Designers cry foul after being rejected by the fashion week

Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI) has landed itself in a soup with just a month to go for the Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week in Delhi. Reason: The jury responsible for deciding who gets to show at the event this time comprises of their own peers and competitors.

Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI) has landed itself in a soup with just a month to go for the Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week in Delhi. Reason: The jury responsible for deciding who gets to show at the event this time comprises of their own peers and competitors. What’s more, two of the seven jury members are also taking part in the event. As a result, over 50 designers who have been regularly showing at the fashion week have been shown the door.

The rejected designers are not amused and have formally lodged a complaint with the council. “This is bizarre. Nowhere in the world do you have designers judging other designers. It is sheer conflict of interest,” says a designer, not wishing to be named.

We have learned that the list of designers who’ve been rejected by the jury include young talent such as Atsu and Nida Mahmood as well as veterans such as Adarsh Gill and Meera-Muzaffar Ali. “The world over, the jury for fashion weeks comprises critics, buyers and stylists but not designers themselves. They are bitter rivals in the same industry, how can they be allowed to sit on judgment? It’s unfair,” says another senior designer.

“It’s true that this time we have only designers in the jury, but they are all competent and experienced,” says FDCI President Sunil Sethi.

Sources reveal that the ‘anonymous’ jury comprises designers such as Rohit Bal and Nikki Mahajan as well as Anju Modi and Poonam Bhagat, both of who are participating as well.