Riding on the success of the country's first ever spring/summer showcase at the Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week (WIFW) earlier this month, the Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI) Thursday announced the fall/winter edition would be held here March 21-25, 2007.

Details of the venue of India's biggest B2B fashion trade event will be announced shortly, an FDCI statement said.

"Following the success of our spring/summer event - evident from the fact that one of our most promising member designers Varun Bahl was selected to showcase at the prestigious Milan Fashion Week - we are happy to announce and start planning for our next big event," said FDCI director general Rathi Vinay Jha.

"The platform will yet again have an additional day dedicated to the business of fashion for our buyers - national and international - on March 26."

Event sponsor ITC was upbeat about the upcoming event.

"The association of ITC's Wills Lifestyle (clothing and accessories brand) with the country's most prestigious lifestyle event has been a phenomenal success since its inception," said Atul Chand, vice president (marketing) of ITC's lifestyle retailing division.

"We would like to take this forward by setting more international benchmarks in the fashion arena. We are confident that the upcoming edition will be a significant step towards this direction," he said.

"Having set new standards, we are poised for an even busier autumn/winter week," said Preeta Singh, CEO of event management company PDM that is assisting FDCI in organising the show.

"Team PDM is planning several initiatives along with our partners and sponsors to ensure that designers and buyers have an even better business experience," she added.