The Money Bag Syndrome

On the first day of the ongoing Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week in Delhi,I was at a young designer,Aneeth Arora’s,presentation of her hot-ticket label,Pero. Arora’s Pero,taken from the Rajasthani term,‘to dress up’,is a paean to Indian textiles and print,indigenous fabrics,dyes and techniques are optimised to make bohemian and contemporary clothing. Moreover,Arora layers stylishly; one model puts on no less than three items of clothing,even a shorter dress over a longer one for effect.

“Each ensemble costs Rs 30,000,” commented one of the most prominent fashion buyers in the country. She was right,each item at Arora’s stall averaged at Rs 10,000 — a lot of money to look like a deluxe flower child,no?

Fashion journalists easily overlook fashion prices. Often,many don’t pay a full price for a garment,if they pay at all. Stylists are only concerned with how the frock looks in their shoot. While magazine editors don’t mind listing high prices as it pushes their glossies into the luxe category. I am not saying all of this is intentional; I’m just saying this is how it plays out.

Last season,I trundled over to this very spot-on designer duo because I adored a red jumpsuit on their runway. “Please make me one,” I begged,and let their assistant take my measurements. The price: Rs 10,000. A bit much for a cotton playsuit,even though it had perfect seams.

In a fashion week,the swing tag price is what the designer sells it to a store for. A (small) store will order on an average three items in one style,at the cost price of the garment. (The cost includes the actuals,the labour and the design fee). Then the store will multiply that by three (2.9 is the official mark-up according to the business),to cover its overheads and make profit. So,in effect,my red cotton jumpsuit should cost me Rs 29,000 in a store?

The designer’s swing tag is often his estimate of the retail price. A fashion week,especially the prestigious Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week,is not an exhibition like the ones at Mumbai’s World Trade Centre before

Diwali. But since no one’s watching,let’s offer discounts to whoever we want. The FDCI,the integrated body of designers,needs to check this just as much as it needs to stay in tune with sizes and trends.

The graver problem is of the rising prices of luxury fashion across the world. It’s unjustified with big fashion houses,as each one now manufactures in a factory in China instead of an atelier in an Italian village. It’s unfair with local designers as their prices are random and whimsical. Most of them just want to set themselves one notch above high-street labels,but don’t offer the quality of machine-production. By and large,Indian fashion is hugely overpriced considering its manufacturing costs,high maintenances and after-sales.

In turn,what a sky-high price tag does is encourage the severely damaging trash-fash,or the illegal market for fakes and copies. I remember,it was only in 2005 that I bought a pair of handmade shoes in leather from Bruno Magli for Rs 12,000. It is now considered a steal,as leather shoes average at Rs 40,000,and ‘handmade’ is often a half-truth.

High fashion used to be a special affair,a relationship between a designer or a label and a client. Owning something with a designer tag was a thing of pleasure and prestige. Now it only means you,the consumer,are just a cash cow.namratanow@gmail.com