Vizag Fashion Week comes to an abrupt end

Vizag's first-ever Fashion Week which kicked off in style despite a shaky start with women's organisations protesting against the event, came to a premature end. The organisers cancelled the final day of the show that was scheduled for February 3. The reason — renowned designer James Ferreira's line had prints of Lord Ganesha — which has irked a section of Vizagites leading to fresh protests.

Confirming the cancellation of the event, Gaurav Sharma of Storm Fashion Company, the organisers said, "We are calling off the final day of the show in order not to get into any more controversies. Since the conditions in the city are not favourable to continue the show, we cancelled it".

On hearing that arrest warrants have been issued against the organisers and the designer, we got in touch with K Lakshmana Rao, CI III Town Police Station. "Ganta Srinivasa Rao, Minister of Infrastructure & Investment, Ports, Airports & Natural Gas, Government of Andhra Pradesh, has asked us to stop the event. A case under section 295 A has been filed against the organisers and the designer for deliberate and malicious acts which may outrage religious feelings," he says.

Meanwhile, designer Jatin Kochhar who was to showcase his collection at the finale, is a disappointed man. "It's very unfortunate that the event had to be called off. This is my first visit to Vizag and I was expecting a warm welcome and appreciation, but instead things were just the opposite. I worked on this collection for Vizag for three months and it's disappointing that I won't be able to showcase it," said Jatin, who feels people should shed their "narrow-minded perceptions" about fashion shows as there is nothing obscene about them.

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