When I BROKE THE NEWS on fashionscandal.com that, ‘Couture Week is in Troubled Waters’ as the Title Sponsor – Pearls backed out from the Couture Week because of impending matters with the Enforcement Directorate, the aspiring new couturiers in the add-on afternoon slot cried MURDER. No I won’t blame all the five designers who were to showcase in the afternoon slot, but couple amongst them started weaving conspiracy theories. This is the biggest problem plaguing the Indian Fashion Fraternity. Everybody sees a conspiracy somewhere or the other. Instead of being positive and trying to work towards helping get a new sponsor, the couple of designers complained, - “It’s Not Fair.” Well dearies, falling out of a sponsor at the last minute wasn’t somebody’s doing. It was unforeseen.
Anyway the five new couturiers who were to be part of the Delhi Couture Week 2011 in a newly created afternoon slot have now reasons to be happy. I have learnt from highly reliable sources that the ‘Sponsor’ issue has been sorted out. It will take a couple of days to formalise it and hopefully by the 6th of July when the FDCI Board meets on the return of its President, Sunil Sethi from London, things would be crystal clear. So don’t worry, be happy. Thank your luck that there are still some hardworking people associated at the helm of affairs in FDCI who don’t give-up!
Every other designer wants to be in the Couture Week. In fact some feel that if Delhi Couture Week maintains a slot of 10-14 designers, the upcoming ones will never get a chance. True but then have a bloody strong and competent Jury who will decide these 14 names judiciously, irrespective of clout, network and influence of free clothes. And yes, every designer who makes lehnga-cholis think they deserve a spot in Couture Week. Really?
P.S: Anyway now that the news is out, you will get the details in Newspaper Tabloids soon!
Just a few days back I wrote about a not-so-impressive lineup of Couturiers at the forthcoming Delhi Couture Week 2011. But then that was just a small problem in Couture Week’s way.
On Wednesday (29th June 2011) FDCI got a jolt when the Title Sponsor – Pearls expressed their inability to honour their committment as the Primary Sponsor of the Delhi Couture Week 2011. The reason – there seems to be some issues with the Government that the company is facing. Now with the main sponsor backing out, things have definitely gone haywire. But the good news is that The Delhi Couture Week 2011 is ON and is a 4-Day event starting 20th July 2011 till 23rd July 2011 at The Taj Palace Hotel.
FDCI and its Marketing Agency, Commune are trying for an alternative Sponsor but worse comes to worse, FDCI will bear the expense from the Surplus generated from the previous Delhi Couture Week.
Yes the afternoon shows are most likely going to be axed. I anyway didn’t find the
need for an afternoon slot. So the Delhi Couture Week 2011 will now have just 8 Couturiers showing over 4 Nights; 2 Couturier per night. For the uninitiated, FDCI had added an afternoon slot (primarily to accomodate some very pushy designers who hold clout in the Board and with the Jury). The afternoon shows were alloted to Meera-Muzaffar Ali and Adarsh Gill, Ashima-Leena and Anju Modi and Shantanu & Nikhil Mehra. (Mandira Wirk was voted off.)
Most likely now the Delhi Couture Week will have just 8 Shows and the selected Couturiers are Rohit Bal, J J Valaya, Suneet Varma, Varun Bahl, Manav Gangwani, Guurav Gupta, Manish Malhotra and Anamika Khanna (though I am not sure of her participation).