He reinforced this Wednesday when he told IANS: 'I don't know what to say, we were talking about one fashion week and unification but they have gone ahead and announced dates and that too which we had finalised earlier.'

'They have gone ahead with this, let's see what happens now,' Sethi maintained, adding: 'We didn't announce dates earlier because we thought when there are talks of one fashion week, we should wait for a unanimous decision.'

On his part, Vijay Singh tossed the ball firmly in FDCI's court.

'We are still hopeful of having one fashion week and we welcome FDCI to be a part of this initiative that aims at unifying the industry and aims at creating opportunities for fashion designers.

'Now it's up to FDCI to decide whether they want to unite with us and support one fashion week to strengthen the industry. If they merge with us then we will have more people which would create more opportunities for younger designers,' Singh contended.

But, as Sethi pointed out, FDCI 'cannot just shut shop'.

'We have been in existence for 10 years. We are a legal entity. We have a brand image. We have certain legal and other commitments. We have to fulfil these,' Sethi added.

Designer Leena Singh of the Ashima-Leena duo, said: 'I have always supported FDCI and I will continue to do so but while my name is mentioned in the (IFDW) designers list, it is because we are still hopeful that everything will come down to one fashion week.

'I want to maintain one thing that I will always support FDCI,' she added.