Fashion week to bring together 84 designers

As many as 84 designers, established and new, will showcase their works at the upcoming edition of the Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week (WIFW)


New Delhi: While all participants get a chance to display their designs in the exhibition area, 61 select designers will showcase their collections on the ramp in 40 shows over five action-packed days.

The Autumn/Winter 2008 edition of the India's biggest business of fashion event is scheduled for March 12-16.

"This year we received an overwhelming response from the designers who wanted to participate in the 11th edition," said Rathi Vinay Jha, director general of Fashion Design Council Of India (FDCI), which organises the event.

"After great deliberation we have managed to draw a list including both reputed and budding designers who have the right blend of creativity and commercial viability," she said in a statement Friday.

"Designers are the core of the fashion industry and play an important role in shaping fashion trends in India," Jha said while announcing the names of participants and the show schedule.

This year, designers will be showcasing their collections under three broad categories - Contemporary, Synthesis/Heritage and Creator.

Under the Heritage segment, designers will exhibit their collections that celebrate and promote India's unique legacy of clothing, craft and textile. Synthesis will showcase apparel that attempt to merge Indian sensibilities with international ethos.

The Contemporary category will incorporate ultra prêt clothing in accordance with international standards.

The Creator section gives a free hand to the style gurus to create something original. Designers will blend innovation with unique technique to produce masterpieces.

Said Sumeet Nair, executive director of FDCI: "Keeping in mind the business angle, we try to incorporate a mix of established names in the Indian fashion scenario with young talent who have a potential of making it big in times to come."

"WIFW is the culmination of months of toil and resolve of the designers who work relentlessly to produce their collection and we work closely with them to bring to fruition their hard work."

Apart from 10 budding designers, the forthcoming edition of WIFW will see 15 new participants - the highest number the show has seen so far.

Herve Leger

Max Azria figured out 51 ways to tie a bandage before he presented his Herve Leger collection Sunday.

A skintight, bandagelike dress is the signature of the Leger label, which the Los Angeles-based Azria - of BCBG fame - recently resurrected by putting many celebrities in vintage versions of the formfitting yet surprisingly flattering silhouette.

This was the first time a new line was presented at the Bryant Park tents to editors, stylists and retailers along with likely customers Joss Stone, Mandy Moore, Sophia Bush and Padma Lakshmi.

Azria never strayed from the bandage formula but he tried it in more fabrics, including chunky knits, and experimented with coats, pants and tops, too.

But the dresses, ranging from minis to gowns, still were the stars here. Azria wasn't afraid of calling attention to them, adding all sorts of embellishment - feathers, sequins and grosgrain ribbons - with varying degrees of success.

DKNY

Donna Karan showed off her handiwork with the fall DKNY collection with the theme of "eclectic glamour."

There was a '70s vibe to the bow blouses, slouchy wide-leg pants and floaty peasant dresses, but what really stood out were the knits, especially fringe sweater dresses. A silk georgette fringed skirt looked like individual pieces of yarn - camel, purple, gold and red. Those same colors were featured in the silk prints used for balloon-hem minidresses and plaids on jackets.

The DNKY collection targets a younger and trendier customer than her signature - and more expensive - Donna Karan label that will be shown to editors, stylists and retailers. DKNY also has men's clothes. Next season, Karan is offering them dark denim jeans with flannel wool blazers worn with cardigans underneath.

Tracy Reese

Tracy Reese's refined look returned in a series of ladylike outfits that were just edgy enough to advance the designer's signature style.

Thanks to some bright colors, asymmetrical details and a mix of unexpected prints, the fall collection felt new, but underneath was Reese's core piece: the all-occasion frock.

The highlights of the show, held at the tents at Bryant Park, came at the beginning and end: a sheath with a draped neckline in a light-blue abstract rose print and a shift dress in a pink-and-black rhododendron print.

She also mixed florals with paisleys, and paisleys with animal prints for a shot of youthfulness.

Rock & Republic

Rock & Republic is all about gangster chic for fall.

With an orchestra - complete with a shiny baby grand piano on the runway - providing much of the 1970s rock 'n' roll soundtrack, sleek black suits dominated the runway Saturday night. Other old-school, underworld classics, such as fedoras, trenchcoats and watchman jackets, brought the mafia looks of yesteryear to an audience that included Joss Stone, Christina Milian and Tyson Beckford.

The toy-gun accessory worn in a holster on slim, low-slung black trousers was too literal and unnecessary. But the suits, especially those for women, looked right on target.

