Thaindian News

New Delhi, Oct 7 (IANS) With over 120 designers, 200 buyers and an expected revenue of at least Rs.30-35 crore, the focus of the upcoming spring-summer edition of Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week (WIFW) will be on business, not Bollywood, says Sunil Sethi, president of organising body Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI).

“This season we have as many as 200 buyers, which is the maximum so far. Buyers from France, Italy, Britain, Portugal, Singapore, Malaysia, Dubai, America, Canada and Israel will add charm to the buyers’ list and we are expecting to generate more than Rs.30-35 crore this season,” Sethi told IANS.

The event will be held here Oct 8-12.

International buyers were happy with the autumn/winter edition 2011 of WIFW, held in April, as the event was low on celebrity quotient and the focus was predominantly on creativity and serious fashion.

Featuring creations by designers like Ritu Kumar, Rina Dhaka, Wendell Rodricks, Malini Ramani, Tarun Tahiliani, Manish Malhotra, Namrata Joshipura, Nandita Basu, Rajesh Pratap Singh and Nida Mahmood, the latest edition will see diverse talent on the fashion runway.

A prominent name missing from the list of designers this time is Rohit Bal, a veteran known for his exuberant and extravagant shows. But his magic won’t be missing from the event.

“Rohit Bal is very much a part of WIFW spring-summer 2012. He will be putting up four stalls. Rohit is part of the FDCI’s board members and his contribution is obvious,” he said.

Other designers who will put up stalls include Abraham and Thakore, Ashima-Leena, Krishna Mehta, Manoviraj Khosla, Manish Arora, Gaurav Gupta, Preeti Chandra and Nikhita Tandon, among others.

The five-day fashion extravaganza at Pragati Maidan might see Bollywood actors like Anushka Sharma, Deepika Padukone, Kalki Koechlin, Prateik and Hasleen Kaur, as showstoppers or in the front rows. But that isn’t the focus, says Sethi.

“Bollywood presence will definitely be there in the sponsored shows and other designers’ shows (if they want), but our prime focus is to generate business and we will try to contribute our best.

“Continuing our legacy of bringing the best names of the fashion fraternity to WIFW, we are proud to introduce a host of talented Indian designers. We look forward to five days of splendid fashion,” he added.

Divided into two floors, the venue will be decorated with installations and mannequins.

“We have tried to add variety this time. Every year we do something different; so for the upcoming edition, photographer Hemant Khandelwal will for the very first time exhibit five to six photographs in the show area,” Sethi said.

“Also, Play Clan (a quirky fashion, art and design company) will present its installations. Designers will also showcase their creativity through these installations, including by designer Samant Chauhan,” he said.

(Nivedita Sharma can be contacted at nivedita.s@ians.in)