Still Not the IT Thing

I’ve bought books on Amazon before and it is pricey. But Flipkart is the best thing that’s happened to bibliophiles: they’ll get you any book from anywhere at a huge discount. Even though I love the smells and sounds of a real bookstore,it’s hard not to turn an addict. Moreover,stuff like a Dell laptop can only be bought online.

It’s online shopping for clothes that befuddles me. All of a sudden,there are a few dozen sites for ‘apparel’ or ‘western apparel’ and they are seemingly successful,going by their high quality web pages and expensive advertising slots. Jabong.com has a huge selection from every possible high-street label — from Levi’s and Allen Solly to D&G and DKNY. Myntra.com is an easy-breezy site also filled with high-street goodies — Benetton,Puma,Fila and Jealous — at prices as low as Rs 700. It has a style blog too.

Styleme.com is a two-year-old online portal with shopping as well as listings and reviews. Freecultr,headed by Sujal Shah,formerly of IMG Fashion,is very interesting. Like American Apparel,it has the best basics you will ever find,a wide range of T-shirts and denims,and they hold the licence for Shah Rukh Khan’s Kolkata Knight Riders’ clothing franchise.

Each of these promise a 30-day return policy,cash on delivery,sales and freebies. Online shopping is supposed to be as commonplace as ordering a pizza. But an industry that claims to be avant-garde,fashion — luxury fashion — took its time to catch up with digital business. Prada’s website only came up five years ago,in 2007. Uche Okonkwo’s Luxury Online chronicles why labels need to overcome their digital challenges on today’s world-stage. Labels such as Louis Vuitton,Gucci,Christian Dior and Burberry are only just realising the Internet can be an overwhelming marketing tool.

Hauteitis is a new and beautiful site that’s dedicated to a clutch of Indian designers — Anamika Khanna,Gaurav Gupta,Namrata Joshipura and Ranna Gill. It is helmed by Manjari Saha,sister of Christian Dior’s Kalyani Saha,headquartered in Boston,and largely aimed at American women.

The celebrated Netaporter.com is synonymous with buying fashion online,and they’re soon coming to India. We will see many more Indian designers on this portal for sure. But it needs many more rivals than we have on offer.

namratanow@gmail.com