The palette here was limited, mostly black, gray and the occasional flash of deep purple.

The collection by creative director Michael Ball and input by new designer David Cardona certainly fit in with the rock 'n' roll look emerging as a trend, but some audience members mused after the show - what happened to the denim that made this label famous?

Lela Rose

So, you wanted a little practicality with your luxury next season? Check out Lela Rose's washed-taffeta pullover jacket or wool duffel coat with cashmere sleeves.

The Dallas-based Lela Rose tried to walk a fine line with her fall collection presented Sunday: They were clothes for real life - tweed skirts and a sweatshirt dress - but with more sparkle than most women normally have in their wardrobe.

One of the trends emerging at the Bryant Park tents are strapless dresses, and Rose had her fair share. For dressier occasions, they're worn on their own, but they're being adapted for more casual wear with knit tops underneath them - a new take on the layered look.

Another look gaining steam is the one-shouldered dress, and Rose tapped into that with grid-print sheath dress worn with a belt and a more feminine tiered dress in delicate ivory gazar.

Ashleigh Verrier

Did anyone say economic downturn? Not for Ashleigh Verrier's customers.

The fall collection she offered Saturday night was full of fancy dresses for women whose calendars are packed with parties, going against the tide in the early daysof Fashion Week which had adopted a serious, or at least edgy, tone.

She took cues from the opulence of imperial Russia - with all its glitz and glamour - and said backstage that she's "all about the sophisticatd lady."

This lady wears a chocolate-brown taffeta shift with a sweetheart neckline lined with jewels or a navy velvet minidress with ruffled short sleeves, also with crystals around the neck.

Verrier noted, however, that the Russians, and especially Peter Faberege - he of the famous eggs - also had a bohemian side. That came through in a sheer iridescent peasant blouse in pink chiffon worn with a brown taffeta tiered skirt.

Pink: The colour of the season!

Pink isn’t just for candy floss and fluff. You know baby pink can be just as sophisticated as severe black, and feminine fuchsia is far from frivolous. That’s why Think Pink 2007, fashion that helps spread awareness about breast cancer, is a project after your own heart.

Samsaara, the buyalicious boutique at Colaba, brought some of India’s top designers together to specially create a line of Think Pink 2007 clothing and accessories. This whole week, 20 per cent of the proceeds from this collection will be donated to the Women’s Cancer Initiative at the Tata Memorial Hospital. Some of the designers who have very sportingly ‘gone pink’ for this line are Surily Goel, Falguni and Shane Peacock, Deepika Gehani, Seema Khan and Pallavi Jaikishen. Pick from an array of fine bags, shoes, dresses, saris and salwaar kurtas, perfect for the upcoming festive season.


Enjoy the inner rush of happiness. And if someone asks if you’re sporting a Think Pink ensemble, let the roses rushing to your cheeks be the only revelation of your do-gooding. You wouldn’t want it any other way.

Valentino's Paris Ready-to-Wear Collections

Emotional Paris tribute to Valentino

PARIS - Italian fashion giant Valentino staged his last ever ready-to-wear show, winning a standing ovation Wednesday from his supporters and a reprimand from fellow designer Karl Lagerfeld, who said it was too early for the designer to retire.

Wednesday's show is not quite Valentino's last hurrah — a final haute couture display is scheduled to take place in Paris in January. But the emotions were palpable as he blinked back tears on the catwalk, and backstage there was hardly a dry eye.
"I want to stop at the height of my glory," the 75-year-old designer told reporters. "I want to have a bit of fun because I have spent my life stuck in couture houses drawing hundreds and hundreds of sketches every season."
Having celebrated his 45 years in fashion with three days of glittering celebrations in Rome, Valentino announced last month that he would retire in 2008. Alessandra Facchinetti, the former designer of Gucci women's ready-to-wear, has been appointed to replace him.
Valentino said he wanted his penultimate collection to be young and joyful as a tribute to all his fans.
Russian supermodel Natalia Vodianova, back on the catwalk just three weeks after giving birth to her third child, opened the show in a short pink-and-lilac cashmere coat.
To a thumping soundtrack of Prince songs, models stepped out in flirty cocktail dresses scattered with polka dots and gold bows. Blocks of color formed graphic patterns that had an upbeat '80s feel, while a print of oversized arum lilies added a romantic touch.
Fashion editors and retailers praised the legendary designer, who has dressed luminaries from Jackie Kennedy to Gwyneth Paltrow.
"It's very emotional; he's such an iconic designer, such an important part of fashion history," said Ken Downing, senior vice president and fashion director for U.S. department store chain

Neiman Marcus.
Lagerfeld lamented Valentino's decision to stop.
"I am not very pleased because I think it is not good that he's stopping; he is in great shape," he told reporters after showing his Karl Lagerfeld ready-to-wear line earlier in the day. "He should continue. It's no fun; he will be bored."
Valentino had been insisting for months that he had no plans to retire, but the purchase of the Valentino Fashion Group — which owns his label — by private equity firm Permira may have influenced his decision.

