The Title Sponsor Partner is announced

New Delhi, February 15, 2006: The Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI), the proprietor of 'India Fashion Week' and PDM (Percept D'Mark), partners in implementing and marketing the event, today announced ITC's premium fashion brand 'Wills Lifestyle' as the Official Title Sponsor Partner for the India Fashion Week.

Rathi Vinay Jha, Director General, FDCI said, "FDCI is pleased to have on board 'Wills Lifestyle' as the new Title Sponsor Partner. We look forward to partner and associate ourselves with ITC's premium fashion brand that has a distinct personality and profile.

With ITC, we have a partner with a depth of commitment towards building a strong partnership reflecting a solid workable business agenda - one that is aligned with FDCI's long term vision for India's fashion industry i.e. promoting the Business of Fashion."

Mr Y C Deveshwar, Chairman, ITC Limited said, "Wills Lifestyle is strongly established as a vibrant fashion brand offering premium consumers, both men and women, a complete lifestyle wardrobe. With this association, I see a uniquely synergistic opportunity for the partners of the Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week to gain global recognition.

India is gaining a growing share of the global mindspace. The tremendous potential in the fibre to fashion value chain can be fulfilled by creatively leveraging our natural advantages of a rich heritage of designs and the energies of our formidable talent pool. I believe that garment designing can provide us a new source of competitive advantage. This will help India emerge as the fashion hub of the world, benefiting all constituents of the Indian textile, apparel and fashion industry.

In partnership with FDCI, we look forward to actualising this potential through the Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week, the country's largest lifestyle event."

Ms Preeta Singh, CEO, PDM said, "We are committed to making the Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week a truly world class event. We have been planning a host of initiatives towards this and having a partner of the stature of Wills Lifestyle will only go to further this."

The Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week (WIFW) 2006 will be held at The Grand, New Delhi from April 5-9, 2006.

Highlights of WIFW 2006

• The Annual B-2-B fashion trade event goes bi-annual this year -- five full days of fashion & trade twice a year

• Collections will be season specific i.e. autumn-winter & spring-summer - in line with formats, internationally

• With PDM and S2 on board, for the 1st time in 6 years, WIFW 2006 will be on par with international fashion weeks - comparable to London, Paris, Milan!

• Two ramps, a more dynamic set-up, greater participation

• More shows, so more Indian talent showcased on the ramp

• More opportunities for young designers to showcase talent at exhibition stalls

• More Accessory Designers participating

• More Models, so more new faces & fresh talent on the ramp

• More Talent Teams and

• Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week product lines

   

Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week (WIFW) is, after all, all about the Business of Fashion!

WIFW is an all-encompassing fashion event, which will cater to the entire fashion fraternity. More than 80 designers are participating include India's most eminent names in the world of fashion, accessory and textiles as well as young and upcoming designers. Participating designers will showcase their Prêt (ready-to-wear) and Diffusion (between ready-to-wear and couture) lines in Indian, Indo-Western and Western categories on the Ramp and in the Trade centre.

A "By Invitation Only" event, Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week 2006 aims to serve as an effective platform to promote fashion design and provide industry professionals with the opportunity to form trade linkages within India and globally. Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week offers participating designers a business presence through a series of marketing tools, including seminars and workshops on various facets of the industry, presentations and research reports,- all aimed at informing and updating buyers, investors, corporate houses and media.

WIFW aims to gain recognition from buyers and retailers as the single largest B-2-B platform for the Fashion Design industry.