Fash frat calls for serious business
The business of fashion gets interesting each year as the country hosts a number fashion weeks. And not just national, but regional weeks too are as popular. But something is amiss in the business of fashion. Many designers feel that too many weeks are taking the spotlight away from the core of creativity, leaving fashion weeks with just an entertainment value to cash on.
Designer Rahul Mishra was recently quoted saying, “ I feel there are too many fashion weeks happening in India today and unfortunately most of them have just entertainment value and lack substance.” Well and it’s not just Rahul who’s complaining but many in the industry share the same thought.
Says designer Nida Mahmood, “I completely agree with Rahul. You have to come to these weeks once and see yourself that some people just get big sponsors for their shows and present just about anything on the ramp. We know which are the serious fashion weeks today. It’s unfortunate that sometimes the value of the entire show rests on the entertainment factor and not what the designer has created.”
Jattinn Kochhar, a designer who has stopped participating in the big shows says he’s concentrating on regional shows more. “There are only 10 per cent people who actually do business in fashion weeks. Today, you have fashion shows in cities like Chandigarh too, but the point is how many people in these smaller cities understand fashion. The only factor they cash on is probably star power,” he says.
Having said that, he adds, “Our industry is still in nascent stages where we’re building up the awareness about fashion. So to begin with, entertainment is one factor that has to be there.”
Designer Nikhil Mehra calls it precarious and says so many fashion weeks are only going to be detrimental for the growth of fashion in India.
“If you look at it closely you’ll realise that we’re only looking at the growth of fashion weeks in India but not designers. These weeks are proving to be detrimental for designers as there are no buyers. Now if you think you’re promoting young talent through these weeks, where are the buyers for them too? The fact is we have weeks happening even at the time of New York and Paris fashion weeks, so the buyers don’t turn up. Even if they do, young designers cut down their costs and come down to any extent to get their products marketed which shrinks the market even more for senior designers,” he says.
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