The designer said he would take time to travel and perhaps design costumes for opera and ballet — he already has plans for a collaboration with the famed Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg, Russia. He also is planning the creation of a foundation to house his creations.
Lagerfeld, 69, said he had no intention of stepping down in turn from his multiple roles as creative director of the Lagerfeld, Chanel and Fendi brands.
"All my contracts are for life, so I am like a death row inmate," he joked.
While Christian Dior and Valentino have staged lavish anniversary celebrations this year, Lagerfeld barely acknowledged the passing of his 25th year at Chanel. He joined the firm in 1982.
"There were never any celebrations, there will never be any — I hate that," he said.
"Fashion is about today and tomorrow, not about yesterday. If you have to be taken seriously because you have a heavy past, I don't think it's a good thing," he said. "I don't want to remember, I want to do things and go ahead."

Paris fashion frenzy: Haute Couture means the Highest Fashion

With as many as four major show weeks per year, Paris claims the status of the capital of fashion. In Paris, the fashion design industry is booming. From June 28 - July 5, Paris is whipped into a fashion frenzy for the S/S 08 Menswear and Haute couture collections. While runway shows may appear to be mere theatrical performances, they are also formidable money-spinners.
The use of the term haute couture is strictly controlled, and the list of fashion establishments allowed to call their lines "haute couture" is regulated annually by a special ministerial decree. While there were several hundred haute couture establishments in France in the 1950s, today just 10 fashion houses in the country meet the criteria, which include hand-tailoring and personalized measurements. These elite establishments are members of a professional haute couture society that organises two annual fashion events, in January and July. Haute couture is only for women.
The haute couture club may be restricted, but is not entirely closed, says Charlotte Cabaton at France24.com. Four non-French fashion houses, including Elie Saab and Giorgio Armani, share a similar status, as they fulfill all required criteria except for nationality. The fashion industry also desires to create opportunities for young talent and lesser known designers. This season, 17 designers have been adopted by the haute couture club, and given the status of “guest designer”.
The prestige attached to the title stems from fashion tradition and history. Even though haute couture is nearly 140 years old, the phenomenon has learned to adapt to the times. The key to haute couture’s eternal youth lies in its capacity to be resolutely meticulous, while being respectful to contemporary trends. In the words of Christian Dior, it allows “audacity amidst tradition”.
However, this audacity counts for no more than 200 regular woman clients in the world. Not that there is a paucity of rich women, of course – it’s just that most rich women have changed their lifestyles. They are more impatient and busier. Few are ready to wait for three months before wearing the dress they chose. Furthermore, the number of grand social occasions - the kind of event where an opulent haute couture gown is appropriate - is declining.
Haute couture sales represent not more than 2% of sales of the big designers. Why all the effort, one may ask?
The answer: To allow designers to practice their art, thus providing a fresh breath of air to the fashion industry. Haute couture is a laboratory of future trends – a type of investment in research and development, if you will. The designs worn on the catwalk influence future ready-to-wear collections.
Haute couture is also a powerful emissary of image. It creates dreams; thus, it sells. It gives rise to perfumes, cosmetics, and accessories, affordable to the public at large; it gives life to brand names, and also to the couture houses themselves.
For haute couture creates a thriving living for many artists. For every outfit a designer puts on the catwalk, many hands have gone into its creation – workers, designers, tailors, seamstresses, feather-workers, milliners and bootmakers.
Haute couture is a savoir-faire, a heritage that France has protected and preserved, notably at its Museum of Fashion and Textiles in Paris. For fashion tells a story. To be à la mode is to bear witness to one’s era. C'est vrais.

