured creations by Paresh Lamba and Manoviraj Khosla, a men's jacket from Namrata G.'s collection, and a bandhgala jacket from Ashish Soni's collection. Designers Rohit Gandhi and Rahul Khanna, Raj and Neetu, Raghavendra Rathore and Rajesh Pratap Singh contributed men and women's wear, while Abu Jani-Sandeep Khosla contributed an outfit from their Lotus Collection.

The fashion auction featured a special sequence by the children of SOS Village on the theme "Me and Mom," thus launching a collection of the same name by Bangalore designer Guunjan Sandhu.

Ms. Sandhu gifted the specially designed clothes to the children of SOS-Bangalore.

For the first piece to be auctioned, the Kalamkari sari, bidding began at Rs. 3,000 and went on to Rs.10,000. The Kalamkari art was promoted by Dwarka, an NGO.

The ensemble designed by Abu-Jani Sandeep Khosla & the Gunjan Sandhu creation earned the highest bids, Rs. 26,000 each.

Rekha Hamilton of the Hamilton Group emerged the highest bidder for the Abu-Jani Sandeep Khosla creation, while Krishna Kumar was the highest bidder for the Guunjan Sandhu outfit.

Manoj Shirodkar, the country director of Herbal Life was the highest bidder for the Ritu Kumar outfit. Some of the bidders were also rewarded with vouchers from Kaya Skin Clinic.

A lucky draw was held for all the invitees. The winners took home a Mont Blanc pen and a Tata Indicom mobile phone respectively.

Designers Manish Arora, Rohit Gandhi, Rahul Khanna, Rajesh Pratap Singh, Ashish Soni, Manoviraj Khosla, Namrata G, Paresh Lamba, Neetu Gupta and Raj Shroff were present at the event, and Ruby Chakravarthy was the MC.

The event was very well-attended, with Bangaloreans proving, yet again, that the city has a heart of gold.

"It is heartening to see the people of Bangalore respond so generously for a cause. We are thankful to the designers who have taken part in this event and also to the corporates who have extended their support," said Victor Painadath, Deputy Director of SOS India.

"The funds raised through this auction will go towards clothing, toys and accessories for the children of SOS-India," he added.

SOS Children's Villages works with a unique concept: "the family".

Children in need, who come home to SOS Children's Villages, could look out for a caring mother, loving brothers and sisters and a house of their own.

SOS Children's Villages is one of the largest childcare organisations in the world.

In India, SOS is reaching out to more than two lakh children through 37 Children's Villages and 122 allied projects.

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