Fashion often seeks out high art — sometimes in the name of inspiration, sometimes to appropriate a place slightly more elevated than the glitzy ramp it perches on. At the Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week (WIFW), expect the effervescence of 19th century Russia and its flouncing ballerinas, as designer Suneet Varma gives a spring-summer twist to Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake. “I have always been a lover of western classical music. So when I decided to do the show this year, I wanted to capture the essence of the world of classical dance and music in a contemporary form,” says Varma. Gaurav Raina of MIDIval PunditZ has reworked Tchaikovsky’s score for the show.

Varma’s ballet stunt is not the only surprise package of the WIFW, which is set to take off at Pragati Maidan from October 24. For starters, the week is the first after the Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI) got together with the warring faction of designers from the Fashion Foundation of India and will see an unprecedented 110 designers. While regulars like Ritu Kumar, Ranna Gill and Rajesh Pratap Singh will mark their attendance, surprise entrants include Mumbai’s Narendra Kumar Ahmad and Wendell Rodricks, both avowed Lakme Fashion Week adherents. Designers like Poonam Bhagat and Anshu Arora Sen, who haven’t been part of the weeks organised by the FDCI in a while, too will showcase at the event. Apart from Varma, who is returning to the fashion week after almost three years, designer Ritu Beri will come back to an Indian fashion week after over a decade. “I have had a packed agenda the past few years and, unfortunately, the dates of the fashion weeks in India did not coincide with my prior commitments. Also, with the fraternity coming together this year, the energy is just right,” says Beri, who promises to show a collection replete with “youthful charm, sensuality and grandeur”.

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