Will WIFW leave Delhi?

If there was one thing that spoilt the party at the recently concluded Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week

(WIFW) in New Delhi, it was the venue NSIC Grounds, Okhla. Due to the Commonwealth Games clashing with the forthcoming Wills Lifestyle Indian Fashion Week (WFIW), sources say the upcoming edition of WIFW will move to another city. For the March edition of WIFW, there was little to choose from in Delhi, says Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI) president Sunil Sethi. Due to the Commonwealth Games, no other venue, including Pragati Maidan, was available. But in October most hotels in the city will be booked for tourists coming for the games. FDCI has to arrange for the hotel rooms for buyers, models, choreographers, et al and the sports activities taking place at most spacious grounds in the city makes it difficult to find an appropriate venue. The fashion week, in all probability will be held in September, to beat the madness of the CWG 2010 and to avoid a clash with the fashion week in Mumbai too. Several locations are being considered, including Jaipur, Goa and Mumbai. Most designers are excited about the prospect, but a few have reservations. Factors like a clash with Paris fashion week and the season at the getaway location are being considered.

Sethi confirmed that outstation locations like Goa and Mumbai had been discussed as viable options but a large number of designers were still keen to keep the event Delhi-based, on account of the large quantum of business that the recently concluded WIFW generated. This year, many designers did record sales of more than Rs 50 lakh in some cases of over a crore. Therefore, the collective wisdom is that they do not wish to disrupt the stream of buyers and the business. Nor do they want to appear to be competing with any other fashion event.