Wills Fashion Week: Business of Fashion Outshines Slowdown

By : M Abraham Source: The Stitch Times, April 2009 With more than a hundred designers participating at the latest Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week, the business of fashion seems to have emerged as the biggest trend of the apparel industry. The flurry of fashion weeks in the country is a direct indication of a growing business and high-rising lifestyle. The recently concluded WLIFW reflected an expanding demand for the creative collection of Indian fashion designers while, echoing a mixed mood due to the overall market slowdown. Fashion Everywhere The five day long affair was all about the fashion, style and the latest in trends for the forthcoming season. The Autumn-Winter '09 week kick-started with the happening and appealing collection of an accomplished designer, Nitin Bal Chauhan, who left the message of dark sombre moods and global slowdown with an apt title 'Condition apply-II'. The neutral shades were the talk of all five days with designers Rajesh Pratap Singh, Rohit Gandhi and Rahul Khanna, Raghavendra Rathore, Yuvraj Siddharth Nagpal, Gaurav Gupta, among others, unveiling dim and moody collections to show their awareness of the times. "The neutral shades might be apt with the present timings but personally, I've always liked black and the grey shades," summed Rathore. Several other collections despite slump were high on exuberance and very colourful which included designers like Ritu Kumar, Pankaj and Nidhi, Ankur Modi and Priya Modi, Rehane, Sonam Dubbal, Kavita Bhartiya and Jenjum and Jasleen. While a number of designers played with the tints of placid blue, dark pink, vibrant orange and burgundy, the others preferred to stick to the traditional tones of red, maroon, yellow and green. "I feel the vibrant colours play magic when the mood is sombre around. Also, fashion is all about the colours with designers working on varied hues," opined Ranna Gill who partnered with designer Rina Dhaka and Fiama Di Wills to showcase a special collection titled 'Nature Meets Science'. Designers like Prashant Verma showcased as artistic representation of the Greek narrative of robust and mighty male aggression and its fascination with perfection. Titled 'Meat'- the outfits were all about power dressing and aggression. The utterly exotic and high on drama show by Manish Arora, brought the beauty and vibrant colours of 'Jungle' live on the ramp. Models carrying the sitting monkey hand-bags were exceptionally creative and were highly appreciated. Most of the designers were high on wearability and presented a collection with a lot of Indian silhouettes and sari. Satyapaul's 'Maya' was a beautiful portrayal of an illusionary life, comprising the contemporary and traditional attires. Designer duo Swapan and Seema showcased a women's wear range that combined femininity with power and success. The amalgamation of Western and Indian ethnic wear was very much visible. Another designer Reynu Tandon and duo Ashima and Leena Singh showed their proficient technique of heavy embellishments, sequins and beads mostly in the Indian silhouettes. The fashion week was not completely about the feminine lines alone, as there were a couple of designers who exclusively presented the men's wear range. Rajvi Mohan, the debutante of the previous season presented neat and clean cuts in menswear with a wide range of fusion of colours. On the other hand, Manoviraj Khosla's collection was all chic and sporty reflecting a complete menswear wardrobe. Designer SiddarthaTytler's collection fashioned an amazing impact on the audience with a combination of basic and trendy silhouettes with great detailing. Designer Manish Malhotra, this season too was involved in designing the complete look of the Kolkata Knight Riders, which dictated the fusion of glamour and sports on the ramp. The Grand Finale The event culminated with a bold demonstration of gold and glitter. JJ Valaya's luxurious collection 'Kingdom of Love' brought the premier event to an impressive close. JJ's signature tailored jackets, jodhpurs and bright tops worn with detailed skirts, like the royal clothes of kings and queens were showcased on the ramp on the final day of the event. "The collection was all about moving from negativity to positivity." said a visibly pleased Valaya, post show. Young Talent This was for the first time that the fashion week saw a third show area, exclusive for the young upcoming talent at the venue. This platform not just worked as the moral booster, but also offered a beautiful poolside view. Designers like Preeti S Kapoor, Abdul Halder, Rajdeep Ranawat, Parvesh Jai, Nikhita Tandon, Ritesh Kumar got the fantastic opportunity to showcase in this exclusively area. "These initiatives will encourage young designers to participate even if they can't meet the expense of a slot (a slot costs upwards of Rs.1 lakh)," says Sunil Sethi, President, Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI). For the first time, the last day of the event was booked especially for the buyer-designer meetings and order placements. The Fashion Business The fashion weeks in India might have become the leading calendar events but the bottom line still lies in the fact, how much of revenue it could generate. As expected, the slump has taken its toll on the fashion industry too, with buyers playing safe and sticking to their regular designers and experimenting lesser with the newer ones. Though figures on the business generated at the five day event are still being gathered, Sunil Sethi, the President of Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI) said that there was a mixed response. "Some designers managed to get good business while for some, it was lower. What is important is to see that the buyers could make a strong presence which, happened. Some of them reduced their budget while others stuck to the same." said Mr Sethi. For established designers like Rina Dhaka, Ranna Gill, Rohit Gandhi-Rahul Khanna, Ashima-Leena, Shane-Falguni and, Raghavendra Rathore, it was business as usual as their respective buyers placed good orders with them. Middle East, UK, and Australia have proved to be better markets for Indian designers. "The new buyers have shown a good interest and the buyers from US stores like Anthropologie are back which indicates the revival in demand." said Rahul Khanna. "Business has been quite good and there were no order cuts for us. Our regular buyers from the Middle East liked the collections and we expect a sizable order as, keeping the market condition in mind, we have worked on lowering our prices," said designer Leena Singh. Another designer Niki Mahajan said that she was satisfied with the amount of business generated as apart from her regular buyers she received serious business enquires from new buyers as well. "My regular buyers seemingly have reduced the quantity but I have got a good response from Japan and Hong Kong," Mahajan said. The seriousness in business and the value for money is certainly on top of the agenda for the buyer from all over, domestic and international. Business Confirmations Japanese buyer Tomoko Inuzuka placed order with her favourite designer Manish Arora. She also admired the collections of Kavita Bhartia and Namrata Joshipura. David Schneider from Portugal and Dever has confirmed orders with their regular designers like Ranna Gill, Rina Dhaka and Rohit Gandhi- Rahul Khanna. This time Schneider has also added two new names in the list-Rajesh Pratap Singh and Manish Arora. Designer Duo Hemant and Nandita seemingly had good sale this season, while designer duo Ashish Viral and Vikrant disclosed that the buyers' response was 'not very encouraging' this time. "The buyers seemed to be taking no chances as they preferred to go for the established designers'. For the first time, even my regular buyers are negotiating hard on price." Vikrant said. With a constant change in the Indian fashion bazaar, the story of fashion weeks is getting interesting with each passing day. The concept of multi fashion weeks with major cities being the venue seems to be favouring the designers, whether they are new or established. The apparel business, slowly but steadily, shall be seeing more of confirmations from buyers and more of participation by the designers, in seasons to come. It is the time now to watch the shelves of the international stores like Harrods, Selfridges and, Fifth Avenue where, the Indian designers, more or less, are getting a successful placement!