The 24th edition of Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week (WIFW) spring-summer 2015, kicked off on Wednesday, 8th October. This year the emphasis is more on handloom and trade, an organizer said as there will be buyers from countries like the US, Britain and Japan, as also the Middle East, to boost the business aspect of the event.

Also more than 120 deisgners are set to rock the ramp with a plethora of designs. There are two-three highlights of fashion week this year. Because this is trade event, they are expecting a lot of buyers from both international and domestic markets, said Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI) president Sunil Sethi.

It has been have noticed that buyers from Middle East bring in a lot of business and this time too there will be a lot of buyers from Middle East, especially from Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

Also, buyers are coming from London and US. They have prominently been placing orders worth millions. Japan will also be attending the event as a buyer.

While textile revivalist Aneeth Arora will open the five-day fashion event at Pragati Maidan, the main venue, ace fashion designer Rohit Bal will bring the curtain down at the Qutub complex.

Bal's grand finale collection is inspired by the rich and the lush Mughal gardens in Kashmir and is named “Gulbagh”. The designer is also paying tribute to all the sufferers of Kashmir floods through his line.

While, Bal is taking inspiration from valley of Kashmir, Designer Samant Chauhan's line will have strong influence of Bhagalpuri silk from Bihar. The collection is titled 'Dream' and it is all about romance and illusion. The collection represents flow in silhouettes blended seamlessly with Bhagalpur silk fabric with an added element of special silk thread embroidery in the theme.

Other designers who are going to create new fashion statement on ramps includes Wendell Rodricks, Rajesh Pratap Singh, Nida Mahmood, Ashish N. Soni, Gauri and Nainika, Malini Ramani and Anupama Dayal while Abraham and Thakore, Ranna Gill and Namrata Joshipura who will display their work at stalls only.

Continuing the trend of promoting budding designers, FDCI has invited the names like Rina Singh, Payal Singhal and Sneha Arora to showcase at the WIFW.

This year as lot of emphasis is given to handloom. FDCI will pay tribute to handloom weavers, through a special show that will be done by Wendell Rodricks a tribute to the Indian handloom weavers. There is also a special zone where lot of designers will be showcasing their handloom products within their stalls.

Asia’s biggest fashion and trade event scheduled from October 8-12, 2014, at Hall No. 18, Pragati Maidan, New Delhi, continues the journey of taking Indian fashion beyond its shores.