The Hindu Business Line : Wills Fashion Week draws to close under global crisis shadow

NEW DELHI: After five days of colourful extravaganza in the capital, it was curtains on Sunday on the premium B2B event 'Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week 2009' with designers going home with bulk of orders and long-term relationships in plenty with bot h Indian and foreign buyers.

The carnival witnessed domestic and international buyers from Middle-East, the US, the UK, Paris, Japan and Malaysia. However, the event did not see any growth in terms of business this time, thanks to the global crisis.

Most of the UK-US buyers explored collections and are likely to book the orders later. “We have seen the collection. Once we go back and discuss it with team members, we will place orders. This time we are likely to book orders with Rohit Gandhi, Rahul K hanna and Prashant Verma...,” said James Watson, a buyer from Liberty of London.

This time around, Middle-East buyers were seen in maximum action. Designer Anupama Dayal said, “The response has been positive. I have got orders from Kuwait-based stores like Shamiya and others for 200 designs in the price range of $100-150.”

However, the financial crisis has hit buyers' budgets mostly those from developed countries including the US, Paris, the UK and and London. Nichole Sewall of Anthropologie of the US said, “We have worked with Manish Arora in the past... This time we will also book orders with Ranna Gill and Rahul Khanna. We are going back and will book orders in the next few months.” Dayal added that “this time, the European buyers have limited budget as they seemed are very specific about giving orders”. - PTI

Prev: India may pip Pak in beef consumption
Next: Two students of DPS arrested for sending terror mail to school

Business Line | NUS Index |


Related Topics Advertising Awards & Honours Brands Channels and Franchises Customer Relationship Management Direct Marketing IPR Market Shares Marketing Research New Products & Services Online Marketing People Promotions & Offers Retailing Rural Marketing Standards & Benchmarks Strategy Trends