At Express Adda tonight,icons of Indian fashion’s 25 years

This is a special year for Indian fashion. Some of the country’s best known designers are celebrating their 25th year in business; a dozen others have completed two decades. Going from a cluster of garage boutiques run by homemakers to one of the world’s most fertile fashion retail markets has marked a defining quarter century.

What have our designers achieved collectively in these years? Is fashion buying here to stay despite economic volatility? Have we moved too close to Western constructs in dressing,stepping over centuries of indigenous art and craft? Are fashion colleges giving the right education? Why doesn’t India produce any more supermodels? Does the world now see India as a hub of original fashion ideas,beyond being just an affordable sourcing centre?

All this and more will be the conversation at Express Adda tonight with three iconic designers,Suneet Varma,Tarun Tahiliani and Madhu Jain. They will be in conversation with India’s first supermodel,Anna Bredemeyer.

“Let’s demolish some myths about models and the industry and talk real,” says Bredemeyer. “We have become too Westernized,are we are trying to shrug off heritage to sell our clothes?” asks Jain.

The stage seems set for a fascinating exchange.