Mumbai, Maharashtra, India, Friday, February 24, 2006 — (Business Wire India) — A dynamic combination of reputed designers and emerging talent will showcase their creations at the inaugural Lakme Fashion Week, conceived and created with an aim to integrate India into the global fashion world.

Thirty designers (list attached) from across the country will display their Fall/Winter collection before an unprecedented gathering of domestic and international buyers and media at the National Centre for the Performing Arts from March 28 - April1, 2006. Along with 18 well-known names, six designers each will participate in the Emerging Category and
GenNext show.

Participating designers from Mumbai, Delhi, Goa, Kolkata and Ahmedabad will showcase their Ready-to-wear lines. Lakme Fashion Week has removed any price point restrictions on designers showing on this platform. For the first time in India, participating designers will have the freedom to show their collections at price points they have determined, which is a positive move, adopting international norms at major fashion weeks. The five-day premier fashion event will include designer shows, an exclusive exhibition space, workshops, business and media seminars.

Anil Chopra, Vice President, Lakme Lever said, “We are extremely pleased to present to you an amazing array of talent who will showcase their creations at Lakme Fashion Week. We have had an overwhelming response for the event,
consisting of a refreshing combination of reputed and emerging talent.
Lakme, over the years, has shown a deep rooted commitment towards fashion not only through its association with the India’s first fashion platform, but by also nurturing fresh talent through reality shows like Lakme Fashion House. We are certain that we have laid a very strong foundation for developing the leading fashion event in the country that will integrate the exceptional Indian talent with the international fashion world.”

Ravi Krishnan, Managing Director, IMG/TWI-South Asia and Senior Vice-President, IMG said, “It gives IMG great pride to produce an event that will be on par with Fashion Weeks around the globe. The excellent response to Lakme Fashion Week has resulted in our expanding the schedule to accommodate all designers. IMG is utilizing its unmatched international expertise and network to ensure that Lakme Fashion Week will be an event that India will be proud of. We are thankful to the participating designers, media and sponsors who are partnering with us to help achieve this
objective.”

EMERGING TALENT - FUTURE OF INDIA

Two of the key initiatives from Lakme Fashion Week for promoting fresh talent - the Emerging Designers and the GenNext Show - have received fantastic response from the fashion fraternity. The Advisory Board (names attached) for Lakme Fashion Week, comprising of representatives of key stakeholders from the fashion world were involved in the selection of these deserving designers for the Emerging Designers and the GenNext show. The Advisory Board reviewed all designer submissions for the LFW F/W fashion week and selected the six best designers for the Emerging Category and
GenNext Show.
The GenNext Show was created following the tremendous interest generated by the Emerging Designer initiative. Lakme Fashion Week will help in putting together the first ever-professional show for these six gifted and promising esigners. All selected designers for the GenNext show will get a complete package comprising of the runway, set, sounds, lights, models, show director, hair & makeup and backstage managers — at a highly subsidized fee of rupees ten thousand only (Rs. 10,000). Similar GenNext Shows areorganised in various fashion destinations like London, Sydney and Melbourne
to provide the platform for young talent to blossom.

Lakme Fashion Week is supported by various sponsors who will be deeply associated with the event. Carbon Accessories will be the Official Jewellery
Accessory Partner, Zee TV will be the Broadcast Partner, Sify will be the Official Broadband Partner, Kingfisher will be the Domestic Airline Partner, Hilton Towers will be the Hospitality Partner, and the NCPA will be the Venue Partner for Lakme Fashion Week F/W 2006.

REALISING BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES

Participating designers at Lakme Fashion Week will showcase their creations before national and international buyers and media, which will include four representatives each from the United States, European and Asia Pacific markets. Participation in Lakme Fashion Week will qualify up to three participating designers for possible participation in each of the following
IMG international fashion events - Olympus Fashion Week in New York, Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at Smashbox Studios in Los Angeles, Mercedes-Benz Australian Fashion Week and the Singapore Fashion Festival. IMG will also be working closely with fashion events in Europe to develop benefits for participants of Lakme Fashion Week. The selection of designers who will be participating in these international events will be made by IMG’s team of global fashion experts along with Lakme. Through its fashion week publications and website, The Daily and www.fashionweekdaily.com, IMG has already started promoting the participants of LFW and also the event. In an unprecedented initiative, The Daily featured four special pages on Lakme Fashion Week during the Olympus Fashion Week which ran from February 3-10. The stories highlight the importance of Lakme Fashion Week, Mumbai’s significance in the Indian fashion scenario,
the participating designers, and other important facets of this premier event. IMG’s ever growing list of events and opportunities also means that Lakme Fashion Week participants will have access to international media resources,
including the world’s top fashion publications and television shows to industry, media-focused campaigns promoting the event. Additionally, they will also benefit from VIP attendance by internationally recognized editors, buyers and retailers. This further means that Lakme Fashion Week participating designers are integrated into a number of new initiatives being created by IMG worldwide, including new media platforms such as the internet, mobile phones and broadband.

Lakme Fashion Week (LFW) is a joint initiative between Lakme, the leading cosmetics brand and a pillar of the fashion industry in India, and IMG, the global leader in Fashion Weeks and event production. LFW has been conceived and created with an aim to integrate India into the global fashion world. LFW will be organised twice every year. The inaugural Fall/Winter Week will be held from March 28 - April 1, 2006 at the National Centre for Performing Arts (NCPA), Mumbai and the Spring/Summer Week in September-October 2006. New initiatives like ‘Emerging Designer Category’ and ‘GenNext’ will be unveiled for the first time in India at the inaugural Lakme Fashion Week 2006 with an aim to provide a platform for promising young talent to establish themselves across India. Both Lakme and IMG have been pivotal to the success of the Lakme India Fashion Week over the last six years.