Biggies opt for no show

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The country’s biggest fashion extravaganza — Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week Spring Summer 2012-13 — has grown in leaps and bounds over the past few years. This edition has 132 participating designers, but several top fashion designers like TT, Gudda, A&T, Ashima-Leena, Rina Dhaka, JJ Valaya etc are giving the lavish runway shows a miss and restricting themselves to the cubicle stall areas at the venue. We find out what’s keeping them busy this season. Designer Reynu Taandon, who gets a runway show almost every season, is taking a break and restricting her 2012-13 collection to the stall this time. She says, “I have already unveiled my 2012-13 collection at Paris Fashion Week a month ago and then recently showcased it at the New York coterie show too. So, this time I am just putting up a stall at the fashion week and will not do a runway show.”
For couture king Tarun Tahiliani, the reason for missing this edition of fashion week is simple — he has his platter full already. He says, “It’s been too crazy with TT’s Couture exposition and Bridal Week. Since our real growth is coming in all our stores I don’t feel the need to do it.”
Designer Raakesh Agarvwal says that he is skipping the fashion fuss this time as he just wants to “take a break and have fun”, so he’s skipping a season and won’t have a stall or runway show.
However, designer David, of the label David Abraham & Rakesh Thakore, puts it in a milder manner and says, “We rarely do shows at the WILFW, mostly we get good business from the stall showcase itself. The runway shows are good for getting media coverage but the major business happens at the stalls and we are putting up our stall at the venue.”
Designer Leena Singh reveals that their label Ashima-Leena is missing WILFW this time to do India proud at a global platform. She says, “We’ll be travelling to Korea around the same time to represent India at the international Asia Textile Fashion Forum. We are the only designers selected to represent the country, so it is a matter of great prestige for us.”
However, ace designer Rina Dhaka is not even putting up a stall this time as she is too busy with her prior commitments. She says, “I am doing a collection for Bridal Asia, and since the festive and bridal season is just around the corner I have to take care of my regular clients. Organising a runway show takes too much effort and time, so I decided to miss it this time.”