With back-to-back fashion weeks this season,heres a fashion tour that promises something new. A series of international designers from eight fashion capitals of the world are all set to be a part of the Signature Premier International Fashion Tour 2011. The showstoppers for each of these shows will be the winner of the international beauty pageant of their respective country. Leading Indian designers will also showcase their collection with fashion icons from Bollywood walking the ramp for them during this eight-city tour. International designers who are a part of the tour include Frank Tell (New York),Wayne Cooper (Sydney),Christian Blaken (London),Silvio Betterelli (Milan),Anna Locking (Madrid),Emannuelle Junqueira (Sao Paulo) and Kevin OBrian (Paris). The Indian camp brings in Tarun Tahiliani,JJ Vallaya,Manav Gangwani,Varun Bahl,Manoviraj Khosla and Shane and Falguni Peacock. There is a certain mystique about India; an allure,a romance. I see a lot of potential as inspiration. I am excited about participating in this fashion event. This will be my first visit to India, says Tell. He is bringing a curated version of his Spring-Summer 2012 collection,the one that he is also showing at the New York Fashion Week. This collection has been inspired by suspended bridges, he says. International pageant winners like Rima Fakih (Miss USA),Katherine Brown (Miss UK) and Bollywood celebrities like Kunal Kapoor and Irrfan Khan will be the star attractions of this fashion extravaganza. Fashion capitals like Sydney,Milan,Madrid,London,Mumbai,Sao Paulo,New York and Paris will be represented in Delhi,Pune,Kolkata,Bangalore,Lucknow,Ludhiana,Mumbai and Hyderabad respectively. As a run-up to the event,an online model hunt contest was held,where aspirants from across the country sent their profiles and the final shortlisting was done via fan voting and jury selection. Supermodel Noyonika Chatterjee and designers Shane and Falguni Peacock led the panel of judges in the finale held in Mumbai on August 27. The tour will start in Delhi on September 9 and the final leg will be held in Kolkata on October 9. The Ludhiana edition will be held on September 11 featuring designer Emannuelle Junqueira.