Under-16 models banned at London Fashion Week

CTV.ca News Staff
Models under the age of 16 won't be strutting across the "catwalk" at this year's London Fashion Week.
The move to allow only models aged 16 or older to participate in one of the fashion industry's most prestigious events comes on the heels of a report issued by Model Health Inquiry. The inquiry was set up by the British Fashion Council, which organizes London Fashion week, amid an international debate about models who appear to be unhealthily skinny.
It also follows the starvation-related deaths of South American models Ana Carolina Reston, 21, and sisters Louisel and Eliana Ramos. All died in the past year.
Models participating in next year's London Fashion Week, an event that features dozens of international designers, will also have to provide a medical certificate from an eating disorder specialist attesting to their good health.
"During the investigation, evidence of vulnerability of women in the modeling profession was startling and models are at high risk of eating disorders," said Baroness Kingsmill, the inquiry chair.
To acquire control of widespread health issues in the profession, the inquiry's report recommends that models with severe eating disorders such as anorexia not be allowed to participate in next year's fashion week. Kingsmill has noted that the girls with some milder eating disorders could take part, but only if they had their doctor's permission.
Some health professionals are welcoming the move as a step forward for the fashion industry.
"This is going to put the onus on the industry as a whole to have some kind of responsibility," Dr. Linda Papadopoulos, a psychologist, told CTV News.
Those who ordered the study say it's a sign the industry is addressing the issue proactively.
"I think by commissioning the report in the first place, it shows that we do want to understand the issues and then do something about them," said Hilary Riva of the British Fashion Council.
The report also suggested that models participating in fashion week face random drug tests, but it's unclear if that recommendation will be enacted. The report's 14 recommendations also fell short of creating a minimum body mass Index or BMI limit. BMI measures ratio of weight to height.
The report's authors noted that using BMI does not accurately measure health. However, Italy and Spain have banned all models with a BMI of less than 18 -- effectively a size zero -- from fashion shows in those countries. A BMI of 18.5 is the World Health Organization's minimum healthy standard.
The report's authors noted that models are part of a profession at high risk of eating disorders but that there is a lack of knowledge about such disorders in the fashion industry. The authors said that overly thin models are fuelling criticism that the fashion industry is obsessed with thinness and dieting in the wider population.
Still, some who work in the industry say the approach is heavy-handed.
"I don't think it's right that the fashion industry should be dictated to by a booklet telling us that, you know, if a model is five foot ten inches, then she should be nine stone or something," British fashion designer Paul Costello told CTV.
Model Sasha Larner agreed it's problematic to set one standard that all models must fit: "There are very few of us, don't get me wrong, there are very few size zeroes, naturally, but they do exist."
Other Model Health Inquiry recommendations:
Criminal record checks for agents, designers, and photographers working with models under the age of 16;
Establish a health awareness program to help models and industry professionals recognize and get help for eating disorders;
Establish a healthy backstage environment with quality food products;
Limit digital manipulation of body shapes.

Bollywood's Shetty dazzles India fashion week

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty provided some much needed star power to Delhi's fashion week, walking the ramp for the most dramatic show yet of India's five-day fashion extravaganza.

Shetty, who made headlines worldwide after facing racist abuse on the British reality show Celebrity Big Brother, wore a shimmery gold evening dress for designer Tarun Tahiliani's show late on Thursday.

But more than Shetty's presence, it was three men dressed as long-tailed Indian monkeys that provided drama on stage, mimicking the models as they strutted up and down the ramp. Tahiliani also surprised many by playing the national anthem just before the show.

"When you have someone like Shilpa coming for the show, one has to make sure it lives up to expectations," he said.

Tahiliani, whose women's wear collection was inspired by tribal designs, draped his models in multi-hued chiffon and linen tunics, dresses with free-flowing silhouettes and silver sequins on the neck.

Designer duo Ashima and Leena Singh turned to the Silk Route and the Orient for their kimono-like dresses in chiffon and georgette fabrics. Their range included black outfits with dramatic red and white print motifs.

The influence of Mother Earth, with shades of browns and beiges, was evident in the collections of Siddartha Tytler and Vikram Phadnis. But designer Ranna Gill sought inspiration from the beach, displaying a flurry of whites and navy blues in a variety of fabrics and geometric designs.

Part of Gill's collection for women featured swimwear, and the designer said this was so because summer, for her, symbolized "holiday resorts and travel."

More than 40 designers are showcasing spring and summer collections for 2008 at the Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week, which opened this week.

For the first time since India's fashion week started in 2000, the shows are being held in Pragati Maidan, a sprawling venue designed for trade fairs, instead of in swanky hotels.