WLIFW's 10th edition to be held at Pragati Maidan

Mumbai, Aug 28 (UNI) Asia's leading fashion trade event, the Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week (WLIFW) Spring Summer 2008, will be held at India's premier trade promotion venue, Pragati Maidan in New Delhi in Hall no 7 which is made up of a cluster of eight halls.

The spacious ground floor of Hall no 7 is spread over a sprawling 7323.25 square meters, with an additional 1300 square meters being built by the Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI).

Some of the many areas which have been paid special attention to are, transportation and valet services, food and beverages, lounges, salons and reflexology, plus security has been beefed up as the event venue will be secured and protected with over 335 security guards and 105 bouncer man days, besides fire security personnel and medical attendants.

This edition of the WLIFW will pay tribute to designer Rohit Khosla who was the defacto founder of the modern fashion industry in India. A special wall commemorating his contribution is being installed at the venue along with an audio visual.

Also commemorating the 10th edition of the fashion event, there will be a 'History Wall' that will be a walk down memory lane on fashion over the last nine editions highlighting various memorable benchmarks since the inception of Asia's leading Business of Fashion platform.

Talking to reporters today, FDCI Director General Rathi Vinay Jha said, ''Pragati Maidan meets with FDCI's objective of accommodating an ever growing event and reinforcing WIFW as promoting the 'Business of Fashion' in every sense. The change in event venue will definitely allow us far more freedom to set up the venue without the restrictions faced in a hotel. It's like a canvas that can be decorated in any way and our team on ground will ensure that we have the best facilities available to the participants and guests during the event.'' Mrs Jha, who herself has been the Chairperson and Managing Director of the India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO), concedes, ''Contrary to general perception, this is not the first time that ITPO has had a tryst with fashion. Very few people know that ITPO has been regularly organising India Promotions in association with leading overseas department stores including fashion houses like Bloomingdale's, JC Penny, Harrods, Galleries Lafayette and others to promote Indian merchandise exports. Pragati Maidan has been in the reckoning as one of the possible venues of choice for quite sometime.'' Spread over 149 acres of prime land in the heart of New Delhi, Pragati Maidan has today evolved as the ideal center for hosting trade fairs attended by business visitors from India and abroad.

Founded in 1982 on the eve of Asian games, it offers about 61, 650 sq mtrs of covered exhibition space in 17 halls, besides 10,000 sq mtrs of open display area, and hosts a plethora of national and international exhibitions, including the India International Trade Fair (IITF) and World Book Fair.

UNI