Day 3: Fashion with social cause

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Leander Paes walks the ramp with a girl rescued from a red light area at a special show “You Can Free Us” at Wills Lifestyle

The third day of Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week 2012 was a mix bag as the participating designers depicted various moods on the ramp through their collections. However, the most notable show of the entire day was a collaboration show by twelve leading designers from the fashion fraternity, who joined hands to stop human trafficking in India. The “fashion for a cause” show was a part of FDCI’s CSR initiative, and it was organised in collaboration with You Can Free Us NGO.
The show began with a documentary on the plight of women who are forced into flesh trade and each designer gave their interpretation of the central theme “Alice in wonderland”. The story of a rescued victim with a pseudo-moniker Alice was portrayed on the ramp through symbolic representation in the 12 ensembles contributed by designers Leconate Hemant, Ashish Soni, Ravi Bajaj, J.J. Valaya, Tarun Tahiliani, Ashima-Leena, Suneet Varma, Ritu Beri, Rajesh Pratap Singh, Rohit Gandhi and Rahul Khanna, Shantanu and Nikhil and Manish Arora. The show began with a heart-warming ballet performance by Nikolina, and as the models walked in various designer outfits the audience couldn’t help but applaud for the effort and the cause.
In a special introduction by Vivek Oberoi, the actor spoke about his association with the cause. He mentioned that five years ago a trip to Vrindavan changed his life. He said, “When I went to Vrindavan I saw young girls were forced into human trafficking and there was nobody to rescue them. I started a moment to save such women and today there are around 3,000 women who have been rescued.”
Tennis player Leander Paes also showed up at this fashion fare to support Sujo John, the founder of You Can Free Us NGO, and speaking about the initiative he remarked, “I was astonished to learn about that our country is the capital of human trafficking across the globe. I think it’s very important that like Alice, every human being deserves all the rights to be free and I am here to take the pledge to support this cause.”
A special unveiling of the “Alice in Wonderland” photographs by lensman Subi Samuel was held after the show at the venue, the proceeds of which would later go for the charity.