Mumbai: Leading designer, Ritu Kumar, kickstarted Lakme India Fashion Week 2001 on August 6th with the "Say No To Shahtoosh" campaign.

Opening her ramp show with her "Alternatives to Toosh" line, Ritu Kumar showcased her creations on special guests, Pooja Batra & Ruby Bhatia, who are championing the cause of the Chiru.

The campaign against Shahtoosh shawls, which are made from the wool, plucked from the endangered Tibetan Antelope or Chiru after killing it, is spearheaded by the Wildlife Trust of India(WTI) and the International Fund for Animal Welfare(IFAW). Processing or wearing a shatoosh, is a punishable offence with upto 7 years in prison.

"Wearing a toosh is no longer fashionable, there are many softer and warmer fabrics available today, which look even better than Shahtoosh. You do not need to wipe out a species from this planet to look good, " Ms.Ritu Kumar said.

One shahtoosh shawl approximates the live of three Chirus. At least, 20000 animals are being killed every year in Tibet autonomous region of China and smuggled into the state of J&K where these shawls are made.

Exhorting the rich and the glitterati not to wear Shahtoosh, Pooja Batra said:" A shawl soaked in the blood of so many animals is not worth wearing."

WTI investigators, in recent surveys, have found Shahtoosh being openly being sold in Mumbai, by dealers in the shopping arcades of five star hotels. "We have noted this and will initiate suitable action," Aniruddha Mookerjee, director programmes, WTI said.

Ruby Bhatia, who has always believed in beauty without cruelty, said: "I am here because I cannot see a species get wiped out, just because somebody thinks she looks good in it."

Top Indian designers, film stars, cooperate leaders and opinion makers of Mumbai have come together to endorse the Wildlife Trust of India and the International Fund for Animal Welfare’s (WTI/IFAW) global campaign against Shahtoosh at the Lakme India Fashion Week that begins on August 6 a the Taj Hotel.

Designers like Ritu Kumar and Gitanjali Kashyap along with the Fashion Design Council of Idia, film stars like Manisha Koirala and corporate leaders like the house of Jindals have endorsed the campaign against Shahtoosh, exhorting the glitterati of Mumbai not to wear Shahtoosh shawls.

The WTI/IFAW’s Say No to Shahtoosh Campaign is the only "only-fashion" event that has found space at the 2nd Lakme India Fashion Week.