India Beach Fashion Week at Goa’s Island of Love on February 13th, 14th
The two-day event is a unique Valentine’s celebration showcasing a brave and bold young world
The longest runway and the first sea-facing, unique ramps, open-air shows on the riverfront and in colonial style villas make it a fashion festival with a difference
Vikram Phadnis launches resort wear for the first time at the curtain raiser
One Minute Sarees make an appearance on the Indian runway for the first time
Ikonic presents SS'23 hair trends through a unique runway show
Grand Finale by Gavin Miguel!
7th February, 2023: Make this Valentine’s special with a quick getaway to Goa’s Divar Island for two days of fun and fashion. The Island of Love is a one-of-its-kind pop destination for the ninth edition of the India Beach Fashion Week (IBFW) which flags off at Mercure, the Goa Devaaya resort, on February 13. Presented by Ikonic and powered by Timex, it is India’s first Island Week & Fashion Festival.
IBFW is Asia’s largest and one of its most prominent calendar events. "We target young and bold fashion enthusiasts and entrepreneurs, designers, content creators and artists, fresh graduates and early innovators. Their vision and outlook, design aesthetics and technology can help build India’s biggest creative ecosystem with consumers and brand custodians who stand up for green space energy and a circular usage economy," says co-founder Pallav Ojha.
“Ikonic is elated to be joining hands with India Beach Fashion Week. As title sponsors, we look forward to being part of this vibrant event about all things fashion,” asserts Rayed Merchant, co-founder, Ikonic Professional.
Timing it right
Deepak Chhabra, Managing Director, Timex Group India, states, “Watches are no more just time telling devices, but a fashion accessory and a statement piece which completes your look. We at Timex understand the ever-evolving futuristic fashion industry and applaud the disruptive fashion trends. And IBFW provides the perfect platform for this bold community. We are super excited to be a part of the IBFW. It will be a great place for us to empower the young and brave new designers of this era, staying abreast with the latest innovation, creative outlook and technologies in the fashion world.”
With Goa Devaaya Mercure Resort, Divar, as its ‘Hospitality’ partner and GATSBY as its ‘Men’s Grooming’ partner, IBFW opens at 3 pm on the eve of Valentine’s Day.
At 5 pm, there is a meet and greet session with all the guests. The sunset session is on the riverfront. The open-air press conference followed by live music and cocktails.
At 8.30 pm, Vikram Phadnis makes his debut in resort wear. His curtain-raiser show is set in the lap of nature, in the Tropical Garden.
India’s largest creative ecosystem
An upbeat Puneet Motiani, Designated Partner, Gardenia Cosmotrade LLP (GATSBY), avers, “We are thrilled to partner as the ‘Men’s Grooming Partner’ at the India Beach Fashion Week (IBFW) Showcase 2023 that is tailor-made for GenZ. We’re quite kicked about the association and even more kicked about the similar vision we share of creating a niche in style and fashion. GATSBY and IBFW both believe in the ‘Power of Young’ and we’re excited to make a splash at India’s largest creative eco-system in Goa.”
The 18th-century island with its lush tropical forests, a vast expanse of emerald green paddy fields and meticulously restored colonial-style Portuguese villas is a picture-perfect setting for IBFW. Open-air ramps, including India’s longest ramp and the first one facing the sea, makes it a one-of-its-kind fashion festival. There are designated festival areas and brand engagement booths, makeover zones and experience zones with 15 by 15 store installations and villa blocks within the man show area and even an after-party conclave zone. Pop-up companies will also be setting up a flea market which should be another crowd-puller.
The resort itself has a gym, spa, beauty parlor, and the Malar restaurant, besides the mandatory swimming pool, coveted Maharaja Suite and a personal jetty with yacht park space.
Day One wraps up with Eliferous, a collaborative show presented by Timex. The designer, Srishti Kaur, was also Miss Teen Universe.
Valentine vogue
Valentine’s Day, February 14 flags off with the ‘Future of Fashion Conclave – Meet The Leaders’ at noon. Featuring the managing directors of the festival’s title sponsors. Timex, Ikonic and Samsonite, IBFW co-founder Pallav Ojha and Sasha Revanker, the founder of One Minute Sarees, the hour-long session will be moderated by Jitin Hingorani from Los Angeles.
Our vibrant, colourful, and trendy bags are tailored to ensure that it is also of the highest quality and in vogue. What better time to join forces with India Beach Fashion Week, where the industry’s leading designers and models gather to honour the evolution of the design,” says an exuberant Pradnya Somesh Popade, Head of Marketing & Communications, Samsonite, the ‘Travel’ partner.
The ‘Business Outreach’ partner is COMO Designers Collective and the ‘Event’ partners Goa Design Project, Johnny Walker Blonde, Dive Resort Collective, Mercure Hotel, Goa Devyaa Resort, The Fashion Design Council of Rajasthan (FDCR), Frizzano Sparkling Wine and PE3R, In the Spirit of Mixing, The ‘Media and Outreach’ partners are Media Solutions, Creative Joule, Drool Mnky, Trive Studios and Dive Resort Collective.
