Sprung forth

It was a seasonal first of sorts, but that was not the only reason for the hushed proceedings at the just-concluded India Fashion Week in Delhi.

When Shahid Kapur and Kareena Kapoor walked the ramp on Sunday at the Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week, everyone agreed that it was an exception. Other than the couple, there was little sparkle on and off the ramp "" this fashion week has certainly been the quietest so far "" with a few notable exceptions. Monday was officially the last day, an extra day added to facilitate business, even though many buyers played truant. But the high points first.

This fashion week was a first in that it gave Indian designers a chance to display legit spring-summer (2007) collections for the first time ever. With the "bread, butter, and jam", as a buyer put it, of our industry still being the domestic/NRI market (regardless of international forays), autumn/festive collections have always been the focus for our designers. But now that this is a biennial event, the industry will hopefully get its act together to unveil two distinct looks for the year. "Trends are changing so fast in international fashion that designers and stores, in fact, need to come up with five-six new looks a year... this is a good idea as it will force Indian designers to come up with at least two," said Amit Rohatgi of London's Boho.

While most of the designers did manage to stick to the seasonal brief and had appropriate fabrics and designs, the strain of this new endeavour was visible elsewhere. "They were just not prepared, this was just too soon," murmured a rep of a designer duo. There were stalls displaying last autumn/winter collections, and stories floated around about how some designers had, in fact, brought along their entire last collections to show sundry buyers.

The European buyers, thouugh, were quite bullish about the event. "If they go on like this for a year or two more," marvelled Maria Luisa of the prestigious albeit small Paris store, "big things will be on for Indian fashion". She was referring to some designers (including new-toast Gaurav Gupta) who had "matured tremendously in the last three months". Luisa was also impressed by the professionalism on display. For Rina Dhaka, for instance, she said, "she clearly knows what she is doing, who exactly her buyers are".

Other international buyers were less confident. A buyer from Saaya, Japan, was still looking for that elusive collection that would be suitably "Indian with an international appeal" and justify her spend. "A lot of the stuff here is beautiful but too ethnic for Japan."

To be fair, the ethnic factor was not prominent this year. Even JJ Valaya, "Swarvoski sardar", did a subdued line. Rohit Bal had some brilliantly cut coats that would be at home anywhere in the world, and Cue had some chic, wearable outfits in great fabrics. Then, there were designers like Shane and Falguni Peacock, who mainly sell abroad, who said there was enough going for Indian designers in the international market "" which was "like a sponge". There were only occasional murmurs of "high street rip-offs" and warnings ("you journalists should know when someone is doing a Prada copy").

In terms of retail efforts, if there was one coherent trend, it was in the domestic arena. With JJ Valaya tying up with Genesis Colours, Tarun Tahiliani unleashing a new "everyday wear" line TT, priced between Rs 1,100 and Rs 5,800, Manish Malhotra doing a line for event sponsor Wills Lifestyle, and Ritu Kumar working with Lifestyle stores, it is clear that a real opportunity lies in targeting the burgeoning Indian market for pret wear with mid-market prices.

"One challenge will be competing with foreign brands, as a young consumer may want to pick up an international label for the same price," agreed Tina Tahiliani of Ensemble, one of India's biggest couture stores. "But quality will always sell." On the other hand, a bigger challenge lies in designers' scaling up "" upgrading production capacities while expanding distribution. Mandatory if Indian fashion is to use this platform effectively.