It’ll rain celebrities, cricketers at men’s fashion week

NEW DELHI - The countdown has begun for India’s first Van Heusen India Men’s Week (VHIMW) here Sep 11-13 that promises to be a celebrity-studded affair with Bollywood hunks and sporty cricketers scorching the ramp in the company of professional models.

Though nothing is official as of now, sources have revealed that the organisers of VHIMW, the Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI), has approached Bollywood actors John Abraham, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Saif Ali Khan and Shahid Kapoor to walk the ramp for the grand finale show of designers Ashish Soni, Rohit Gandhi and Rahul Khanna of label Cue Sep 13.

Sources also revealed that for the Kingfisher-sponsored show of designer Manoviraj Khosla on day one, there would either be some cricketers of Vijay Mallya’s IPL (Indian Premier League) team “Royal Challengers Bangalore” or some Formula One drivers of the Force India team who will walk the ramp to add glamour to the event.

The three-day event will be a one-stop show for men’s wear and accessories and will take place at the Grand Hotel in Vasant Kunj.

Twenty-eight designers will participate in the show. However, only 15 designers will showcase their collection on the ramp. The others will exhibit their clothes in stalls.

The participating designers include J.J. Valaya, Rajesh Pratap Singh, Rina Dhaka, Rohit Bal and Tarun Tahiliani.

Talking about VHIMW, FDCI president Sunil Sethi said: “It was my dream to make this happen and finally the day is near when this event will finally take off. I am feeling relaxed and excited at the same time. But I couldn’t have asked for more.”

This time, the FDCI is concentrating only on the domestic market. According to Sethi, international buyers will be invited in the future.

“This is the right time to tap the domestic market. Men’s fashion market is so big and has so much potential. Hence our first aim is to focus on the domestic market and gradually move step by step,” Sethi told IANS.

Also this is the first time that designer Ravi Bajaj, who has been in this business for decades, is participating in any fashion week. Mumbai-based designer Narendra Kumar is also showcasing his clothes for the first time in an FDCI event.

“I see it as a great opportunity for menswear and designs and I thought it was the right time to showcase my collection,” said Bajaj, who specialises in men’s clothes.

VHIMW will also sponsor a show by the FDCI for upcoming and promising designers titled “Agents of Change”.

“This is the first time that we (FDCI) will sponsor designers for the fashion show. In this initiative we will highlight those young designers who show promise in making it big in this field and this will continue in the future VHIMW as well,” he said.

The show “Agents of Change” will feature young designers Nitin Bal Chauhan, Samant Chauhan and Zubair Kirmani on the final day of the fashion event.

Sethi described VHIMW as also a platform for male models to remain in the fashion circuit.

“This is the first time that as many as 40 models will be walking the ramp which is indeed a big number. This will help them establish their visibility in the market and build up their portfolio,” said Sethi.

(Shilpa Raina can be contacted at shilpa.r@ians.in)