The charm of India’s craftsmanship took over the city of Mumbai as Mijwan Welfare Society, an NGO run by Shabana Azmi, hosted a fashion show, Mijwan Sonnets in Fabrics 2012, bringing to the fore the designs of Manish Malhotra.

The third edition of the fundraiser showcasing embroidery entirely done by the girls of Mijwan – a tiny village near Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh – boasted of 20 leading models and celebrities walking the ramp in the contemporary modern designs by Manish Malhotra, coming as the translation of  work done by Mijwan girls.

The show was opened by Shabana Azmi and Namrata Goyal, to be followed by Nita Ambani who walked with two little girls – one of them was from Kaifi Azmi School in Mijwan – to support the cause. Later, celebrities such as Priyanka Chopra, Sonakshi Sinha, Kalki Koechlin, Karan Johar, Malaika Arora Khan, Diana Penty, Dia Mirza and Mary Kom amongst others walked in the exquisite creations reflecting the handiwork from Mijwan.

About the show, Manish Malhotra, said, “In the globalized world of Fashion today it’s pointless to offer silhouettes to the West. But we have craftsmanship which they do not. This is our USP and that’s what we need to focus on. Mijwan to me is a microcosm of what India has to offer the world. We have a long history of the warp and weft of design aesthetics. It’s time we rediscover ourselves and go back to our roots.”