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| Survival designs, after a fashion |
| Archana Jahagirdar / New Delhi Mar 22, 2009, 00:38 IST |
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Indian fashion designers at parallel fashion weeks draw up new strategies.
With salary cuts and job losses hogging headlines in most countries, it was obvious that during the two parallel fashion weeks on in Delhi — Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week (WIFW) and Delhi Fashion Week (DFW) — recession would dominate conversations. What is the strategy for survival, then, for Indian fashion designers in these hard times? Ashish N Soni, a senior fashion designer, says: “This is the time to be innovative for us. But maybe this recession will be good for Indian designers as our prices are lower than what international designers sell at.”
That would probably explain why there is still significant interest from buyers — international and domestic — at both the weeks. WIFW for its Autumn/winter season saw over 170 buyers and DFW has clocked in 165 of them.
The US, one of the worst-hit countries by the recession, saw two of its toniest stores — Anthropologie and Barneys New York — send buyers to hunt for the most creative Indian designers. Says Julie Gilhart, senior vice-president, fashion director, Barneys New York: “We are buying, but more cautiously. Our customers are still buying and they are interested in good design. And products out of India have a certain panache.” Megan Dever, buyer for Anthropologie, says: “Our store continues to do well despite the recession in the US. Last season, we bought about a million dollars worth of clothes and this season too we are willing to buy whatever we like at the fashion week.”
West Asia was where Indian designers first found acceptance with buyers from Dubai, Kuwait, Qatar coming to buy in bulk. Most buyers from that region continue to be positive about the India fashion story. Says Hiba Al-Ateeqi, managing director, Darusha, a store in Kuwait: “People do have money for quality.” Her budget of $100,000 remains even though she says that there are unsold clothes in her store from the last season. A representative of Harvey Nichols of Riyadh, too, said demand for designer clothes remained constant in Saudi Arabia. The troubled Dubai economy hasn’t entirely taken the sheen off Indian fashion as other West Asia markets remain firm. Says Tina Tahiliani, who heads Ensemble, the oldest fashion retail chain in India, and is also designer Tarun Tahiliani’s sister: “West Asia continues to be a big market.” Adds fashion designer Abhijeet Khanna, who debuted four seasons ago: “I sell in Kuwait, Dubai, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, and all these buyers are still ordering the same quantities.”
At DFW, Sumeet Nair, who was part of the breakaway group that started Fashion Foundation of India (FFI), which organises the rival fashion week, says: “We at DFW are focussing on the West Asia market. We did an event in Dubai earlier this year and we are trying to send designers regularly to tap that market.” At WIFW, the label A+T also sells in Beirut and Iran.
This focus on West Asia could be important for Indian designers as European and American markets look shaky for the next couple of years. But as Nair says, the most important market for Indian designers will be the Indian market, a fact that most designers agree with. Anshu Arora and Jason Cheriyan who run the label, smallshop jason and anshu, say that their clothes are finding acceptance in cities like Chennai and Bangalore. Says Arora: “The last season has been good. Recession is in the air, but it is still not reflected in our balance sheets.”
On the catwalk at WIFW, designer after designer seemed to show flimsy, short clothing more suited for a balmy afternoon in Morocco rather than to a cold, cruel winter. “One big learning for us has been that Indian designers can’t do knits and heavy woollens coats. Customers also tend to prefer buying expensive coats from international labels,” says Soni. But the absence of heavy woollens did not deter buyers even from countries like the US and Japan, where there is a proper winter.
The West, which propagated the concept of fast luxury, where cheaply-made, mass-produced products were pushed to make a large pile of cash for luxury goods companies, has begun to turn its back on the concept. And this is where Indian designers, who still work in small studios, often directly with master tailors, step in. “There is a lot of colour, shine and embrodiery in clothes done by Indian designers and that is what draws us to this country. Indian designers pay a lot of attention to detail,” says Dever.
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