Goa: Mr William Xavier is a film maker and is into making commercials and documentaries for the last ten years. Film and fashion go hand in hand, which has drawn him into the fashion world where he is now organising ‘The International Fashion Week Goa 2017’. He has also been organising the Global Indian Film Festival, a global platform for Indian films with strong content.  This is the second edition of the International Fashion Week Goa, and it will be held for three days at Taj Vivanta, Panjim. Last year the event was held from December 9 to 11 for which there was an overwhelming response. And there will be another edition in December 2017 as well.

Q. What is the theme for this edition?
– The show will be held twice a year, one during the summer and another during the winter. The theme for this edition is the summer and monsoon collection and the show which will be held in December this year will feature winter as well as bridal collection

Q. How would you describe this event and what is the objective?
– The objective of organising this fashion week is that it is not for fun and entertainment but for some serious business. This event will be purely business of fashion, where we will provide a stage for many talented fashion designers.

Q. What makes this event so special?
– The speciality about this event is that it is economically viable for every stakeholder and will benefit the designers, retailers, models and even the organisers. Even our audience will get to witness different types of trends, designs and collection.

Q. Why is this show held only for three days?
– This is actually a 4-day programme as we are having a curtain raiser event at Mall de Goa in Porvorim on May 7 that is on Sunday, which will be performed by two or three designers, then the main event will be held from May 12 to 14, that is Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Q. How many fashion designers will be participating in this event?
– We will be having 24 fashion designers who will be coming to participate in this event. From Goa there will be around three to four designers along with designers from Mumbai, Bangalore, Kochi, Kolkata and Delhi. There are a few designers from Nagpur and there are around three designers who will be coming from Hyderabad also. There are international fashion designers from Mexico, Dubai, Bangladesh and Myanmar as well.

Q. What are the events that will be conducted during this 3-day fashion extravaganza?
– During these three days, we are having a Masterclass of fashion designers, there will be a workshop on fashion, we will be organising seminars and there will be a talk show on how to establish a successful business in fashion industry.

Q. What are your thoughts about Goan fashion designers?
– Goan fashion designers are very talented but the only thing is that they are not coming very openly to market or promote their product. Designers from other parts of the country are willing to go to any extent to promote their brand. So I feel the Goan fashion designers should come openly and explore, as there are loads of opportunities in the market, they can promote their brand on a grand scale within Goa itself.

Q. What are the benefits stakeholders will have from the business point of view?
– This Fashion Week is more than just a show because we will be organising business to business meeting so that the designers can meet the retailers, they can interact with the prospective clients and the manufacturers. So we are trying to start a trend which is beneficial to all the stakeholders in this business. We have specially invited all the boutique owners. We have invited around 200 boutique owners who are really looking forward to the designer’s clothes to sell in their retail outlets. We have invited some big showroom owners in Goa and we have also partnered with Mall de Goa. The purpose is that these boutique or showroom owners can take a look at their collections and can have a business to business meeting with the designers. We have also invited film makers in order to provide exposure to the models so that they can have an opportunity to get a role in the films and make a career. This is a show for everybody and a win-win situation for every stakeholder.

Q. Who are the designers to watch out for?
– Nick Roshan, Mohan Gowda both are from Soth Indian film industry, designer duo Naveen and Pradeep, Ruby Sayyed from Mumbai, Kapil Bhantia, Satish Gupta, all of them are celebrity designers, they have worked for the Bollywood stars and for the movies as well. All these designers are trend setters.

Q. Who are the well-known models participating?
– At this moment we are having around 45 models from all over India and some known names are – Priyanka Khurana who is Miss Earth 2016, then we have Samita V who is a well-known actress from Kannada film industry, then there is Rekha Rana who is also a known actress, we have also confirmed Papiya Biswas from Kolkata. We are also in touch with Sonakshi Sinha and a few other names from Bollywood but they are not yet confirmed.

Q. A show like this cannot go without a little spice from the B-town, are we expecting to see any Bollywood stars?
– We have invited Hritesh Deshmukh, Tusshar Kapoor, Milind Soman and Neha Dhupia. We expect them to attend the show so that they can give us the inspiration and there is some suggestion or guidance from them. But we are still waiting for their confirmation.

Q. Are there any international models participating in the show?
– Yes we are trying to get some international models, there are models who will be coming from Qatar, London and Bangkok, but because of their passport and visa issues we haven’t confirmed them yet.

Q. Why Goa? And what kind of impact can a show like this make on the Goan fashion industry?
– Goa has not seen a big fashion culture, though there is a fashion trend in Goa where people look for different kind of collections, but business activities are not happening over here the way it should happen. There are shows being hosted, but they are not able to have a professional touch and business activities are not happening where discussions can take place between two people. But the International Fashion Week will bring all the serious people from Goa.

Q. What are your future plans?
– The future plan is that after this show, we are taking a world fashion tour, where the same team will go to London and then Dubai. The designers will get an opportunity to showcase their brand in an International market.

Q. Is there any possibility that this show will move also to the other parts of the country?
– Yes, we have been approached to host an event in Mumbai, one in Pune and another in Hyderabad. As some of our designers come from these cities they too want an event like this to take place in their city.

Q. Are you planning to have any programme during this show that will have a social message?
– Yes, we are supporting the “Beti Bachao Beti Padhao” initiative of the Government of India, under which we have around ten under-privileged girls whose dress/clothes will be sponsored by one of the designers. Our aim is to try in whatever possible way to provide a platform to support these under-privileged girls so that they too can have a dream either to be a model, actress or a fashion designer. Our target is not just to make money and go home but also give back something to the society.

Q. What is your message for the youngsters who want to make a career in the fashion industry?
– Till human beings are in existence they will always need clothes, everybody wants to have good clothes and this is a never ending process. So my message to the youngsters will be to come and explore this huge world of fashion.