They're billed the "New Faces Going Places" - 26 first time participants who will join 33 of the country's top fashion models on the runways of the Wills India Fashion Week here April 5-9.

They oozed confidence as they sashayed down a circular staircase at a tony store in south Delhi's South Extension Wednesday to celebrate their selection after an audition Monday.

Their poise was not surprising because among their ranks were Miss India 2005 Sindhura Gadde, 2003 title winner Nikita Anand, Gladrags 2006 winner Pawan Setpal, Grasim Mr. India first runner up 2004, and Adam Bedi, who has modelled at the Milan Fashion Week 2005.

"It's very exciting because it's a great challenge. The India Fashion Week has become the event of the industry and I feel honoured to be chosen," Gadde maintained.

"It's great to be rubbing shoulders with the top notchers of the industry. I'm sure this event is going to do wonders for my career," Anand asserted.

"The response to the audition was overwhelming," designer Rohit Gandhi, one the eight judges, said of the event that attracted 200 participants, including a number of international models.

Three of them - Claudia Horn (Brazil), Bojana Draskovic and Ivana Milanovic (both Serbia) - were given the nod.

"India is such an intense and vibrant country, I feel born again," said Horn, who, like most foreigners, confessed to be attracted to the country through Bollywood but firmly ruled out a career in acting.

"For me, modelling comes first. There's no time for anything else," Horn asserted, hoping the Delhi event would be her ticket to other international runways.

Rati Vinay Jha, director general of the Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI) that organises the India Fashion Week, would certainly like that to happen because it would prove the auditions had served their purpose.

According to her, "The auditions were not just a part, but a strong driving force for the Wills India Fashion Week to identify the hottest faces of tomorrow and to promote new talent".

WIFW (Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week) autumn/winter 2006 will see the participation of more than 80 designers, including India's most eminent names in the world of fashion, accessories and textiles, as well as young and upcoming designers.

Participating designers will showcase their prêt (ready-to-wear) and diffusion (between ready-to-wear and couture) lines in Indian, Indo-Western and Western categories on the ramp and in the trade centre.

A 'by invitation only' event, WIFW "aims to serve as an effective platform to promote fashion design and provide industry professionals the opportunity to form trade linkages within India and globally", Jha explained.

"It offers participating designers a business presence through a series of marketing tools, including seminars and workshops on various facets of the industry, as also presentations and reports all aimed at informing and updating buyers, investors, corporate houses and the media," she added.

Top notch professionals in the fashion industry came together in 1998 to form FDCI to serve as a cohesive platform for Indian designers and to act as a mouthpiece of the industry at all relevant platforms to promote Indian fashion at home and abroad.