Wills India Fashion Week 2008 offers platform for upcoming designe

New Delhi, Aug 17 (UNI) The tenth edition of Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week (WIFW), to be held from September 5-9, will see 30 shows by 72 top designers including Malini Ramani, Rohit Bal, Rina Dhaka, Ranna Gill, Rocky S, Staya Paul from across the country and buyers from all over the world.

Celebrating the tenth edition of India's largest Business of Fashion Platform, WIFW today announced the list of the participating designers for its Spring-Summer 2008 edition.

Welcoming the Sponsor Partners --ITC's Essenza Di Wills as the associate Sponsor and Nokia as the Gold Partner-- and announcing the list of partipating designers, Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI) Director General Rathi Vinay Jha said, ''The synergies betwen our sponsors are better than ever and we are looking forward to yet another successful edition of WIFW.'' In line with the tenth edition, the WIFW will also present a special intitiative called 'Hi-5 Duo' that targets the growth of upcoming fashion designers and provides a platform for them to showcase their collections for the very first time on WIFW catwalk.

''Designers form the epicentre of the fashion industry. With the new Hi-5 Duo initiative, FDCI reiterates its commitment to the designer fraternity by creating a platform for emerging designers as well,''Ms Jha said.

Talking about her collection, Delhi- based Drashta Sarvaiya, one of the ten designers who are a part of the initiative, told UNI,''I have played with a lot of colour and unique prints in my collection. I worked with painter first and then created those images on the fabric.'' Titled 'Paradiso Fondare' (Paradise Found), Sarvaiya's collection in inspired from the movie 'Great Expectations' which, she says, is very close to her heart.

Asked how she plans to match the big names in the industry, a confident Sarvaiya says, ''Everyone has a unique style, so is mine.I am not competing with anyone. I am more concerned about my show and my entire focus is on that.'' Unlike the previous editions of WIFW which were organised at the five star hotels , the event will be held in one of the halls of Pragati Maidan this year for which it has been specially ''transformed'' for the event.

Asked about the change of the venue, Ms Jha told UNI, ''We need one lakh square feet of space for advertising , media centres and other things which we could only find in ITPO. Our basic motive is trade and Pragati Maidan as the trade centre suits our requirement.'' ''Moreover, organising a event in a five star hotel costs us nearly Rs three crore which can otherwise be used for other development issues that the FDCI is involved in,'' she added.

Asked about the reasons for some big designers not showcasing their collection on the ramp, FDCI Executive Director Sumeet Nair told UNI, ''These kinds of shows are a marketing tool. There are two ways to marketing through stalls or by shows. We as FDCI provide a platform to the designers who need a little bit of image building to have an impact on the audience. Its entirely on the particular designer to decide whether to participate in it or not. If a designer has got enough orders and do not want to market, they can skip the show for a particular season,'' Asked whether the absence of shows from some big designers will make the event less important, famous designer Rohit Bal said, ''It does make a difference when the big names are not there but it certainly does not make it less important. The basic purpose of such events is business for both the designers and genuine buyers will come anyway irespective of the fact that the important names are there or not.'' Talking about the WIFW 2008, Mr Bal, who will be showcasing his collection at the event said, ''This year there will be more fun.

The clothes and drama that we are going to create will be more than the previous editions.'' UNI