Mannequins banned from appearing in window stores
TO prevent "wrong acts" by men, the general body of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has unanimously passed a proposal to ban the display of bikini-clad mannequins outside lingerie shops in the city.
DDT adds - Fortunately, the adventurous voyeur can still ogle at the sari-clad and salwar kameezee clad mannequins for the corporation hasn't banned them. Mannequin industry though at a nascent stage in India has an annual turnover in excess of 500 Crores.
Gone are the days when the Plaster of Paris (POP) statue with a big hairstyle and dolled-up face adorned the entrances of the old Banarasi silk shops. Over the years, the POP statues looked old and patchy and were unmanageable, say window dressers who are now happy to lay their hands on a trendier fibreglass mannequin. The pleats of a banarasi sari were only achievable by a master window dresser and some were hired for this purpose only. With the advent of hip-hop shopping malls, the bust sizes and the hip sizes are also now in line with the international markets but there is nothing much to cover for these window dressers.
Although international brands have set up manufacturing units in India for manufacture of mannequins, yet the cheaper and trendier ones make their way in the buff from China and Italy. And as far as classification is concerned, it is chapter 9618 of both the Tariffs.