Wills Lifestyle wins fashion week

ITC's brand gets title association with IFW.

The Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI) today announced its official sponsor for India Fashion Week (IFW) for the next three years: ITC's popular brand Wills Lifestyle.

At a press conference at (where else?) New Delhi's ITC Maurya Sheraton, Rathi Vinay Jha, director general of FDCI, Y C Deveshwar, CEO of ITC, Ritu Kumar, president of FDCI and Preeta Singh, CEO of Percepr D'Mark (PDM), the event management company that has signed up to handle IFW, together injected a modicum of unity and reason to an industry that has been in disarray for months.

The fashion industry (if one can call it that, it still has not been given "industry" status by the government) has had the hits come hard and fast this year; from the very public split with IFW's sponsor Lakmé, to accusations of monopolistic practice, to the again very public demolition of the fashion fraternity's marketplace in New Delhi, 1 and 2 MG Road, last week.

However, today Jha was all smiles as she announced her tie-up with ITC, a much-needed sponsorship that not many thought FDCI would be able to put together.

Speaking at the conference, Jha said, "We would like to make Fashion Week this year an event with an international feel, and we think that with ITC on board, we can achieve this aim. Wills Lifestyle is an exclusive fashion retail brand; it has personality and it's exactly what we need at India Fashion Week."

According to PDM's CEO, Preeta Singh, the tie-up has been in the making for months: "We've been working hard at finding a sponsor for the last six months. It's a huge commitment, not just in terms of finances, but also the overall value that a company will bring to the table. We'e especially excited about the corporate social responsibility initiatives ITC is planning; we think that this is one way that we've definitely added value to the team over our tie-up with Lakme from last year."

Y C Deveshwar seemed to have some very unique ideas about the direction that he wanted to take IFW in. "First of all, I'm very excited to be associated with this young, dynamic organisation," he said, "especially because ITC shares the vision and the values of FDCI, and not just in terms of their business profile."

Deveshwar said that he is interested in adding value to the chain of supply, from the farmers to the designers: "from fabric to fashion" in his phrase. The value, in other words, that is added to the top of the chain by the fashion designers and their international presence, should trickle down to every stage of production, from cotton farmers to handicrafts artisans.

We shall have to look out for these initiatives, which FDCI and ITC both assure us are in the works, for no concrete plans were articulated at the conference. If CSR initiatives are, however, in the works, they should go a long way towards legitimising an industry many feel is out of touch with the real world.

Although the details of the financial tie-up were not disclosed ("but rest assured the value is higher than the cost", joked Deveshwar), given the larger scope of fashion week this year (there are going to be two ramps, and 65 designers on show), the FDCI board can probably breathe easier knowing that they have the financial backing of a brand like ITC and Wills ("an Indian multinational", as Singh puts it).

There are also talks of a Wills line at fashion week and a tie up with some Indian designers for the Wills line of clothing, but these ideas are at the drawing board stage at the moment.

As of now, though, we can all join FDCI in looking forward to a Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week, complete with international organiser (Wolter Dammers of London Fashion Week) and more designers than ever before.

Designers can stop being gloomy. Jha also said that FDCI is in talks with the government to create a fashion district in New Delhi, to replace the demolitions at 1 and 2 MG Road.