The Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week (WIFW) that started on Saturday saw a 110 designers coming together, despite all the news of internal strife that plagued the industry last year.
So far, this is the highest number of designers working collectively in an event. But out of the 110, only 68 have ramp shows. Some of the best designers of the country are participating in the event- like Ritu Beri, Suneet Varma, Wendell Rodricks, etc. This time, the buyers’ presence is around 175, despite the drop in buying in the last few seasons. 75 international representatives have registered with the Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI) so far.
The opening show by Narendra Kumar and Wendell Rodricks was attended by Didier Grumbach of the French Fashion Federation. He stated that he has seen some Indian talent at the global level but hopes to see more Indian-ness in the designs this time, as compared to the western style design he saw before. A representative from Begdorf Goodman, New York is also attending the event.
The trend on the ramp this time is a ‘back to the 80s’ one with power-shoulders, boyfriend jackets and bright colours.