Celebrating 10 years of India Couture Week: Here are 10 things you didn’t know about it | Fashion Trends - Hindustan Times
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Celebrating 10 years of India Couture Week: Here are 10 things you didn’t know about it

Hindustan Times | By, New Delhi
Jul 25, 2017 07:11 PM IST

From its inception to the strong Bollywood connect — Sunil Sethi, president, Fashion Design Council of India, tells us 10 interesting facts about India Couture Week.

The ongoing edition of India Couture Week marks a decade of its existence. Clothes that look and feel grand and sets that could give big-ticket productions a run for their money — the mood of couture has always been larger-than-life. And, one person who has been with this gamechanging event since its inception, is Fashion Design Council of India president, Sunil Sethi. “Ten years ago, nobody wanted to associate with Indian clothes. And now look where we have reached!,” Sethi says, with a voice laced with pride. As couture comes of age in India, here are ten things that shaped its 10-year-long journey.

Sunil Sethi, president, Fashion design Council of India.
Sunil Sethi, president, Fashion design Council of India.

1) IT ALL STARTED IN MUMBAI: The first edition of the couture week was held in a five-star hotel, in Mumbai in 2008. “The concept of couture was so new that it was lapped up by the who’s who of Bombay,” Sethi tells us.

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2) MATCHING ANNIVERSARIES: “Couture Week took place the first year I became president of FDCI. That is the reason I consider an even closer association with it,” Sethi says.

3) BENCHMARK IN SET PRODUCTION: “Up until then, massive sets like these only existed for finales. But to have each and every show seem like a finale for its opulence was something unheard of,” he adds.

A runway set at Couture Week 2014.
A runway set at Couture Week 2014.

4) AN OFFICIAL VISIT: Couture Week also got a stamp of acknowledgement from the government. Shankersinh Vaghela, the then Minister of Textiles, visited the event.

5) KHAN STRONG: It’s impossible to think of a flurry of big stars attending the same event, let alone share the same stage. But back in 2009, the couture week made it possible. “It’s known that couture and the film industry are inseparable and that’s why we had Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif, Aamir Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Govinda — all of them were present on the same runway,” Sethi says. And, Shah Rukh joined the after-party.

6) THE SALMAN KHAN CONNECT: Not only was Reshma Shetty, former manager of Salman monumental in tackling the operational part of the couture week, but the event also gave a ready platform to the actor to launch his Being Human line.

Sunil Sethi, president, FDCI (left) with Katrina Kaif, Salman Khan, Aamir Khan, Ajay Devgn, Govinda and Arbaaz Khan.
Sunil Sethi, president, FDCI (left) with Katrina Kaif, Salman Khan, Aamir Khan, Ajay Devgn, Govinda and Arbaaz Khan.

7) A TWO-CITY GAME: The popularity of the Mumbai edition gave rise to another one. “It became so popular that five days and ten designers were not enough. So, we started with an edition in Delhi too.The title fluctuated between India and Delhi Couture Week for a while.

8) THE INTERNATIONAL TOUCH: A crew from Robert Redford’s Sundance TV came down to shoot sequences of the first couture week, for the popular show, Man Shops Globe.

9) THE DESIGN STRENGTH: Names like Anamika Khanna, Varun Bahl, Rohit Bal and Manish Malhotra were a part of the inaugural edition, and they are a part of the 10th one too.

10) LOOKING TO THE FUTURE: The ten years saw fluctuation between Delhi and Mumbai, but the coming years might see an international couture week. “We have been flooded with requests to take it abroad. London, New York and Dubai are destinations where people might get a chance to experience our couture week,” Sethi says.

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