Couture extravaganza to engulf city for six days (Curtain Raiser)

New Delhi, July 20 (IANS) Vibrant, spectacular and extravagant - the inaugural Pearls Delhi Couture Week (Pearls DCW) July 20-25 promises all this and much more with big names like Sabyasachi Mukherjee, Manish Malhotra and Rohit Bal participating in it.

The six-day extravaganza will bring together 19 designers who will showcase their creativity on and off the runway at the Grand Hotel, Vasant Kunj.

Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla, Anamika Khanna, Manish Malhotra, Gaurav Gupta, JJ Valaya, Manav Gangwani, Pallavi Jaikishan, Raakesh Agarvwal, Rina Dhaka, Rohit Bal, Sabyasachi Mukherjee, Suneet Varma and Varun Bahl - will showcase their creations on the ramp.

Ekru by Ekta & Ruchira, Geisha designs by Paras & Shalini, Jaya Rathore, Monapali, Reynu Taandon and Puneet Nanda of Satya Paul label - will display special installations.

The organisers, Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI) have been behind two successful editions of a similar event in Mumbai, and looking at the response from the fashion industry and the amount of business it generates, this one happened.

The word couture is synonymous with extravaganza and opulence and with just two shows a day, one can expect elaborate, larger than life sets and detailed work on the garments.

Given their grandness, such events usually have two main show areas(MSAs), but this time, due to security reasons, there will be only one MSA. Still, FDCI president Sunil Sethi promises the event will still be of immense magnitude.

'We had arranged for two MSA's as a designer needs a minimum of 24 hours to design the set, but at the last moment we had to give up on our open-air MSA and bank upon on the indoor MSA. I am thankful to all designers who have agreed to showcase in the single MSA,' Sethi told IANS.

'Now, we are designing sets in such a way that one just has to change the backdrop and make a few changes here and there. This will ensure that it doesn't take much of time as we can't extend the shows till late into the night. We have time constraints as well,' he added.

The shows were to take place at 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. respectively. The timings have now been changed to 7 p.m. and 9.30 p.m till Friday. On Saturday and Sunday, the first show will take place at 3 p.m. and second at 9.30 p.m.

Designer Rohit Bal has opted for an off-site show, which will take place at the hotel Aman in Lodhi Road.

Though Sethi says the couture week is aimed at serious business, one will definitely get to see a few Bollywood celebrities on the runway and in the front seats.

Bollywood actress Rani Mukherjee and Vidya Balan are expected to witness the Sabyasachi show, while Lara Dutta is expected to walk the ramp for Rina Dhaka.

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