By IANS,
New Delhi : Ending weeks of speculation, the Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI) announced Saturday that ITC’s Wills Lifestyle brand will continue to sponsor its premier India Fashion Week business-to-business event. Hence, the event will continue to be called the Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week (WIFW).
“The partnership, built on a pact inked in 2006, will continue for another three years,” FDCI president Sunil Sethi told IANS.
“WIFW has strongly established itself as India’s largest business of fashion event in India and we are delighted to partner once again with them,” Sethi said in a separate statement issued Saturday to announce the continuation of the partnership.
“With the belief of our stakeholders and the dream of taking the industry from strength to strength we look forward to another edition of the business of fashion,” he added.
This year’s 13th edition of WIFW – autumn/winter – is scheduled Mar 20-24. The spring/summer edition will be held later this year.
Wills Lifestyle’s divisional chief executive Atul Chand said: “We are delighted to strengthen our association with FDCI with the extension of the title and associate sponsorship of the WIFW. We look forward to building on the synergetic relationship and creating new benchmarks in the fashion and lifestyle space.”
“It’s a fact that that our sales increased by 10-15 percent after we joined hands with FDCI. The lifestyle market is still in its nascent stage so we have to think of the ideas to promote our product and create a market for our designs,” Chand said.
There has been considerable speculation since October last year on whether or not Wills Lifestyle would continue its association with the fashion week. From then till now, the event was even referred to as the India Fashion Week. With Saturday’s announcement, that speculation has been set at rest.
“FDCI has taken the Indian Fashion industry global and made it a national pride. It has been instrumental in promoting the business of fashion and creating new opportunities for all stakeholders,” the statement said.
Over the years, FDCI has used various marketing platforms, seminars and workshops to promote fashion by providing a cohesive platform for Indian designers and act as the mouthpiece of the industry at all relevant platforms at home and abroad, the statement added.
“FDCI is actively involved in promoting the the business of fashion and working towards corporatisation of fashion labels in India. FDCI is instrumental in facilitating designer-corporate tie-ups, aimed at expanding the fashion market in the country. Apart for India Fashion Week, FDCI has also introduced India Couture Week and India Men’s Wear Week to market Indian fashion,” the statement said.
“ITC’s Wills Lifestyle has been established as a vibrant fashion brand for the premium consumer. Wills Lifestyle offers a complete lifestyle wardrobe for the premium consumer, incorporating the latest fashion trends for both men and women,” the statement said.
“A nationwide chain of exclusive specialty stores provides the Indian consumer a truly international shopping experience. Currently there are 50 Wills Lifestyle stores in 30 cities across the country, and the brand is making rapid strides in terms of expansion – doubling the number of stores over the next three years,” the statement added.