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WELCOME to the party

As the Lakme India Fashion Week gets off the ground this Tuesday, ANUJ KUMAR finds out how businesslike the people in the fashion industry really are.

Rina Dhaka ...Into dollar business. Photo: Sandeep Saxena.

THE WEEKLONG party is about to begin and once again the hosts are calling it business. Well, if it's business, numbers take the fizz out of the euphoria. Fashion wear is still a cottage industry (experts still call it an unorganised sector) and is worth less than Rs.200crore in an Indian apparel market valued at over Rs.20,000crore.

Vinod Kaul, Executive Director, Fashion Design Council Of India, counters, "Last year, we did business worth Rs.30crore from the Week. The market is small indeed but is growing at an astounding rate of around 25 per cent every year. And with the increase in the buying capacity of the middle class, the future is bright."

When Kaul talks of the future, he means the prêt or ready-to-wear (Rs.10,000 and below) market. J.J. Valaya and Satya Paul, apparently unable to limit their creativity to prêt, are sitting out of the Week. In fact, most seniors face this problem but some have found a way out. Rina Dhaka is pricing her collection in dollars and Rohit Bal is again showcasing just his men's collection. "I can't design cheap for women," he declares, adding the future may be prêt, but today most of the income comes from the wedding market and you can't break the hold of four or five people there. "In prêt if one flounders, there are 35 others to take his place."

Rohit Bal..Watch out for his peacocks. Photo: S.Subramanium.

If it's business, then there have to be buyers. Last year, around 350 turned up accompanied by allegations of fake buyers stealing designs and buyers jostling for space with socialites. This year, the number is being pegged around 400, including names like Saks Fifth Avenue, New York and Browns, London. As a remedial measure, FDCI has given the list of buyers to designers to choose and invite. "We can't afford to limit our options. Even if one buys two pieces from me, there are chances that he may order more. When somebody has landed in India he must be happy to try out different options. Also, how will you police the entry?" argues designer Raghavendra Rathore, a board member who claims to have voted against the move. Rina agrees that if somebody wants to steal he would steal it any way.

As for the socialite surplus, Rathore feels fashion is a perception and socialites help in spreading the perception. "Seating arrangement is a science. In the West, they don't even seat editors of two rival fashion magazines opposite each other, as one might read the reaction of the other. Generally, Page 3 people are put in the first row, so when they clap for a design, it might influence the buyers sitting in the next row."

Again, if it's business, why do some treat the ramp as fun while others, particularly the young, show functional designs? "No doubt, some are good but they can't afford to take risks. By God's grace, I can," says Rohit, who claims that the mad half of his mind comes to the fore during the Week. The strategy has worked for Rohit, whose realistic rack is diametrically opposite to his jigs on the T. Pointing to his jacket, Rohit says, "In the Week, I basically show unisex clothes which could be picked up as single pieces, but match them with such attire and accessories that they seem absurd. This jacket is for males in India, but a foreign buyer can order it for females as well."

Raghavendra Rathore...Lending the royal touch. Photo: S.Arneja.

Suneet Varma, another believer in frolic and one of the last ones to realise the retail reality, reasons, "Not even a single piece of Gulliano shown on the ramp is wearable, but he makes billions." Yes, he does, because he can afford to waste a billion, adds Rathore, whose designs are in the classical mould. "Established people can do outlandish things to create hype and gather headlines." That Rohit's show will have 40 male models in a sea of female models is also a way to attract media attention. "After seeing the same female models in four-five shows every day, you just can't make out the difference between the designers. It's where my male brigade will sweep the media off its feet," predicts Rohit, moving away from the sindoor saga this year to present the macho side of man. "My models will look like proud peacocks, the last men left on earth."

Ranna Gill, also on the board, looks towards Morocco for inspiration and pays tribute to contemporary Cleopatra. She justifies the bizarre with Indian mythology. "Have you heard of a ten-headed being in any other culture?"

With the calculated entry into India of the likes of Tommy Hilfiger (in a tie-up with Arvind Mills) and Rathore lamenting that we may not be able to create our own Donna Karan, but she herself would soon sell in India, one thing is certain: Designers have to concentrate on indigenous crafts and cuts to survive. "We can't compete with Tommy in stripes or diagonals but he certainly can't manage to do kantha work on his shirts," says Rathore. "And even if he manages to source handicrafts, he couldn't sell them at my price," maintains Rohit.

And finally if its business, is there anything for the common man to take home from this razzmatazz?

"No," thunders Rohit, whose khadi-kurtas are beyond the pocket of the man on the street. "He has to wait till the trends trickle down to Janpath or Sarojini Nagar," says Varma. But Rina claims that she employs numerous artisans and pays them more than what people with doctorates get. "Actually we need fashion streets to make labels reach out to masses at their budgets."

Meanwhile, Sunil Lulla of Sony Entertainment Television says the channel will bring the Week to the masses, so they can tell their tailor which trend to follow. It's business as usual after all!

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