The Indian fashion industry is going to take a digital turn, with India’s first-ever digital Couture Week to be held from 18 to 23 September.
Adapting to the new normal in the era of COVID, the fashion industry will go through a digital transformation, breaking all physical boundaries by streaming the show worldwide to millions of designers, fashion enthusiasts, and audience.
“Couture has all the elements of fantasy, and as screens take over our lives, we hope to recreate the magic of this genre, with pure creativity. The FDCI has been a frontrunner in establishing a fresh template, in tandem with the changing times,” Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI) Chairman Sunil Sethi shared in a media statement.
FDCI exists as a non-profit organisation of fashion designers to promote the business of fashion.
A six-day digital event will have top couturiers experimenting and redefining ways to showcase the collection digitally.
Breaking the format of the physical event, the designers will pre-shoot their collection in the form of a couture film or video of their ramp show that will be streamed on FDCI’s social media and online platforms.
Excited to showcase the new collection differently, Designer JJ Valaya reveals that it's inspired by Bursa - the medieval city of Turkey.
“The collection will reflect the grandeur and beauty of the Ottoman Empire of Bursa. And to present that in a cutting-edge way in 10minutes of a film will be exciting. The best thing is you can showcase the detailing of the garment which wasn’t possible on a live ramp show,” Valaya tells Sputnik.
Husband-wife designer duo Falguni and Shane Peacock are going to screen “a fashion film that will be an artistic showcase of the collection to co-relate and recreate a reverie.”
“Fashion, with the fusion of technology, has taken on a new meaning and a different turn during the pandemic. Given the rapid growth of visuals on social media, a powerful new format of communication and expression has emerged and all the excitement now moves from runway shows to a new narrative for couture,” Falguni Peacock tells Sputnik.
Designer Rahul Mishra, who previously participated at the Paris Fashion Week in July 2020, will be showcasing the second part of his new collection, titled Butterfly People Part-2, which is a tribute to all those artisans and craftsmen who have worked behind the scenes during the health crisis.
Busy scouting for a location in Delhi to shoot the digital show for India Couture Week (ICW), Rahul shares with Sputnik, “The beauty of digital fashion shows is that millions of people will be able to see it. We can pre-shoot and redo to make it more creative and that’s the beauty of it. As far as the business of fashion goes, we are bang on at a time when the wedding season is all set to kickstart.”
Amid the pandemic, designer Amit Aggarwal tells Sputnik, “The FDCI digital couture week will allow fashion and creativity to thrive during these unprecedented times.”
Amit says the platform has challenged him to "think out-of-the-box and go beyond a traditional runway show and present the collections to our customers in new and exciting ways. I’m showing the new collection with a completely new visual direction.”
Designer Gaurav Gupta feels this will open doors to have a “new cultural dialogue” throughout the world.
“The new format has infinite possibilities and allows us to showcase the philosophy and mindscape of the brand and the collections in a deeply immersive way,” Gaurav shares with Sputnik.
Many other designers such as Anju Modi, Dolly J, Falguni Shane Peacock, Kunal Rawal, Manish Malhotra, ReynuTaandon, Shantanu and Nikhil and Suneet Varma will be participating in the digital Couture Week.
With #DecodingCouture and the theme of “waves”, the digital couture week is all set to create ripples in the global fashion industry.