MUMBAI: In a bid to improve business, Lakme Fashion Week has invited online shopping portals specialising in high end fashion as buyers!

This means that both desi and international portals, which sell only luxury brands and designer wear, will be able access the latest designs for fashionistas sitting across the world.

Sujal Shah, head (marketing-India), IMG, said: "Its the first time we have actively gone out and recruited e-commerce buyers to come. In India, its a nascent market... we tend to have the boutiques and some of these larger formats as well but online shopping is just beginning... and its just going to expand tremendously."

According to some estimates, India has 40-45 million Internet users... of these, only 25% have had some experience of online shopping. In that context, shopping for luxury wear online is an extremely niche market.

Portals such as firstrow.in, fashionandyou.com and 99labels.com, which have been invited to the fashion week, are optimistic... Ishita swarup,CEO, 99Labels.com, said: "If you look at the combination of young urban online buyer, they are the ones buying fashion online..."

Radhika Dhawan, CEO, firstrow.in, added: "People did not buy tickets and books online before and now they are doing that. It happens across the world... I don't see why it won't here..."

While Indians may be taking their time in shopping online, the biggest benefit of this move will be for lovers of Indian fashion across the globe... also don't forget that a large chunk of revenue for desi designers come from NRI shopping...and that important market now needn't catch a flight to shop for desi couture...