A successful edition of DFH&NI was held at WIFW S/S ’13. The collaborative collection presented by Suneet Varma and Jan Taminiau, Rohit Gandhi Rahul Khanna and *DIED* was received a lot of applause from the audience and media alike. The high heeled guests at the show were impressed by the collection and couldn’t wait to know where they could get their hands on the garments. The Press also had positive feedback to give which shows by the media space given to the project and its various aspects and is continuing been given coverage. Hair and make-up by Ellis Faas with Ambika Pillai and team was appreciated by one and all. Ellis’s workshops provided insight into the uber glam world of make-up. Peter Sitgter’s knowledge and experience of catwalk photography was well received by fellow photographers. Star Studded Studios conducted an exciting music workshop for young DJs at Club Shroom and made the whole exchange a lot of fun. The Indigo Embassy Seminar saw a good attendance by industry experts with talks by James Veenhoff and the kingpins of Indian Denim industry. It was a good platform for everyone t o come together and exchange their thoughts and ideas. All in all, the whole programme can be summed up to be an achievement in itself with preparations for the next edition already underway.

 

Date – 4th Oct ’12                     Time- 7 pm onwards                             Place- The Dutch Embassy

A beautiful reception to welcome the Dutch and Indian delegation  was hosted by the Dutch Ambassador to India, Mr Aphonsus Stoelinga alongwith co- host FDCI at the embassy lawns. The tree trunks wrapped in denim, mannequins adorning outfits by the designers, lampshades hanging mid air from the branches and mood lighting by the circumference of the pool created a perfect ambience for the Indian and Dutch counterparts to interact. An entire speech in Hindi by the Ambassador lightened up everyone’s mood, followed by Mr. Sunil Sethi’s characteristic charisma and enthusiasm. Other speakers included Christine de Baan of DDFA who is responsible for commissioning the entire programme, Mariette Hoitink of HTNK, Amsterdam who played a key role in the success of the programme and ofcourse Harmeet Bajaj, Brand Ambassador, without whom this entire programme wouldn’t have been possible. Media attendance for the same was fairly good. Coverage for the event is listed below  

 

Date – 6th Oct ’12    Time- 8.30 pm   Place- Indigo Embassy Lounge & Smokehouse Grill Lounge

A meet and greet cocktail event was held just before the Main Show to set the mood for the Show to follow.  A thrilling entry was made by designer Rahul Khanna with model muse Indrani Dasgupta for armcandy. Everyone was in high spirits, with the designers running in and out for last minute preparations, not knowing what to expect out of the show.

 

Date – 6th Oct ’12                 Time – 9.30 pm                Place- Main Show Area, Pragati Maidaan

What a spectacular show the designers with the effort of the whole team put up ! The show was introduced by Mr. Sunil Sethi, President FDCI by presenting a token of appreciation to the Dutch Ambassador. The show started with the unveiling of individual Spring Summer ’13 line by Rohit Gandhi Rahul Khanna of CUE. The line was characteristic of their love for clean silhouettes, with a shade of the colour peach making a strong presence. This was followed by individual collection by *DIED*.  The line full of hand prints which are DIED’s forte was fun, exciting, almost avante gardist. The model to start the show oozed tons of attitude in her walk which was the underlying tone of their collection. The collaborative collection by CUE and *DIED* came next. It was sensational to say the least. It was lovely to see how the prints by *DIED* were created into embellishments by CUE. The 5 collaborative garments were all in hues of black, grey and silver. Dramatic make up by Ellis came to light here. What came next was individual Spring Summer ’13 line by Suneet Varma. Suneet is never short of drama. Ruffles and feathers for head gear were all seen n the ramp. Jan Taminiau’s collection that came next was a story in itself. Jan, known for his over the top designs did not fail us this time either. Models towered in sky high heels, also designed by Jan. Finally, the much awaited collaborative collection by Suneet and Jan was unveiled. And what a magnificient collection it was. Use of Indian embroidery, interspersed with denim with shades of gold.. it was all there. It was amazing to see different elements come together and fuse as one. The show received a thundering applause and was attended by the likes of Tanisha Mohan among others. The finale soundtrack by Star Studded Studios set the mood for the party to follow.  But not before media interactions and interviews for the designers and the team.

 

Date- 6t Oct ’12                         Time – 11pm onwards                                    Place- Club Shroom

Shroom’s rooftop provided the perfect setting for everyone to let their hair down and enjoy the success of the show after months of hard work and preparation. The weather was lovely, the wine great and the company engaging. The whole team received many congratulations from friends and contemporaries for their good work. Seen having a good time from the Indian fashion fraternity wre designer friends JJ Vallaya, Manav Gangwani and Varun Bahl, models and behind the show people. The party went on till the wee hours of the morning

 

Date- 7th Oct ’12                             Time- 1.30 pm                                 Place- Indigo Embassy lounge

The hair and make-up workshop with Ellis for a group of make-up professionals gave them the opportunity to meet Ellis, who explained the concepts behind the colours and the packaging of the ELLIS FAAS products. Participants also partook in a Q&A, and experienced the ELLIS FAAS products and how they were being used by the woman who created them. The attendees were handed out an ELLIS FAAS goodie bag in the end

 

Date- 7th Oct ’12                                       Time- 7.00 pm                                        Place- Club Shroom

The workshop was attended by professional Indian DJ’s who are already experimenting with music and wanted to be part of a music knowledge exchange with these acclaimed Dutch DJ talents. It was a fun and exciting exchange as the Dutch DJs also got an understanding of the base of Indian Music and the trends these days.

 

Date- 8th Oct ’12                      Time- 10.00 am-12.00 noon           Place- Indigo Embassy Lounge

The workshop was attended by photographers from various magazines and dailies and they understood how to create a shoot of the catwalk and backstage and street wear of WIFW guests. The workshop was conducted over two parts with a small break in the middle, since both Peter and the Indian contemporaries couldn’t get enough!

 

Date- 8th Oct’12                        Time- 4.00pm                               Place- Indigo Embassy Lounge

This was a very exciting programme that brought together experts from the Indian and Dutch denim industry. It provided a platform to take forward the memorandum of understanding that was signed in September ’12 in Portugal, between apparel trade bodies AEPC India (India) and Modint (the Netherlands) in order to facilitate collaboration and trade.