Making a bare statement

Designers Hemant-Nandita tie-up with PETA for a collection supporting animal rights.

Saving animals has never been so fashionable. For the first time in India, a fashion show at the ongoing Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week (WIFW) will join hands will PETA to show that cruelty to animals for fashion’s sake is anything but cool. So what if it calls for shedding some skin, much like what actresses Pamela Anderson or Eva Mendes have done for the cause in the past.

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The fashion show by designer duo Hemant and Nandita, which takes place today, will have models flaunting animal prints instead of leather. The show will be kickstarted by a model in a bikini, carrying a cape that resembles tiger skin, but is actually made of velvet. “I’d rather go naked that wear animal skin — that’s the message we’re trying to put across. It’s a serious issue, but PETA is also fun, cool and sexy,” says Nandita, adding that their collection, called ‘Fake It’, wants to show that “real people wear fake”.

“Their opening sequence is bold. Just shows that if you can be comfortable in your own skin, why kill an animal for theirs?” says Ambika Shukla, PETA’s Delhi head.

However, both Nandita and Shukla were opposed to get any of the Indian actors associated with PETA to walk the ramp for the show. “I want the people to discuss the clothes, not the celeb,” says Nandita, while Shukla feels, “The message IS the celebrity.”