Deficient Excess

They were also shrewd enough to exploit their great people skills with high-profile contacts; Jaya Bachchan and her family remain blind followers. Abu-Sandeep were also great showmen. I remember a decade ago,they undertook a large film hall at Mumbai’s Famous Studios and metamorphosed it into a decadent palace with flowing velvet curtains,champagne buckets and candles on every round table and a very exclusive crowd. Jaya Bachchan greeted Rekha at the front table and the two of them embraced; all of us hacks at the back table made a mental note that this would be our morning’s front page. On the runway were the most celebrated faces of India then,Anna Bredmeyer,Mehr Jessia and John Abraham and Raveena Tandon at the height of their purported romance. We had seen nothing like this.

When Abu-Sandeep fought and made up with the other eyeball-grabber,Rohit Bal,at an India Fashion Week front row in Delhi,it was the stuff fashion folklore was made of.

Today,Indian fashion is in another place. It is far more professional than any one could have dreamed of a decade ago. A forgotten name like James Ferreira finds an investor to make his label a formidable money-churning machine. Top designers hire expensive management mavens to strategise their businesses. Retail outlets have moved from rich addresses to far-out luxury malls. Chaos is a bit less chaotic now.

Abu-Sandeep seemed to have missed this ship. They’ve banked only on their celebrity clients and not used the opportunity to allow their business to grow. Their initial vision has not been buttressed with a business plan to take them further. There are too many people doing chikankari and zardozi now and doing it better. And they are doing it cheaper too. A Sabyasachi sari is available at several price ranges,each rate in keeping with his signature. Abu-Sandeep need a more affordable and accessible line. A Valentino red dress from the 80s is arguably the same as what he last made in 2009,but he had his diffusion Red line to play around with.

Exclusivity in fashion is seldom a bad thing,but it’s ‘what’s-nextism’ is far more crucial. Azzedine Alaia presented a fashion show this summer after eight years,but how avant-garde it was.

The bottom-line is that a label needs management if it needs to transcend the designer. The legacy must not end with the man. A new story needs to be told,albeit in the same language. We must evolve in order to endure. And that is the foundation on which fashion defines itself.

namratanow@gmail.com