Bangalore Fashion Week is running full steam ahead as planned with apparently 32 designers having confirmed participation. Now do not ask us the names because just as the rest of the world, we are as clueless about the names of the '32 minus 8' designers. Ask about the names of the remaining 24 designers, and no one seems to be willing to be giving in. The four-day extravaganza will apparently be a host to some of the country's top-notch designers, several upcoming designers, leading buyers, and some of the country's best known models.

We spoke to Gouri Kapur one of the board members of BFW, "We have gotten a lot of entries but have yet to shortlist the final designers who will be showcasing at the event. We will be concentrating on quality. We will also be giving a platform to young designers."The members on the BFW board who will be excising this quality control include Rahul Dev Shetty, Sheetal Sharma (last minute entry as the choreographer of the show), Sanchitta Ajjampur, Gouri Kapur, Mirza L Baig, Siddharth Mahajan and Feroze Khan.

Manovi raj Khosla, who is a participating member, has done a turnabout from his stand where he earlier thought that the idea of having BFW was 'non starter' in the first place! Now he changes sides and says, "Hey it's Bangalore so how can I not do it! I have confirmed to the organizers verbally about an hour ago (relatively speaking) but have not signed on the dotted line yet. I will be showcasing my own collection comprising of both menswear and womens wear. As of now I do not have any showstopper in mind. Commenting on the line-up of designers at Bangalore Fashion Week, Feroz Khan - Creative Director, Dream Merchants said, "Designers are the soul of any fashion event, and we are indeed glad to host some of the country's leading names." Apparently the ramp will have no stars as according to some board members, the stars take away the limelight from the designer. The star of every show will be the designer.

The participating designers at BFW are also being promised exposure and access to a selection of Indian and international buyers from South Africa, Japan, Europe amongst other parts of the fashion world. Well, it's a sponsored event and 'talks still on for the main sponsor', even though there are exactly 12 days left for the gala event! Well, we sincerely wish them the very best, even though the need of yet another fashion week in India is yet to be justified! Oh yeah, by the way all eight participating designers have been invited to showcase and as such do not have to pay any fee. On the contrary, it's an all expense paid trip ahem platform for them. The eight confirmed names are.
1. Rocky
2. Manoviraj Khosla
3. Abdul Halder
4. Jatin Kochhar
5. Samant Chauhan
6. Abhi Rahul
7. Raj and Neetu Shroff
8. Jason and Anshu Arora Sen