Offering Punjabi vogue with global designs

LUDHIANA: Punjabis are known worldwide for their extravagant lifestyles and larger-than-life flamboyant attitude and it is this trait that reputed designers from across the country are trying to cash in on at this edition of the Punjab International Fashion Week.
The four-day-long fashion furore, adding glitter to the city from August 16 to 19, is witnessing promising designers exhibiting their collections under various themes like ‘global traveller’, ‘dawn to dusk’ and ‘videsi ho gayi, desi abhi baki hai’.Many among the participating designers already cater to their Punjabi clientele settled in the US, Canada, Australia and UK and are now offering high-end western dresses and fusion with Indian ethnic wear to Ludhiana dwellers.
Hari Anand, a designer from Kochi, says, “Punjabis are mostly well travelled and easily adapt to any attitude and circumstance. They are also open to experiment with clothes and hence, I am presenting my collection under the theme ‘global traveller’.”
“My NRI Punjabi customers like trendy Indian wear with a cosmopolitan flavour. The designs I exhibited here included red carpet gowns, saris with out-of-the-box motifs, trendy skirts and women’s party wear, which are my Punjabi clientele’s favourite,” says Bangalore-based designer Ramesh Dembla. Dembla says he is sure even Ludhiana has a similar taste as far as his designs are concerned.
Delhi-based designer Jatinn Kochhar says the city houses many affluent families who prefer spending on classy clothes. “I believe this part of the country is a new market for brand building as a saturation level is now seen in cities like Delhi and Mumbai,” he adds.
Apart from being a perfect stage to showcase their designs, the fashion week is proving to be a networking hub for designers, as they are already receiving orders and inquiries. “My collection includes Indian weaves which epitomize the true Indian aura. It is a playful, after-party wedding wear with a colour scheming of earthen hues with a tint of Eastman colours,” says Hyderabad-based designer Shravan Kumar.