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The cycle is complete!
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As the countdown to Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week begins, ANUJ KUMAR tells us what's in store
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WINDOW TO FASHION WIFW will open with Manish Arora's show at The Grand. (Right) A model in a JJ Valaya creation PHOTOS: V.V. KRISHNAN
It's rush hour for fashion. Within four months, the Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week is back, this time with a first-ever Spring Summer edition on the lines of fashion weeks the world over. Starting August 30, this time it is going to last six days, with the last day entirely devoted to business with no fashion show. What's more, it's going to be the first fashion week of the season in the international calendar, allowing the Indian fashion industry an opportunity to set the trends for the Spring Summer 2007.
Longer season
Besides numerous others, designers have a scientific, if dubious, reason as well to feel elated. "Because of the global warming, the summer season is getting longer, making summer collections much more important than ever before," points out Rahul Khanna.
However, the number of designers showing on the ramp has come down. Of the 75-odd designers participating , only 41 would display their collection on the ramp. The rest will show in the stalls. Some of the big names that would be missing from the ramp include Raghavendra Rathore, Anju Modi and Niki Mahajan. The official response is interesting. "Last time the media complained that there is hardly any gap between theshows, so we have reduced their number till we have more venues ," says Rathi Vinay Jha, Executive Director, Fashion Design Council of India. The good thing for FDCI is that most of its members who crossed over to participate in Lakme Fashion Week have returned.
The designersfeel the Week has come a little too early. Says Namrata Joshipura, "We have yet to complete the shipments of our Fall-Winter collection and check the response of the buyers. I think things will be streamlined from next year."
On the foreign buyers, though the official response is again heartening, Paras of Geisha Designs contends, "August is the month of vacation in Europe. We have to be very optimistic to expect many foreign buyers show up."
Jha has a point. "Indian designers are in a unique position. They are not catering to one particular market. Some are designing for the domestic market, others for Western, and even others for West Asian. Some are focusing on the Indian Diaspora. So there is no point hankering after just the foreign buyers." This is also the defence she puts forward for certain designers jumping the season brief to showcase resort wear.
Trends
The summer is going to be ultra feminine with designers finding lace and sheer fabrics as trusted companions. Talk of inspiration. JJ Valaya, the master of opulence, finding inspiration in Mother Teresa! "My collection captures the journey of life, from the material to the spiritual. Mother represents one end. Basically, I was inspired by the multicultural ethos of Albania, and Mother is the finest representative of the country," says Valaya . Then Rina Dhaka combines patchwork and lace with the mirror work of Andhra Pradesh. Payal Jain uses pigment paintings in digital form while Namrata Joshipura explores the masculine side of the workingwoman, and Manish Arora, whose show will open the Week, gets stimulation from nature. The country's only designer whose creations have a humour element, Manish admits he has turned a little serious. Still, the humour element is there. "One dress represents a sunflower field with hot air balloons falling; another one is full of parakeets."
Manish Malhotra, who was labelled by FDCI and its members as part of `Bollywood Fashion Week' put together by Lakme, will ironically be doing the finale at WIFW. While Jha emphasises Malhotra's credentials beyond Bollywood, Payal calls it the sponsor's choice. For Manish it makes business sense for he is going to open his store in Delhi by next year.
As for Bollywood stars, Manish argues, "What was Shilpa Shetty doing in Tarun Tahiliani's show or Bipasha Basu in Monisha Jaising's finale during the last WIFW. I promise stars this time as well for they are brand ambassadors of my creations. They wear them in real life too."
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On view
75 designers, 31 shows, two ramps First Spring Summer fashion week India
September 4 is devoted just to business FDCI promises to come out with a paper on the growth in fashion business Inspiration ranges from elves to Mother Teresa
Interesting tie-ups:
During Rina Dhaka's show models will flaunt jewellery designer Chandni Munjal's creations
Coffee chain Barista has tied up with designers Rohit Gandhi and Rahul Khanna and Elite Model Agency
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