Curtains are drawn on Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI) and Wills Lifestyle’s (a division of ITC) long association. The India Fashion Week hosted bi-annually by FDCI was sponsored by Wills Lifestyle for season after season, so-much-so that the acronym WIFW (Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week) became a habit with us. Post the introductory seasons sponsored by Lakme, India Fashion Week had momentary support from sponsors like Sahara and Kingfisher but it was the ITC’s fashion lifestyle retail division – Wills Lifestyle that partnered with FDCI on a long-term basis.
The forthcoming Autumn/Winter 2015 India Fashion Week is no more WIFW. If you read the presser carefully, It only states that the forthcoming India Fashion Week AW 2015 is scheduled for 25th – 29th March 2015.
Post the coming of multiple international high-street labels like Zara, Mango, and many more and the sudden upsurge in E-Commerce model in fashion retailing, Wills Lifestyle’s revenues started moving south. Probably it is no more viable on their part to sponsor the India Fashion Week.
Anyway FDCI will have to look for a newer partner as the title sponsor and am sure with a power-packed Board, it wouldn’t be tough for FDCI to get one. But at the same time, it’s not an easy job to hook-up a new partner as a title-sponsor in just a couple of months. FDCI should consider hiring the professional services of a ‘Marketing Company’!