Week-in-Review: India Fashion Week in Delhi

Week-in-Review

NN SINHA

Fabulous Fashions, No Sales!
(August, 2002)

The third edition of Lakme India Fashion Week came to a close at Taj Palace in New Delhi on Thursday, August 8. Designers who got some business were happy. There was more "fashion awareness". A few visitors could afford to pay for what they chose to buy at the various stalls. Others came for beauty tips, including hair and skin care, and fashion students drew 'inspiration' from the plethora of designs on display.

Floral motifs on sari

But there were negative voices: how many of the tiny bustiers, transparent gowns, backless dresses and ultra mini gowns models were sashaying with would even young housewives or college girls go for. They are designed for shapely figures with a good average height. Others disagreed. Those things were just "for glamour", for the sake of "creativity". They may not be "wearable". But everyone was not so conservative, some argued.

Visiting fashion crowd, including buyers from abroad, praised the Indian fabrics and said the embroideries were fabulous, but lamented the quality. "Made in India label is still looked down upon" for their inferior stitching and finishing, pointed out the Fashion TV business development director. "Price-wise, India is considered a place where you can pick up cheap stuff, with poor quality", he added.

A butterfly tattoo

The show was "very uninspiring" on the first day itself, conceded Lakme chief Anil Chopra. Model-turned-event-manager Marc Robinson remarked, apparently referring to Anjana Bhargava's presentation: "You can see the hemline opening an inch on this outfit, the shoddiness is evident. Will foreign buyers accept this?".

Manish Arora is a regular among Indian designers at the Fashion Week. No huge sales, though, but a mileage worth the money he spent. As for the cost - two or three designers can share Rs 1.25 lakh, the total bill on one show. It's a steal for new designers. Ask last year's entries like Priyadarshini Rao and Anshu Arora Sen. They got national attention and are destined to be tomorrow's stars of the fashion world.

A lot of unknown names made a beeline to LIFW this year too. But for the established ones - Rohit Bal, Rathore, JJ Valaya, Rina Dhaka - participating in the show isn't easy. Out-of-reach tags their creations carry have few buyers. As they

Embroidered jacket

find themselves sidelined more and more, it's best for them to scram bag and baggage. Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI) pioneers - Krishna Mehta, Tarun Tahiliani and Geetanjali Kashyap were on the missing list.

At the scheduled 35 fashion shows for a whole week, 53 of India's top and talented designers presented their best collections. Organised by the FDCI, the Fashion Week offered a platform for designers and buyers "to meet and talk business" But the foreign buyers are few. So how do they make money? Obviously, the local selective showrooms.

However, the week will be remembered for some of the collections presented.

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