Organisers are battling it out to make their event stands out
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Chennai: Chennai will host not one or two but four fashion weeks in July and August. Starting off with the Chennai Fashion Week that will be held today and tomorrow, there is the Pondicherry Fashion Week, Madras Couture Fashion Week and the Chennai International Fashion Week. With so many events lined up in the fashion sphere, there is a hot war brewing amidst the organisers.
The first salvo was fired when Storm Fashion Company, which organises the Chennai International Fashion Week (CIFW), filed a suit against the organisers of Chennai Fashion Week (CFW) for using their name. The verdict of this case came in the favour of the organisers of Chennai Fashion Week, and they were allowed to conduct the two-day event.
Karun Raman, organiser of CFW, says he feels vindicated, and adds, “Last few days I wasn’t able to sleep. It was such a scary situation. I had already committed to the designers, models, sponsors and other partners. But thankfully the verdict was in our favour and we are going ahead with the fashion week as planned. We are so relieved. The show will include accomplished names and emerging designers.”
Advocate Sanjay Ramaswamy, who fought the case on behalf of the organisers of CFW, puts forth, “We had applied for the trademark of the name ‘Chennai Fashion Week’ in 2009 itself, even before Chennai International Fashion Week started. Our trademark is different from theirs and we have been using it for a while now. So there was no question of us not going ahead with it. In fact, Storm Fashion Company only applied for the trademark of ‘Chennai International Fashion Week’ in June 2015. Definitely, we had a strong case.”
Gaurav Sharma, CEO of Storm Fashion Company clarifies, “Well, all I have to say is it is a free country and we can’t stop anyone from doing what they want. We wanted to ensure that people do not get mislead into thinking that CFW has any association with us.” Patent & Trademark Attorney, Sumitha Vibhu who fought the case on behalf of Storm Fashion says, “The Madras High Court directed Chennai Fashion Week to publish in all leading dailies that they were in no way connected with my client.
Subject to such a disclaimer, they have been permitted to conduct this particular two-day event.” The CIFW will be held this year from August 27 to 30 and plans to include some of the A-listers from the fashion industry. Storm Fashion Company will also be organising the Pondicherry Fashion Week that will be held on July 18 and July 19.
Apart from these, Jupiter Events will be organising the Madras Couture Fashion Week on July 31 and August 1. But proprietor Satish Jupiter says, “Chennai is an emerging fashion hub and there is enough space for all of us to flourish. Each fashion week caters to different set of people. Madras Couture Fashion Week solely focuses on new and emerging designers, who need a platform to showcase their talent.”
Fashion designer Rehane, who has been a part of numerous fashion weeks across India, says she is actually confused. “While I am happy that there is proactive movement to do something in the fashion sphere in Chennai, I am not very sure which of these fashion weeks are exactly working towards nurturing fashion in the city. There are not any local big names that can be seen. Fashion weeks should not be reduced to an entertainment programme, where in the organisers just ask their close friends to participate for heck of it. The fashion industry needs to be treated seriously.”
( Source : deccan chronicle )
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