Fashion design students display remarkable talent at finale of ‘The Debut’
Twelve of the
most promising fashion students of India
presented a dazzling display of their creative
designing talent at the finale of 3rd edition of
'The Debut' here today.
Wills Lifestyle has taken forward its search for
promising talent with the third edition of 'The
Debut', a unique initiative that recognises
India's young fashion talent. The contest was
initiated two years ago in 2007 and the winner
of the second edition was Rahul Verma from NIFT,
Delhi.
This unique initiative to promote young talent
is endorsed by the FDCI. The support given by
FDCI by nominating their member designers to the
Debut Jury provides encouragement to the
participating students and facilitates
interaction of the students with the leading
designers.
This year the contest received an overwhelming
response through more than 290 entries from all
over India, including students from country's
prestigious fashion institutes like National
Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), National
Institute of Design (NID) and Pearl Academy of
Fashion. Out of 130 portfolios received, the
design team at Wills Lifestyle further short
listed the entries to 45 potential candidates,
who presented their creations in front of an
eminent jury at the regional rounds held at
Kolkata, Bangalore and Mumbai. After the
regional rounds, 12 potential candidates were
short listed who presented their collection
today in New Delhi at the finale.
Selected from the shortlisted participants, the
winner of 'The Debut'
will receive the trophy at
the forthcoming edition of WIFW AW'09 being held
in New Delhi from March 18-23, besides an all
expenses paid trip to an International Fashion
Fair and an opportunity to work with ITC Ltd.
The Finale was judged by an eminent panel
comprising of designer members of FDCI - Rohit
Gandhi, Dr Sanjay Gupta, Dean, NIFT, Mohan
Neelakantan, country's leading fashion
consultant and Kamal Bose, Vice President -
Buying & Merchandising, ITC's Lifestyle
Retailing.
The contestants at the spectacular Finale
showcased their creations on the fashion runway
with leading models such as Laxmi Rana, Sonalika
Sahai, Krishna Somani & Maggie.
Mr. Atul Chand, Divisional Chief Executive,
ITC's Lifestyle Retailing Business Divison said,
"The Debut by Wills Lifestyle is a unique
platform that nurtures and recognises young
talent in the field of fashion design. This
initiative provides encouragement to budding
creative talent and facilitates interface with
the leading names of the Indian Fashion
fraternity. We are delighted at the overwhelming
response received and we are sure the initiative
will go from strength to strength in the years
to come"
List of finalists:
-
National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT),
New Delhi - 5 students
-
National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT),
Bangalore - 1 student
-
National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT),
Gandhinagar - 1 student
-
National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT),
Kolkata - 1 student
-
Pearl Academy Of Fashion- 4 students
