Police play showstopper on Day I

Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week got off to its most embarrassing start yet in 11 years as the police forced organisers to cancel Day One of the five-day event as the venue did not have fire-safety clearance. Vinod Nair reports.

Models, check. Dresses, check. Guests, check.

HT Image

And then came the police.

Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week got off to its most embarrassing start yet in 11 years as the police forced organisers to cancel Day One of the five-day event as the venue did not have fire-safety clearance.

This was the event’s first foray into a makeshift tented enclosure in Okhla, close to the garm-ent manufacturing hub of Delhi.

It was a good move, marred by that one minor oversight.

Fire-safety clearance is man-datory for events held in temporary structures — such as political events and Durga Puja. The organisers slipped, with disastrous consequences.

“I have cancelled my show that was to take place at 5 45 pm,” said Designer Puneet Nanda of Satya Paul. “I don’t want my guests to be humiliated and turned away at the gate.”

The organisers pleaded for patience.

“We’re holding the event at a new venue and these unexpected problems came up,” said Sunil Sethi, president of the Fashion Development Council of India, organiser of the fashion week. “But we have sorted out all the issues and shows will begin on Thursday.”

The traffic pile up outside the venue added to the chaos.