Couture loses its grand opening

The BIG Bang sizzled down to Big Ban with fashion designers Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla pulling out of the HDIL India Couture Week ICW 48 hours prior to their opening show that promised to bring the Bachchan family on the rampDesigners Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla with Usha Mittal wife of billionaire LN MittalWithin divided speculations the official reason cited by the designer duo blames Matrix the media management company for the decision Matrix wasnt allotting us seat numbers for our esteemed guests This is Couture Week not any other fashion week We didnt want to risk our guests being offended due to unorganised seating HDIL the sponsors of the event have been good but Matrix needs to learn a thing or two about celebs like Abu and Sandeep explained Abu JaniWhile Jani pointed out that despite repeated requests Matrix didnt revert with any workable solution to this date and time the media management company had a different story to tell If Abu JaniSandeep Khosla dont want to be part of the haute couture event it is their decision To back out a day before their show is most unprofessional and regrettable More so because every demand and special request was metSources tell MiD DAY that the designers were permitted a Ushaped ramp rather than standard narrow runway to accommodate more seating space and were even assured 280 out of 460 seats when the customary rule allows only 150 seats to designer But the designers were keen on numbered seating which would have helped in ironing out mammoth chaos that unfolds during a highprofile fashion show Even if theres a small window to make a change we wont Its too late now We never deter from our decisions a stern Jani had told us on Friday eveningReportedly Sunny Dewan of HDIL was in closeted talks with the designers till 1 am on Saturday morning and news that the show would go on as scheduled on Sunday evening was shared with this newspaper But things went back to ground zero with the two designers opting out for goodIts been a nightmare The media management company won over two professionals HDIL and FDCI They thought we were joking when we informed them wed walk out if our demands werent fulfilled After being in the industry for 23 years itd be a shame if we didnt care for our faithful clients Apart from changes we also wanted a written apology from Matrix for the embarrassment they caused us But they didnt oblige Our name has been tarnished along with reputation of HDIL and FDCI Nobody really cares about Matrix who are they said Khosla in a telephonic chat on Saturday The designers now plan to organise a private show over lunch to showcase their garments in coming weeksHDIL India Couture Week will now start on October 12 with Couture Jewellery show by Devaunshi Mehta Maheep Kapoor Queenie Dhody Farah KhanUnlike other readytowear Fashion Weeks ICW actually pays its participating designers a sum of Rs 20 lakh to put up a spectacular show akin to ones witnessed in Paris and Milan According to Khosla no expense was spared to create a mirror palace set only to be dismantled today afternoon Word was out that Bollywood Alisters Amitabh and Abhishek Bachchan along with Shweta Hrithik Roshan Tabu and Vidya Balan were slated to add starry swagger on the ramp on Sunday evening at Grand Hyatt Seventy garments were created for the show and 10 specially for the celebs With so much hype banking on the veteran designers the news about their withdrawal is unfortunate if not unrequired The Week will be weaker without them I dont think the organisers should have let talented designers go said participating Mumbaibased designer Monisha Jaising Fellow designer Varun Bahl isnt too pleased with the development either Since their show was meant to kickstart the event itll affect it to an extent They are after all very big names But then the show goes on