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Journalism of Courage
June is usually the month when the frenetic activity leading up to the biannual India Fashion Week begins. It’s the perfect time to hit the storyboard and weave a tale for the extravaganza in September-October. After all, it puts together an event that amounts close to Rs 20 crore a season. The script this season, however, is slightly different. It’s laced with more than the usual melodrama.
For, the 10-year-old apex body of Indian fashion, the Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI), is still reeling from the impact of feverish internal politics. Its executive director, Sumeet Nair, resigned last week, after a nearly month-long circus of accusations and counter-allegations. A handful of designers accused Nair of nepotism and misappropriation of funds and of restricting the freedom of a democratic body. Interestingly, Nair was backed by industry stalwarts — from veterans like Tarun Tahiliani to Rohit Bal, from Rina Dhaka to Rajesh Pratap Singh, from Ashish Soni to Varun Bahl.
Unsubstantiated rumours and conspiracy theories abound. There are tales of how Nair got his coterie selected for the prestigious Tranoi Fair in Paris, and how he tried to curb the power of the governing body by amending the memorandum of understanding. Yet, many followers of Indian fashion remember Nair as the man who made the fashion week an event that got noticed for the business it garnered rather than the guests who showed up. He pulled the week off the posh five-star hotels and into the plebeian Pragati Maidan, ensured that Indian designers got representation at international weeks, invited international industry stalwarts for the desi event.
How does the rift affect us? High fashion might still be tales of gossamer threads and chiffon weaves that we look upon from a distance. But there’s no denying that for a while we all thought that the time of Indian fashion was here and now. That an industry worth Rs 400-500 crore was finally standing up to the Guccis and Armanis. That for every Alexander McQueen or Vera Wang, we had a Manish Arora or an Anamika Khanna. That credibility is precisely what is at stake.
Two years ago, when the FDCI went through its first split with long-time partners IMG and Lakme, it was hardly a spectacle. Instead, over 60 of India’s best designers left their differences behind and came together in what was a tremendously successful week. It raised a toast to the new phase of Indian fashion.
Now, with rumours of the formation of a parallel fashion body doing the rounds, all eyes will be on the fashion week that will begin on October 15. It remains to be seen how an industry, riven and fractured, puts together the event. I hope the storyboards can figure this one out.
paromita.chakrabartiexpressindia.com
