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Twelve of the most promising fashion students of India presented a dazzling display of their creative designing talent at the finale of 3rd edition of 'The Debut' here today.

Wills Lifestyle has taken forward its search for promising talent with the third edition of 'The Debut', a unique initiative that recognises India's young fashion talent. The contest was initiated two years ago in 2007 and the winner of the second edition was Rahul Verma from NIFT, Delhi.

This unique initiative to promote young talent is endorsed by the FDCI. The support given by FDCI by nominating their member designers to the Debut Jury provides encouragement to the participating students and facilitates interaction of the students with the leading designers.

This year the contest received an overwhelming response through more than 290 entries from all over India, including students from country's prestigious fashion institutes like National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), National Institute of Design (NID) and Pearl Academy of Fashion. Out of 130 portfolios received, the design team at Wills Lifestyle further short listed the entries to 45 potential candidates, who presented their creations in front of an eminent jury at the regional rounds held at Kolkata, Bangalore and Mumbai. After the regional rounds, 12 potential candidates were short listed who presented their collection today in New Delhi at the finale.

Selected from the shortlisted participants, the winner of 'The Debut' will receive the trophy at the forthcoming edition of WIFW AW'09 being held in New Delhi from March 18-23, besides an all expenses paid trip to an International Fashion Fair and an opportunity to work with ITC Ltd.

The Finale was judged by an eminent panel comprising of designer members of FDCI - Rohit Gandhi, Dr Sanjay Gupta, Dean, NIFT, Mohan Neelakantan, country's leading fashion consultant and Kamal Bose, Vice President - Buying & Merchandising, ITC's Lifestyle Retailing.

The contestants at the spectacular Finale showcased their creations on the fashion runway with leading models such as Laxmi Rana, Sonalika Sahai, Krishna Somani & Maggie.

Mr. Atul Chand, Divisional Chief Executive, ITC's Lifestyle Retailing Business Divison said, "The Debut by Wills Lifestyle is a unique platform that nurtures and recognises young talent in the field of fashion design. This initiative provides encouragement to budding creative talent and facilitates interface with the leading names of the Indian Fashion fraternity. We are delighted at the overwhelming response received and we are sure the initiative will go from strength to strength in the years to come"

List of finalists:

National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), New Delhi - 5 students

National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), Bangalore - 1 student

National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), Gandhinagar - 1 student

National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), Kolkata - 1 student

Pearl Academy of Fashion- 4 students

Pooja Gossain	NIFT, New Delhi
Mohit Rai	NIFT, New Delhi
K. B. Prashant	NIFT, New Delhi
Vijay Pawar	NIFT, New Delhi
Vibhuti Gupta	NIFT, New Delhi
Megha Nagpal	Pearl Academy of Fashion
Nibha Khungar	Pearl Academy of Fashion
Snigdha Kejriwal	Pearl Academy of Fashion
Varun Goel	Pearl Academy of Fashion
Sanjona Datta	NIFT, Bangalore
Pankaj Arora	NIFT, Gandhinagar
Swarnima	NIFT, Kolkata