How do you drum up the festive beats, visually stun the populace that sees the same festive images everywhere, and at the same time make some incredible records? PANTALOONS, the fashion brand from Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd, decided to do all that and more for this festive season, spanning festivals, cities and feats.
When Pantaloons – India’s leading family fashion destination from Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Limited decided to weave creativity into the multi-hued festive tapestry of the Ganesh Chaturthi, Durga Puja and Navratri seasons across several cities, magic happened. From Ganpati to Durga Maa, from diyas to dandiyas, a few Indian cities, stores and streets came alive with some spectacular visual stories this season: the tallest Ganpati made of denim, India’s tallest “Dandiya” the tallest Diwali ‘diya’ and India’s longest street ‘Alpona’.
Bappa goes blue!
How unique can you go with a Ganpati idol, especially when you are an apparel behemoth? Take 600 pairs of denim pants, and create this unique 9-feet tall Ganpati, in Pune, the city known for its Bappa love and an acute sense of social awareness. This blue Ganesh swayed into the India Book of Records, which was a moment of price and excitement for the brand, as this was an endeavour attempted for the first time by a fashion brand. Commendably, the denims used in the making of Ganesh were also donated to the Maher Foundation, which works towards the upliftment of children and women. The cynosure of all eyes at the Pantaloons Chinchwad store through the Ganesh festival in September, he waltzed his way into the hearts of all shoppers. For the latter, as part of the consumer engagement program during the 10-day festival, Pantaloons had also organised fun activities which included Ganpati Idol making competition using clay, cookery classes encouraging women to use microwave based recipes and modak making competitions.
Ae Haalo!
From the piety of Punyanagri to the swing and dazzle of Ahmedabad in the times of Navratri. And time for another record entering the India Book of Records, as Navratri festivities erupted in true-blue Gujarati style, as a 48 feet tall Dandiya structure was unveiled by the statuesque Karishma Tanna amidst great fanfare. Local artistes helped colour the event, with their traditional garb and garba. This rather ambitious project had a skilled team of artisans, designers and technicians toiling over two months to finally create the intricate and vividly coloured installation weighing over a ton that was housed at One Mall in Ahmedabad. Gaurav Chakravarty, Head, Marketing & Loyalty, Pantaloons said: ‘We are delighted as Pantaloons enters the India Book of Records for the second time. At Pantaloons, we believe in creating enriching experiences that bring consumers closer to the brand. Moreover, this philosophy is reflected in our ‘Aapni Navratri, Aapno Pantaloons’ campaign. Dandiya being symbolic of the Navratri celebrations, we are happy to celebrate the festival with our customers.’
Diya jaley….in Indore!
Lighting up the skies of Indore, this September in anticipation of Diwali, the festival of lights, was India’s tallest diya. And once again Pantaloons made its way to the India Book of Records, besides creating the perfect tangible motif for India’s best loved festival. At a height of 23 feet and a width of 22 feet, it was created by 25 specialists over a period of 15 days using 75 kilograms of iron waste. Unveiled by Prathmesh Zamindar from the royal family of Indore, the lamp was on display at the Treasure Island Mall till the last day of Diwali. Gaurav Chakravarty, Head, Marketing & Loyalty, Pantaloons said: ‘This is a moment of pride for us as we enter the India Book of Records for the third consecutive time; the first record made for Denim Ganpati, the second feat for tallest Dandiya and this time for creating the tallest Diya.’ And the other important message to come from Pantaloons was “spread the light not the noise by saying no to firecrackers”.
Street art for Pujo!
If you are a blue-blooded Bong (read Bengali), you must make sure you are in the right place during Durga Pujo. And that place better be Kolkata. This year Pantaloons painted the town red during the Pujo celebrations. Almost, literally. What the fashion brand did was to get an entire one kilometre long street decorated with Alpona, the quintessential Bengali artistic expression that is integral to Pujo celebrations. Local communities numbering over 400 people, including 300 students from prominent art colleges came together to engage in a joyous articulation of their art, using exterior paint to ensure durability through the festive celebrations. The spectacular Alpona with vivid colors, intricate and free-flowing designs was created over two days and was a great prelude to the ensuing Durga Pujo celebrations. It was unveiled on the auspicious day of Mahalya by Bengali superstar, Prosenjit Chatterjee, amidst the foot-tapping beats of Dhak and mystical sounds of Shank (conch), as a sign of invocation of Maa Durga. The morning sparkled with the presence of other Tollywood stalwarts such as Sabyasachi Chakraborty and Chandan Sen.
Kolkata is the birthplace of Pantaloons and through its ‘Pujo Manei Pantaloons’ campaign, it retraced its Bangla roots. This year, Pantaloons celebrates 20 years of adding glamour and style to the people of Kolkata. On this joyful occasion, the company paid a tribute to its very first customers in the form of a beautiful Alpona, revamped stores, a festive video, a fabulous collection and all sorts of exciting offers.
