Turning over a new leaf

The first step towards this is the launch of collection by designer Rahul Mishra,called — Reversing of Recession. Promoting the thought,Mishra says,“Reversing of Recession,portrays the general belief in people’s minds that the economy is on its way back to normal. This statement rings true especially in the fashion industry,which has evidently recovered from the slump.”

Mishra’s new collection,as the name suggests,aims to counter the sentiment of gloom. He has designed the clothes in such a way that they can be reversed and worn inside out. Thus,the collection is also ‘reversing’ in the literal sense.

“I think that the fashion industry was hit by the recession a little later than other industries in the first place,but we certainly did feel the pinch when it was in full swing,” says Mishra. “Events like the Lakme Fashion Week for instance,had comparatively less foreign buyers,probably because the recession made them apprehensive about taking risks. In fashion,any new design is always an experiment,and like any experiment it involves a certain amount of risk. If you take away the risk-taking capability then it is very difficult to survive in the industry. I also believe that the recession is based more on sentiment and hype than reality,” he adds.

Rasika Wakalkar,MD,Rudraksh who are showcasing Mishra’s collection feels that the reversible nature of the clothes in this collection is a metaphor for the recession,since it is like getting two clothes for the price of one. She expects that the nature of this collection will encourage buyers to emerge from the ‘cautious’ mode that they are currently in. Other members of the fashion industry also seem to echo the belief that the recession is coming to an end in fashion industry.

Model coordinator Lovell Prabhu explains the logic saying,“I think the fact that fashion industry was not affected as much by the recession is a question of people’s ego. We cater to the slightly higher strata of society,for whom their image is very important. They did not want to project that they were even slightly affected by the recession,and hence there was hardly any change in the amount they were spending on their clothes. This meant that designers were still doing good business,and most of them did not even change their prices!”

“However,” he adds,”the fashion industry also faced a slight slowdown. There were a few designers who had to bring their prices down in order to cater to the same clientele as earlier,but the slump was still not as pronounced as it was in some of the other industries. The rebound from the recession has definitely been quicker in fashion,but only time will tell to what extent it has bounced back.”

Whether the recession is ending or not is a matter of speculation,but one thing is certain: businesses are slowly recovering and bouncing back,and the fashion industry seems to be leading the way.