New Delhi, Oct 4 (IANS): The Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI) is all set to celebrate the charm of the chanderi fabric at the opening show of the upcoming Amazon India Fashion Week (AIFW) Spring Summer 2017.

For the opening show, 16 designers will come together to create four ensembles each, to encourage designers to incorporate chanderi into their lexicon and boost the languishing crafts sector.

The Scindia family of Gwalior has been supporting chanderi weaver clusters for decades and have been instrumental in their upliftment. Encouraged by their contribution, FDCI has joined forces to do their bit to bring the focus on to the fabric. 

The designers of the project are: Aneeth Arora, Anita Dongre, Atsu Sekhose, Divyam Mehta, Gaurav Jai Gupta, IKAI by Ragini Ahuja, Joy Mitra, Ka-Sha by Karishma Shahani, Paromita Banerjee, Payal Pratap, Pratima Pandey, Ruchika Sachdev, Samant Chauhan, Sanjay Garg, Surendri by Yogesh Chaudhary and Vaishali S. 

FDCI president Sunil Sethi said: "The recent months have witnessed delightful movements in the handloom sector. Upliftment of crafts has been our motto at the FDCI. Through this project, we will increase the usage of chanderi making it the fabric of the moment. 

"In the past, FDCI has made earnest attempts to revive khadi as well as the Banarasi weave. This year, we are looking to establish chanderi belt as the central craft tourism destination in India." 

In total, 110 designers -- on the runway and stall area -- are taking part in the event. The grand finale will have a first ever guru-shishya (Master and Disciple) presentation by designers JJ Valaya and Alpana-Neeraj, while the theme of the entire gala is 'India Modern Festive'.