AFFLUENZA
Destined for twit-dom?
HINDOL SENGUPTA
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Strait-jacketing Indian fashion into comfortable notions of ‘glamour’ and ‘fun’ will only keep it from evolving into the art form it can become…
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Fashion everywhere is glamorous. But it need not be dumb.
Serious business: Stunning luxury leather bag from de Grisogono.
Rarely do I fight with fashion editors. It seems futile. Like an embroidered Blackberry cover. I mean, why, really, would you bother?
But recently there was a rather delicious skirmish at a dinner to meet Fawaz Gruosi of de Grisogono, one of those eternally lust-worthy jewellery and bejewelled watch brands. Now Fawaz de Grisogono is one of the heavy-built, sponge-fair, gurgling-ly charming jewellers who speak like they stepped off the sets of “La Dolce Vita”.
Impressive enough
His jewellery and watches, many a time with that magic word “encrusted”, has given his brand a turnover of more than 135 million Swiss francs, which, if I was any good with maths, I would have converted to US dollars for you. But since everyone these days in hunting for a new global currency, I will let you make the necessary conversion.
Before I went for the dinner, I even read that Naomi Campbell wears de Grisogono. But then, Naomi Campbell wears everyone! I mean, if you are Naomi Campbell, isn’t that what you are supposed to do — wear artistes?
Well, be that as it may, the key point is that you usually don’t argue in front of such genteel artistes. However, genteel-ness not being my core competence, I did.
To be fair, it was the fault of the fashion editor.
I said fashion is the skin that contains a society’s body of culture, history, sociology, anthropology, art and political change. She said fashion was, like, fun (I almost added the “or something”).
I was, at that opportune moment, compelled to use the word twit. That word, I must not-regretfully say, became an anthem for me for the evening.
She said: You are too poor to write on fashion!
I said: That I can cure darling, but about your brains, I must break it to you that there is no hope!
It was enchanting.
In between all this, Fawaz Grisogono smiled benignly. So, fearing that he was feeling left out, I asked him about business.
Like everyone else, business for him is down. New York’s looking iffy, though heartland Europe is still holding on to some money and the new hope (how many times I have heard this!) is in India and China.
He said after decades of work in Europe, his focus is turning to Asia where there seems to be an appreciation for the finesse that he and his brand bring. He said the entire of point of expansion to Asia is not merely the not merely the money of the old and new rich but also cultural connect and engagement with Asia’s history and sartorial heritage.
Expert pronouncements
What will really sell, said a fashion professor-turned writer-turned restaurateur, are the watches. People here still buy the big, very expensive jewellery from the traditional jewellers but the real opportunity, the restaurateur nodded knowledgeably, was in the watches.
The stunning de Grisogono communications lady, on cue, showed off her ethereally slim arm with a delectable watch on it. She might, she said, travel again to India, which almost made me a de Grisogono fan.
But the fight was far from over.
The fashion editor was saying she hated the word “intellectual”. I said I write a column for The Hindu. It seemed to go over her head.
She said fashion should be “easy”, “glamorous”, “not too serious”, “not fake intellectual”.
It’s the kind of logic Vogue in India used a few months ago to justify a ridiculously insensitive shoot featuring some of India’s poorest people as luxury good hangers.
This argument in my mind keeps Indian fashion and luxury from truly evolving into the art form that it can become. Fashion editors in India are largely bored, rich housewives, which per se can be very amusing but they are also bored, rich housewives who take themselves too seriously. They are serious about being twitty.
India has one of the worst standards of fashion writing in the world. People like Fawaz Gruosi I am sure would be (are?) appalled by what passes as fashion writing in our newspapers and magazines.
Need for critique
Very few people, Vogue’s Bandana Tewari or even Elle’s Nonita Kalra (I have duelled, for instance, on the Singur land dispute with Nonita) are two of them, have any perspective or insight into the industry or the business. Though Bandana has accused me of trying “alpha-male number crunching”, the point is that without relevant, intelligent critique, without perspective of how a unique voice can be developed in India, the industry is turning into a giant, incestuous circus.
Fashion everywhere is glamorous. But it need not be dumb. Some of the greatest designers in the world were and are towering intellects in the most sophisticated usage of the term. Can anyone argue that YSl was not an intellectual? Isn’t Vivienne Westwood an artiste? Isn’t Sabyasachi Mukherjee brainy?
The problem is that Indian writers in fashion follow the Twit Pyramid. You know who is on top but the middle and bottom is even more exasperating. The middle is made up for stylists (which is a good thing but must they try to write?) and the bottom is kids whose rich dads want to keep them away from trouble (they wish!).
People like Fawaz Gruosi know that their businesses in countries like India can only boom if their audience — not merely the ever rich but the aspiring prosperous — understand the merit and importance of luxury. At the moment, even some of the richest people in India feel nothing but disdain for luxury; it is seen as unimportant and non-serious.
This is why fashion and luxury remains a bit of a joke in India while the art market is booming with cutting edge artists and furiously erudite writers like Ranjit Hoskote. Imagine if all of Indian art had been dubbed “fun”!
This frivolity does not need to exist. Dumbing down is not a prerequisite for enjoyment or access. I have argued before and shall again and again that fashion and indeed luxury is art and can get the attention and respect that art gets. What kills this theme is when Indians themselves see the whole industry as a giant tamasha and twitty editors who define everything as “fun” don’t help.
No wonder the government at regular intervals wants to slap an entertainment tax on the fashion week! Now that ought to be FUN!
Hindol Sengupta is Associate Editor, UTVi.
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