FDCI A Fashion Design Council of India Event Lakme India Fashion Week 2002-03 Special Coverage From Onlypunjab.com

Overview: Fashion Week and India Fashion Week

Fashion Week - The Concept

Internationally, designers have organised themselves into various "councils", each of which form the backbone of their respective fashion industries. The Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) in New York, the Chambré de Syndical in Paris, the Camera Na Syndical in Paris, the Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana in Milan and the British Fashion Council (BFC) in London, all play vital roles in enhancing their individual fashion industries, including the designers, textile manufacturers, accessories manufacturers, beauty and health product companies (including cosmetics), models, makeup artists, hair stylists, choreographers, and the fashion media. They work together as a whole industry, each individual piece being as important as the next in collectively completing the fashion industry jigsaw puzzle.

Twice each year, concurrent with the two annual fashion seasons, the entire industry comes together to present its Prêt-a-Porter (ready-to-wear) lines to a focussed target audience. Globally recognised as "Fashion Week", you have New York Fashion Week, Milan Fashion Week, or Hong Kong Fashion Week. It forms the highlight of the season's fashion calendar in any country, and has been proven effective worldwide for close to a century now. It is an opportunity for the entire industry to collectively showcase the upcoming seasons' collections to trade buyers (retailers, buying houses, distributors, wholesalers, agents, potential franchisees), the media and individual buyers. The concept is successful because it benefits everyone involved: designers are provided with a single platform to unveil their upcoming collections to their potential customers; trade buyers attend a single event to preview, plan and order their lines for the next season. The event is also a platform for the media, which acts as the main channel through which the latest trends, designs and colour coordinates are communicated to a wider target audience.

Unlike individual "couture" fashion shows, which showcase a one-of-a-kind designer collection, the focus of a "fashion week" is more trade-oriented, where the clothes showcased are representative samples, which can then be produced in larger quantities and various sizes for sale through multiple outlets. Hence, the event takes on a more "serious business" orientation, as compared to the more "dramatic/theatrical/social" slant of couture shows.

India Fashion Week - The Inception

Historically, India has been globally acknowledged as a country for its rich textile heritage, but fashion, as an industry, continues to be challenged with several infrastructural and industry issues.

Until recently, leading Indian designers primarily focussed on couture lines and wedding trousseaus. Over the last 4-5 years, an increasing number of people have joined the "designer/fashion" industry (designers, textile designers, models, make-up artists, hairstylists, stylists, photographers etc.). However, the target customer base has witnessed limited growth in the same period.

Hence, the need for affordable prêt-a-porter clothing, priced between Rs. 500-10,000. This would help expand the customer base significantly, and grow the Indian fashion industry.

Recognising this, in 1998, the Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI) was born as a single entity representing the business interests of the designer fraternity across the country. To address the need to grow the target customer base and the industry, FDCI launched their "fashion week" initiative, which would serve as a single platform to facilitate buyer-seller interaction within the fashion industry.

The event is titled as "India" Fashion Week, to represent the "national" scope of the fashion industry of our country unlike fashion weeks held internationally, where they are 'city' specific (such as New York Fashion Week or Milan Fashion Week).