The forthcoming Purnam exhibition will promote budding designers from India and also showcase prêt and couture collections by designers from london and Karachi. Samiksha Raj reports
Neera Sethi has a penchant for collecting semi-precious stones and fresh water pearls from her overseas trips. She will put her splendid collection, collected over last 25 years, at the forthcoming exhibition titled Purnam at the Ashoka Hotel. There will be many other young entrepreneurs and designers like Neera participating in the exhibition.
“I met the team of Purnam while working for the NGO Akshay Pratishthan and since then I have been part of all their exhibitions,” says Neera, who now has a lot of Japanese clients who place their colour and type preferences from her exclusive collection of semi-precious stones which she then mixes and matches accordingly.
Purnam is the brainchild of four spirited ladies, Saroj Bhatia, Indu Gupta, Jani Dhingra and Sarita Baluja (all associated with the NGO Akshay Pratishthan) who earlier held fund-raising exhibitions in embassies. later in 2006 they took their initiative forward by conceptualising Purnam (meaning complete) and giving exhibitors from India and abroad an opportunity to showcase their talents and helping them get buyers. “We always look for new exhibitors from across the globe — Kolkata, Delhi, Mumbai and even Pakistan and Dubai. After our first exhibition in 2006, which was held in Punjab — ludhiana, Jalandhar and Chandigarh, we’ve also had an international exhibition in Dubai in 2010 and now it has been 25 years that we’ve been holding exhibitions on art and crafts and lifestyle in various parts of the country,” informs Indu Gupta. Having received whopping response over the years, these ladies definitely want to give consumers the best of the products to choose from. Sarita Baluja says, “Many a time the exhibitors feel their products are the best, but sometimes they are not as per a particular market. Hence, we invite the exhibitors to screen their products, wherein we gauge the product line. The exhibitors whose products are found relevant to the market can participate in the event.”
The Purnam exhibition will see the elites of the city thronging the venue for the couture and prêt wear, exquisite printed quilts, jewellery pieces and many other lifestyle products which will be on display. “As we are doing a lifestyle exhibition this time, we are expecting a lot of homemakers as visitors. They would find every thing they need for their homes,” explains Baluja.
Ragini Singhania, one of the exhibitors at this year’s exhibition, will be showcasing her range of kurtas in fabrics like cotton, mulmul, georgette and chiffon. She says, “The best part about participating in this exhibition is that you get to promote your brand among the masses.”
This time the event will also see two international participants, namely Nisha from london and Huma from Karachi, displaying their couture and prêt lines.
Sarita Baluja says, “Currently there’s no international exhibition in the pipeline as we feel there’s so much talent to tap from our own country. We would rather have foreign exhibitors come here and showcase their products.”