Desi thrills and frills

Fashion designers who can8217;t get their clothes to talk for them should stick to brides

A 100D-odd designers participated in the two fashion weeks held in Mumbai and Delhi recently, but only a handful could strike a chord with the international fashion community. Three names cropped up repeatedly: Manish Arora, Sabyasachi Mukherjee and Anshu Arora Sen. The rest can fall all over themselves trying to impress the western buyer, but they will continue to be trousseau designers for the Page 3 types in Delhi and Mumbai.

What differentiates Arora, Sen and Mukherjee from their peers is they8217;re not trying to better the standard black pants, cocktail dresses and business suits made famous by Calvin Klein and Donna Karan. They realise they can8217;t. So they8217;re offering what they understand best: blazing Indian colours, ethnic embroidery and a distinct Indian sensibility, toned down for the Western palette. At Arora8217;s show, models walked to violinists playing 8216;Rang De Basanti8217; on a ramp emblazoned with autorickshaws. His skirts had the Qutab Minar and India Gate embroidered on them. It was a celebration of all things Indian and he got a standing ovation. Arora, usually seen in a T-shirt that says 8216;Ladies Tailor8217;, famously stated six years ago, 8220;If nobody likes my clothes, I8217;ll wear them myself.8221; No chance of that. As Didier Grumbach, co-founder of Yves Saint Laurent, put it, 8220;We8217;re here for something new that might appeal to our European clients.8221;

Indian designers have repeatedly failed while trying to recreate a pret or ready-to-wear collection on western lines. Suneet Varma8217;s Spice and Rohit Bal8217;s Balance can8217;t compete with Mango, a high fashion Spanish brand which does sales of over Rs 2 lakh a day from just one Delhi outlet. Malini Ramani, who8217;s been participating in India Fashion Week for six years, acquired her first T-shirt making machine barely a year ago. However, her mirror work kurtis and sequined pencil pants got her an invitation to participate in a San Francisco Fashion Week.

Not a single Indian designer can get a pair of jeans right but hand them some mirrors, beads or gota, and amazing things can happen. So, while sisters Gauri and Nainika do a fine imitation of John Galliano style satin gowns, and Namrata Joshipura8217;s sequined brown dress worked for Delhi socialites, it8217;s just not what international buyers come to India for. India Fashion Week has come a long way and its well recognised by London-based stores like Harrods and Browns. What the Fashion Design Council of India needs to figure out is how to take it to the next level. Since it8217;s a showcase for the international fashion community they need to ban saris, salwar kameezes and lehngas from the ramp. These outfits belong in Bridal Asia. The guidelines for participants need to be stricter. So bizarre African-style dances on stage and contrived audio-visuals on war have to stop.

If designers can8217;t rely on just their clothes to do the talking, too bad. Dump them. Anyway, there are the zillion brides for them.