WLIFW does soaring business

The recently concluded five day Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week (WLIFW) was the best yet,

with the event keeping to its essence of being a fashion trade event showcasing design innovation aligned with prolific business opportunities. This time around, there were a line-up of buyers from the Middle East, Europe and the US, along with many customers who placed orders after watching the show. Leena Singh, of the designer duo Ashima-Leena says for her it was the best ever fashion week especially in terms of business, because there were so many new buyers and automatically more business. Apart from her regular buyers, she has confirmed orders from new Middle Eastern and European buyers. Buyers have placed confirmed orders for around 1,800-2,000 pieces for their high-end couture, which means that a single piece won’t cost you less than Rs 12,000.

With around 141 designers participating in the event – which has been the largest so far - buyers from Dubai, Kuwait, Abu Dhabi, Paris, Australia, the US, Japan and Europe were busy with designer meetings from day one itself. Many young upcoming designers such as Tanvi Kedia did good business while confirming orders from three-four international buyers and with others in the pipeline. Jaipur-based designer Puja Arya was flooded with buyers, especially from Japan and the Middle East, who loved her funky, chic line and hand-block printing.

This season, Tanya Narula and two others from the Pearl Academy of Fashion (PAF) were declared the first three winners of the Wills Lifestyle Debut Awards. Tanya beat 300 participants from leading design colleges and was felicitated by Sunil Sethi, FDCI chairman. She impressed the judges with her all-white collection embellished with gold and laser cuts.