Royal Musical experience
The ‘Experience’ partner is the Royal Falcon Music Production which opens the festival on Day 2 with a live stage on the Green Lawns at 2 pm. “Royal Falcon is a Dubai-based music label that brings the world together with the fusion of international musicians and world music,” attests electrified filmmaker Aziz Zee.
This royal musical experience will be followed by fashion shows from a bunch of young designers, starting with Isha Khanna and Ken Ferns to Moonshine by Swapnila and Meeami Fashion by Amit Bharadwaj at the colonial villas. All shows are in the open air, beautifully integrated with the island’s tropical setting. Also scheduled are shows of Anuthhi by Nishant and Preeti, Ripci Bhatiya, Solo and FDCR. The collaboration with FDCR, highlights the Rajasthani cultural ecosystem.
Past perfect
IBFW has showcased ace designers in earlier editions, including Wendell Rodricks, Pallavi Jaikishan, Suneet Varma, Falguni & Shane Peacock and Varun Bahl. Other prominent names that come to mind are James Ferreira, Rocky Star, Pria Kataria Puri, Arjun Khanna, Rina Dhaka and Saisha Shinde to name a few. Among the showstoppers and brand influencers were Sushmita Sen, Bipasha Basu, Kiara Advani, Lisa Haydon, Kriti Sanon, Sunny Leone, Aditi Rao Hydari and Rana Daggubati. It has launched over 200 fresh designers and exhibitors over the years. It has the distinction of being acknowledged as Asia’s largest platform to showcase young talent and revolutionary trends
Fashion revolution with sarees
This year, the only Indian-American brand on the 2023 runway is the Los Angeles-based One Minute Saree. A direct-to-consumer online saree brand, it will unveil its eclectic collection on a fashion ramp for the first time at IBFW. It is a homecoming for founder Sasha Revankar who is originally from Goa. Rooted in tradition but crafted for the modern woman, these custom-stitched sarees have sparked a fashion revolution for the next generation of Indophiles, helping them drape the fabric immaculately in under a minute.
Trauma to trends
Sasha admits that after being a little bit traumatized from the experience of wearing a saree to a wedding while handling two little kids in 2018, she had basically given up on the idea of ever putting one on again. “Even though I spent an hour perfecting my drape, the saree repeatedly came loose throughout the evening,” she confides. She admits it was a bit disheartening because she loves the concept of a saree for the tradition and elegance it represents. “But it was just too complicated, especially for someone living in the States. Where would I even go to buy a petticoat!” she exclaims. Sasha found an answer to her saree woes in the One Minute Sari. It maintains the flow and drape of the garment while staying true to the authenticity of the traditional Nivi Sarees, the Gujarati sarees and the Kanjivaram sarees, with inclusive sizes for all body types, from extra small to extra-large.
Avant-garde game-changer
Explaining why IBFW chose to include the line in their destination-wedding-themed fashion show, co-founder Neha Asthana Ojha reasoned, “We have always believed in the power of the young and the bold and have created a niche in the fashion segment since 2015. One Minute Saree is exactly the kind of avant-garde game-changer that will excite fashionistas and claim its rightful space in the millennial market.” The brand will present 14 looks on the runway. On the same day, Prashant Majumdar and House of Nivii by Pankhnivi will helm the COMO Collective. The sundowner will be followed by another riverfront show at 9.30 pm with Gavin Miguel bringing the curtains down. The grand finale, presented by Ikonic, will be followed by an afterparty.
Hair-raising adventure
One of the highlights of IBFW is a funky hair show presented by Ikonic. “When it comes to fashion, it is a term that goes hand in hand with hair. A great hairstyle always adds that finishing touch of panache to any person’s fashion sense,” points out Ikonic Professional co-founder Rayed Merchant. He elaborates, “Hairdos can not only elevate your persona, they can also spark stylistic confidence inside you. At Ikonic, we firmly believe that hair is to fashion, what creativity is to art. The two are inseparable.”
Going beyond fashion
Run as both a business-to-business and a business-to-customer event, the India Beach Fashion Week brings together designers and brands, creatives and exhibitors in the beach, resort, and travel destination wear categories. Over two days, they will showcase their latest collections and network to increase brand awareness amongst the general public. However, what sets it apart is that IBFW is designed to go beyond fashion. It promotes Goa as a travel destination, building a large-scale platform for lifestyle tourism around it.
Tropical Eden along the Mandovi river
The idyllic Divar Island, separate from the mainland, is an enticing getaway as the Island of Love is still largely unexplored. A tropical Eden tucked away along the Mandovi river, it is blissfully quiet and very 8th-century in the meticulously-restored Portuguese villas with their colonial-style architecture and old-world feel. Divar is home to three scenic villages. Piedade sits at the bottom of a hillock on whose crest is the picturesque Church of Our Lady of Compassion. The second, Malar, was earlier called Sao Matias by its Portuguese residents. The third village, Naroa, was once a popular pilgrimage site, but today has a population of barely a thousand and just about 80 homes. And while the island gives the impression of being cut off, it is just a 15 to 30-minute ferry ride from Old Goa, Naroa and Ribander.
So, Go, Goa, Gone, what are you waiting for? The countdown has begun. Just six days more to go!
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