City designers give Delhi rivals a dressing down

AUG 23: It all happened when three Mumbai members of the Fashion Design Council of India FDCI sauntered in. At around 9 pm, Sandeep Khos...

AUG 23: It all happened when three Mumbai members of the Fashion Design Council of India FDCI sauntered in. At around 9 pm, Sandeep Khosla, Krishna Mehta, and former editor of Elle Nirja Shah walked into the Taj Palace, where the LIFW event is being held, and before you could say, quot;I8217;m too sexy for the catwalk,quot; sharp words and expletives were being liberally exchanged. Charges were being bandied about over the so-called communication gap8217; and the conspiracy8217; behind keeping Mumbai8217;s designers at bay.

Sumeet Nair, the Delhi-based board member of the FDCI has always insisted that there is no such thing as a Delhi-Mumbai divide even though several Mumbai members have spoken up against the LIFW.

But Nirja Shah, a co-opted member of the FDCI, remarked: 8220;I am glad that the week has gone well, but we do not agree with some of what has been going on, which is why we stayed out of LIFW.8221;

Khosla said though he too was a member of the FDCI, he was not invited to LIFW; he came to the show only because the Delhi designer Ritu Kumar whose show happened earlier last week called him. 8220;It has all happened too fast, I was only asked to take part in the LIFW two days before the press conference held in Mumbai two months back. But I do believe that having a fashion week in India is a good idea. It just should have been better organised,8221; commented Khosla.

The Mumbai lobby8217;s ire though was matched by the Delhi fire. Celebrated designer Rohit Bal called Khosla a 8220;fat slob8221; after the Mumbai trio created a scene. Bal also angrily asked Khosla why he had stepped in on the last day of the event. 8220;If you really wanted to come, you should have come on the first day and worked your a! off like the rest of us,8221; Bal shot off with his icepick of a tongue.

Nair said the Mumbai designers are lying about the conspiracy and that he has been in communication with Delhi designers since 1996 when he first began working on the project. 8220;We have been communicating with Mumbai from day one, and even held a two day meeting to iron out any problems that were there,8221; reasoned Nair.