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It's tie and fly!

The Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week is turning out to be a platform where fashion forces are coalescing together - some usual, some unusual. ANUJ KUMAR reports

PHOTO: R.V. MOORTHY

FRIENDLY ALLIANCE Actor Arjun Rampal returned to the ramp for Rohit Bal

One of the toasts of Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week is turning out to be tie-ups. For some it's a matter of convenience, for others it's hardcore business, and for even others it's just a matter of branding. Says Rajeev Arora of Amrapali jewellery, which has tied up with Ranna Gill for WIFW and Ashish Soni for the forthcoming New York Fashion Week, "We are not allowed to do separate shows at fashion weeks. It's a way to showcase the creations and to offer complete solution to the buyers." Similarly, jewellery designer Chandni Munjal has tied up with Rina Dhaka. For the designers, who don't have time or don't want to design accessories, it's a win-win situation.

Brewing style

Some tie-ups don't make sense on the face of it, like Rohit Gandhi and Rahul Khanna's tie-up with Barista, a coffee chain, or Nokia, a phone company roping in Ashish Soni to design a collection. Explains Rohit, "We ran an all-India contest whereby youngsters were asked to answer some easy questions at Barista outlets. We got four lakh entries, out of which five lucky winners were invited to watch our show. They were groomed by Elite Modelling Agency and they wore our outfits. As we are planning to open our stores in different cities, this acquaintance with four lakh people will help." For Barista, it is an opportunity to break free from coffee's `intellectual' label.

Designer Suneet Varma is wielding the microphone for the TV Today group. Calling it is a form of branding to maximise exposure, Suneet the original Style Guru says, "I always had interest in fashion academics." He agrees it would be difficult to convince people about fashion in the studio as well as the common audience particularly on a channel like Aaj Tak. Not to forget his own fraternity's reaction on his comments. "I am going to be fashion observer, not critic. For instance, I am not going to say Manish Arora's show was good or bad. I would try to explain the designer, how he thinks and how he should be seen." Similarly, Valaya Quantum has signed up a licensing deal with Genesis Colors, ostensibly for better positioning in the market.

Wills Lifestyle, which is known for its clean lines, has roped in Manish Malhotra for the finale because the company is launching an occasion wear line this month. "Manish signifies glamour, attracts the media, but for us he would be doing an affordable prêt line," says Atul Chand, Vice President Marketing, ITC's Lifestyle Retailing. For Manish it is an opportunity to reach out to 30 cities courtesy the brand's stores.

Hot question

Meanwhile, as the first Spring Summer edition of WIFW warms up, the question that's doing the rounds is why FDCI started with the Fall-Winter edition six years ago. The common perception among the international buyers and the media is that India is always known as a hot country. "In the West, when you say Indian clothes, the fabrics that come to mind are linen and cotton. Howsoever hard they might try, most can't design clothes that suit the harsh European winter," says a buyer-cum-fashion observer preferring not to be named. Here too, if we leave a couple of months in North India, the rest of the country doesn't face any winter.

Anyway, it's better late than never.

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