The second edition of the Northeast India Fashion Week was announced on Thursday. The three-day fashion extravaganza, conceptualized to inspire and encourage the upcoming handicraft artisans and designers of the region who are working exclusively towards the promotion of northeastern fabrics and culture, will be held in Itanagar from June 3 to 5.
The founders of the event, Affluent Ray of Light (ARL) – a non-profit organization dedicated to globalize the social and cultural aspects of the different tribes of Northeast India – announced the dates of the second edition of Northeast India Fashion Week in a press conference held at the Guwahati Press Club on Thursday.
As a prelude to the grandiose event, ARL will be organizing a promo fashion show in Guwahati on Sunday, May 8 at Terra Mayaa which will witness the participation of 13 young designers who believe in showcasing their traditional fabric and patterns and have successfully carved a niche for themselves in the fashion industry. The designers who will be participating in the Guwahati promo are Arita Kashyap and Priyanka Buragohain from Assam; Milli Indira Dangngo, Techi Yapar, Nana Gona and Minu Mara from Arunachal Pradesh; Charlee Mathlena and Lalthabiki Chawngthu from Mizoram; Rupert W. Lynrah from Meghalaya; Ongtiong Kichu and Gloria Ovung from Nagaland; Vanshala Mishra from Bihar; Huanpi Rani from Bengaluru and Archana Kabra from Rajasthan.
Speaking on the occasion, Chief Operating Officer and founder of Affluent Ray of Light, fashion designer Yana Ngoba said, “ARL is committed to support upcoming and established talented Designers from all backgrounds, with new innovative ideas that reflect the culture of Northeast India. We desire to make a unique and positive contribution through fashion design to the ever changing world and also to change the concept of fashion shows in northeast, making it more cause oriented instead of skin and entertainment show.”
She further said, “Northeast has an immense artistic potential. It is sad to see that weavers today are giving up their age old tradition in search of jobs which pays them better. With this event we want to promote the weavers of the region who lives in disguise but are so important for the designers across the world. At NEIFW our focus is to support weavers of Northeast and brilliant emerging designers. I understand the concept, hard work and dedication involved to create designs. We also offer weavers and designers the opportunity to retail through our online boutique connection and to showcase their designs in international platform and in dealing with manufacturers and buyers.”
The venue will also have stalls where designers from varied backgrounds will exhibit their designs and the handloom of the northeast to ensure optimum exposure and networking opportunity with the community during the fashion week.
Northeast India Fashion Week is a concept created and implemented by Affluent Ray of Light (ARL) to promote weavers, designers and craftsmen of the region in the national as well as international market and to empower talent of northeast by providing them a networking opportunity and by facilitating buyers for their products. This event is a platform provided to all accomplices within northeast Indian industry, with a special focus on weavers and handicrafts, with a motive to build network and alliance with partners & markets across the globe.
ARL believes that it is very important to preserve the northeastern region’s rich fabrics, traditional handlooms and handicrafts, and very few of the designers from the region are making an effort to do so. Their mission is to promote and preserve the vast variety of indigenous textiles and crafts that are slowly losing popularity amongst the younger generation, through fashion shows and help create business and branding opportunities for industries directly or indirectly engaged in retailing handloom, textile fashion and life.
