The other side of fashion show besides shine, glitter and glamour. Ankita Jain reports
From a fledgling India Fashion Week in 2001, India has, over the years, had over seven fashion weeks in a single calendar year. While the lFW(lakme Fashion Week) and the AIFW(Amazon India Fashion Week) remain the benchmark, there have also been fashion weeks in Kolkata, Bengaluru and Jaipur, among other cities. Goa has been host to a resort-wear fashion week, Mumbai even had a children’s fashion week a few years ago. Bridal fashion week and couture week flourish in Delhi and Mumbai; a men’s fashion week, too, has had its moment under the sun. But does India need so many fashion weeks and do they serve any purposeIJ “Yes, they do. I started with london fashion week and I did not get a buyer there but got lot of buyers in India on my very first show. Platforms like AIFW has served many designers to get their bread and butter. As far as I am concerned, I am in touch with few foreign buyers from Saudi Arabia this season,” said Samant Chauhan.
Right from identifying the right kind of talent that needs to be showcased to mentoring them over a few seasons, and to give them a plaform to catch the eyes of buyers, there is a lot of hard work involved.
“An umbrella trade event such as a fashion week is essential in bringing together designers, retailers and corporates on a single platform to generate more business”, said Sunil Sethi, president of Fashion Council of India(FDCI).
“We have glamorised khadi. We have finest khadi woven in Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal. We have made khadi beautiful with floral and geometric patterns. Calligraphy in Devnagiri is made to look decorative. And all these elements have strongly pulled buyers from around India. Rajasthan topping the list. We had buyers from across the world but this season, domestic buyers have added to our list,” said seasoned designer David Abraham.
“AIFW is the only platform in India in my opinion which has buyers and is business oriented apart from giving us a platform to showcase our collection to the media and to the world. This season with my collection with subdued colours, I have been able to attract buyers mostly who run boutiques like Kimaya and Ensemble. No oversea buyers so far.,” explained designer Pallavi Mohan.
“In my early days, menswear didn’t fetch much money and I had to come up with women’s wear. But now because of all these platforms, menswear have come under limelight. Besides, fashion weeks also attract buyers from around the world. And I am glad, Indian market is picking up and we are able to cater them in the better way,” said Ashish N Soni, who showcased men’s collection in AIFW this season.
Besides, the established designers, the recently concluded fashion week also featured many newcomers. When asked about how successful is such platforms for aspiring designers, Priyam Narayan, a novice in the fashion industry, while being handed a cheuque by the buyer, said, “It’s been three years in the industry. I have done two seasons of lakme Fashion Week(lFW) and this is my first season at AIFW. We have got buyers visting our stalls from Middle East. I already had buyers from lakme but this platform has added few more to my list.” Also, an important point that most of us seem to miss is how the fashion weeks support the weaver and artisan community all over our country. The fabrics used in each of the designer collections are unique, thereby creating a domino effect that results in reviving some of the fabrics and weaves that might otherwise become non existent. In the current scenario where all of us are becoming brand conscious and seek international brands that can't hold a candle to our very own home grown brands, such platforms are promoting handlooms.
Photo: Pankaj Kumar