Fashion set to invade mini metros

New Delhi, Sept 3 (UNI) Fashion could invade mini metros and small towns in the coming years if fashion designers collaborate with corporate houses to expand their target consumers, a seminar at the Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week was told today.

Lack of penetration of brands in smaller cities are denying people with purchasing power the option for fashion, said Bijou Kurien of Reliance Industries at the seminar organised by the Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI), the apex body of Indian fashion designers.

Top fashion designer Tarun Tahiliani, who presented his spring-summer collection at the fashion week, said domestic designers should collaborate with corporate houses to address Indian needs.

''Even if more foreign players come in, the top-end designers need not worry since they cater to a niche market,'' Tahiliani said while addressing the concern of competition to the domestic industry.

Once Foreign Direct Investment in retail takes off, Indian fashion designers will have to widen their consumer target with the help of corporate houses, said another participant.

India's fashion industry may be ''great'' but it still suffers from a lack of distribution, said the participants. "We are looking at a happy marriage between great design and great distribution. It has to be a two-way traffic for this collaboration to work. After all it takes two to tango," Madura Garments's Hemu Zhaveri said.

UNI RA/FZ YA KN1533