Fashion fiesta rocks Ahmedabad

Ahmedabad kicked off its attempt to compete with fashion hubs like Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore

for its spot in the fashion limelight. The Digjam Vibrant Fashion Week a three-day event culminated on February 16 with a fitting finale, even more glamorous than the first one held in 2010.  The fashion week, modeled on the lines of Mumbai’s Lakme Fashion Week was a star studded show. The glamour quotient included Bollywood starlets Lara Dutta, Sonal Chauhan amd Kangana Ranawat whilst the entire show was choreographed by fashion designer Rohit Verma. India’s top 14 models sashayed the ramps showcasing designs from Aslam Khan, Abhi & Rahul, Paras & Shalini Sulakshana Monga, Arshi Jamal, Pradeep Agarwal and Rohit Verma. Sherif Abid represented international fashion at the show.

It seems that Ahmedabad is perhaps the most befitting Indian city to be a fashion hub as it has the legacy of being India’s Manchester. The city has a vibrant textile industry that dates back to the 19th century and employs thousands of people from across the state. The cotton garments manufactured are exported across the world. The prosperity of the industry was the mainstay of the city’s economy. In the 19th century, the textile and garments industry received strong capital investment. On 1861 Ranchhodlal Chhotalal founded the first Indian textile mill, the Ahmedabad Spinning and Weaving Company. This was followed by the establishment of a series of textile mills such as the Calico Mills, Bagicha Mills and Arvind Mills. By 1905 there were about 33 textile mills in the city.

Gujarat also has the distinction of having some of the top fashion design schools in India – NID, NIFT, INIFD, IITC and the recently opened Raffles Institute. The local theme for this year’s Digjam Vibrant Fashion Week was the Kutchi artworks of appliqué.