Ladies and Gentlemen, here we present to you yet another Fashion Week – end at Shillong, an initiative by Chief Minister of Meghalaya Dr. Mukul Sangma and the Directorate of Sericulture. The event saw some known names from the fashion fraternity with charismatic Rohit Bal as the Chief Guest.

With an objective to create a link between the poor farmers who are engaged in sericulture farming, it worked as a good base for young designers who will take time to get their first break into major fashion weeks. To my surprise there is a NIFT(National institute of Fashion) in Shillong . And the government had made provision for the students to participate in the same showing by selecting the work of a few talented designers.

The fashion week-end, as most of us called it as, had Raakesh Agarwal, Chandrani Singh Flora, Jenjum Gadi , Anand Bhushan, Urvashi kaur along with equally talented local designers showcasing regional textiles and the culture of the state, though it was far less than expected. Grand Finale by Gaurav & Ritika and Nachiket Barve as usual brought lot of drama to the stage with the performance of their local Opera Singer.Gaurav & Ritika show had a Victorian feel while Nachiket’s show was an artwork of its kind depicting applique, texturising, beading, shibori and origami dyeing techniques.

However, their local designers Senti Nongrum used handloom to create a modern yet chic collection. Some of the other participating designers from the region like Sophie M and Amoii had unique style of showcasing Meghalaya’s rich art, culture and textiles (though very few of them managed to showcase with fimesse).

Besides the fashion weekend, Shillong known as the ‘Scotland of the East’ because of its resemblance to Scottish Highlands, had a lot to offer for visiting fashion aficionados including their very multitalented Chief Minister. As we got to know during after parties that Mukul Sangma in addition to leading the state is a doctor in medicine and is an excellent singer too.

In spite of organisational glitches which goes without explanation,it was a good effort and presume the follow up Fashion Week in Shillong will have a lot to offer to their designers. Something worth considering for Fashion Design Council of India.

Posted by : Deepa Srivastava Kumar at 6:45 PM