Correspondent
IMPHAL, January 12
[dropcap]I[/dropcap]n what may be considered the biggest fashion show in the entire Northeast was held at the well crafted and designed ramp assembled at the 1st battalion Manipur Rifles parade ground in Imphal on Saturday evening.
The second edition of Manipur Fashion Extravaganza (MFE), which was held with Manipur’s Deputy Chief Minister Gakhangam as the chief guest of the formal inauguration function, had witnessed creation of Bangalore based Manipur’s popular stylist Robert Naorem.Commerce and Industries minister Gobindas Konthoujam presided over the function, while the PHED Minister Irengbam Hemochandra was the guest of honour of the show which was witnessed by a sizeable selective crowd of the Manipur fashion world.
Top models of the country and Bhutan numbering more than three dozens walked down the ramp and displayed the beautiful creations of designer Robert Naorem. Chandel’s designer Rimchong also exhibits his creation during the night long show.
With Manipur being home to various ethnic communities each having own culture and traditional attires, there is tremendous scope for growth of fashion industry in the State as traditional motifs could be transformed into globally attractive designs with slight modification, designer Robert felt.
The event was aimed at taking Manipur’s fashion trends to the national and international levels as Robert has been using Manipuri fabrics in Indian apparel.
He said that the popularization of the local fabrics is need of the hour so as to accrue benefits from outside the state. It may be noted that the first edition was held here on January 6 last year.
Speaking on the occasion, Deputy Chief Minister Gaikhangam expressed the need to focus on the fashion industries in Manipur as the state begins to produce world class designers in the fashion arena of the country.
Commerce and Industries minister Govindas, who was the functional president, exuded confidence that through Robert’s effort and creativity, global fashion aficionados would appreciate attires of different ethnic communities of Manipur.
