Mantriji wants Claudia Schiffer

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal"><script language="javascript">doweshowbellyad=0; </script></div> <div align="left" style="position:relative; left: -2"><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" align="left" border="1" width="33.5%"> <colgroup> <col width="100.0%" /> </colgroup> <tr valign="top"> <td width="100.0%" colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="" valign:="" top="" background-color:="" fbfbfb=""> <div class="Normal"><img src="/photo/439349.cms" alt="/photo/439349.cms" border="0" /></div> </td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="100.0%" colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="" valign:="" top="" background-color:="" fbfbfb=""> <div class="Normal"><span style="" font-size:="">If Hussain (R) has his way, you may see Schiffer (L) live in India.</span><a href="http://photogallery.indiatimes.com/articlelist/15466961.cms">More fashion pics</a></div> </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="Normal">NEW DELHI: From Bihari babu to fashion minister has not been a long journey. Because Shahnawaz Hussain is an eager traveller. And now, as a last hurrah, he plans to fly in supermodels to walk Indian ramps for the mother of all <a href="http://photogallery.indiatimes.com/articlelist/15466961.cms" target="_blank">fashion extravaganzas</a>.<br /><br />The diminutive minister thinks big. Very big – the likes of blonde ramp scorchers <a href="http://www.thetimesofindia.online/articleshow/40946.cms" target="_blank">Claudia Schiffer</a> at 5'' 11" and Jodie Kidd at 6'' 1". If negotiations work out, that will be <a href="/articleshow/429938.cms" target="_blank">show-stopping</a> stuff at - <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">dsyn 04</span>, a fashion event at the end of March this year. With early Lok Sabha elections planned, that could be Hussain''s stylish sign-off from a ministry that he has tried hard to make glamorous.<br /><br />It is entirely Hussain''s baby - "that it is", he agrees. A mega <a href="/articleshow/438199.cms" target="_blank">fashion</a> event like never before has been on his mind from the moment he took over the large, labour-intensive textile industry.<br /><br />There were more commiserations than congratulatory notes. He came in from the zippy glamour of civil aviation, high-profile and forever in the media eye. From there to the backroom as <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">kapda mantri</span> would have been depressing. Hussain was even mournful about how his predecessor had let the office go to seed.<br /><br />But the silver lining was not lost on the 34-year-old, who is desperate to shake off both the label of a small-town wannabe and that of the archetypal <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">neta</span> in crushed <a href="http://www.thetimesofindia.online/articleshow/280280.cms" target="_blank">khadi</a>. "The <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">kurta pyjama</span> look is for office, in the evening it is jeans and a T-shirt", he is fond of saying.<br /><br /><formid=367815><br /><br /></formid=367815></div> </div><div class="section2"><div class="Normal"><br />Hussain discovered that his job was not all about spinning of boring yarn and labour problems in large mills. As Minister of Textiles he also had charge of <a href="/articleshow/429140.cms" target="_blank">fashion</a> – "a nascent, neglected industry with designers crying for a patron." Hussain has been only too happy to oblige.<br /><br />Taking ''brand India'' global on the fashion scene has been a mission statement since he took over. He wants to get Indian fashion its due, and <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">dsyn 04</span> will be aimed at that. Also to push textile and garment exports.<br /><br />Hussain takes his job seriously, so no fashion event worth its name is complete without this dignitary gracing the front rows. His fascination for fine threads goes beyond the <a href="/articleshow/345249.cms" target="_blank">ramp</a>. He likes to dress in designer <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">kurtas</span> and made-to-order <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">achkans</span>. That is when he is not cavorting in western casuals at glitzy page 3 dos all over town. And the minister does not prefer to speak in English, but words like supermodel pose no problem.<br /><br />It is only natural then that Hussain has been involved with every stage of planning for <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">dsyn 04</span>. The mega event is to be organised by the National Institute of Fashion Technology and the ministry of textiles and will be far more than a mere fashion show.<br /><br />To be held at the Pragati Maidan, the event will see 150 designers, national and international, display their collections on the ramp. Major textile manufacturers will participate too, with seminars, and discussions planned.<br /><br />Hussain is leaving no stone unturned. The Sydney-based Australian Fashion Innovators, who have been behind many global fashion events, have been hired to negotiate with the supermodels to bring them in for the show.<br /><br /><formid=367815></formid=367815></div> </div>