Design India was the chant in Wellington as the top three collections that made it to the WOW podium were of budding Indian designers.
NP Jayaraj, a design student at Pearl Academy, New Delhi, won the WOW Factor Award for his collection, The Weaver Finch Colony, while Metal Petal and I Explode, both collections of RS Rajasekran from National Institute of Design, and Jasmina and Satbir from NIFT, respectively, were among top three entries.
Jayaraj line was chosen as the most innovative garment for its creative synthesis of art and fashion, and was awarded a prize money of $5,000.
Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI) has also announced award money of Rs 30,000 each for the three best Indian entries sent to WOW.
FDCI had short-listed and sent entries of 18 young designers for review by the WOW judges. Eight of them were selected to showcase their work at the WOW event.
The council has officially tied up with the Montana World of Wearable Art (WOW), one of the most coveted fashion extravaganzas in the world, held each year in New Zealand, to promote and encourage Indian participation for the show. This received an overwhelming response with young designers from across the country sending in their entries for WOW 2007.
WOW is an annual event that witnesses an audience of about 30,000. Designers from all over the world, including countries like Australia, Canada, Singapore, Thailand, the United Kingdom, the United States and Japan participate. Participants are challenged to create a unique garment that has impact and is constructed to withstand the movement of individual choreography.
