Representing Gujarat at the India Fashion Week

ahmedabad: while fashion-consciousness is limited to a handful here, fashion designers from the state have found ardent admirers for their works both nationally and internationally. anuradha wakil of noor fame will be showcasing her works at the forthcoming india fashion week, to be held at delhi from august 17 till 23rd. "i will be displaying kalamakari and bandhani designs at the show.in my works, the emphasis will be on earthy colours and vegetable dyes," says anuradha. this is the first ever fashion week to be held in the country. organised by the fashion design council of india, under the ministry of textiles, it will provide a global platform for indian fashion designers, with top international models displaying their outfits to buyers who will come from europe, middle east and the us. coordinating with the global retailers and the international media coming to witness this grand event will be another gujarati, umang hutheesingh who has had a wide experience of witnessing and participating in fashion weeks held abroad. the fashion week will feature as many 33 designers and more than 20 of them will have individual fashion shows and the rest anuradha included will participate in group shows. "fashion weeks the world over are aimed at generating business. the focus is always on the buyer and the emphasis is to showcase one's works to retailers," says umang, adding, "the aim of india fashion week will be to display what india is contributing to the world fashion, rather than the work of individual designers." he insists that commerce and not glamour would be the core aim of the event. however, with img, london, coordinating for the model participating at the show, there will be more than just a dash of glamour. one of the first garment-related advertisement to be shot in the country in the 60s, was for an ahmedabad-based textile mill wherein the then miss india, kavita singh modelled for an aruna mills saree. that's history. the fashion scene in ahmedabad and in the state never picked up and those associated with the fashion industry lament that it will be some time before ahmedabad and vadodara actually boasts of a thriving fashion business, the way delhi, mumbai and bangalore do. "i hope that the fashion week is able to fulfil its objectives," says anuradha, adding, "one of the reasons that i have never had a fashion show here is because here fashion shows are more glamour-oriented events than business-oriented ones. and glamour can only boost one's ego and serve no other purpose. i would rather participate in a professionally organised fashion show aimed at serious buyers," she, however, feels that the awareness about fashion is slowly but steadily growing here. "gujaratis believe in value for money and hence, just a designer label cannot entice them to buy something. this is a good aspect, since quality alone can sustain itself in such a market." regarding the fashion week, umang feels that it's time that indian fashion designers come together and collectively represent the varied fashion styles and the textiles that the country boasts of. "but today when the world has become a global village, it is mandatory that the fashion designers go for an international look," he asserts. however, anuradha says that she is not looking at the international market right now. "i experiment with indian hand-woven textiles and indian designs and my clothes are meant for indian women, though i have a clientele abroad." whatever may be their individual or collective objectives, anuradha and umang are the only two people representing gujarat at the india fashion week and one hopes that many more will join them in the coming years attaining success for themselves and creating awareness back home.