Thursday, May 05, 2005

India Fashion Weak

Another Lakme India Fashion Week came and went by. Here's what I think it ultimately boils down to...

All the world's a ramp,
And all the men metrosexual and women size 6...

To the lay viewer - or 'consumer' as she is popularly known - that's what Lakme India Fashion Week (LIFW) 2005 looked like...

Designer Narendra Kumar's collection is inspired by the MMS scandal. Shantanu and Nikhil are inspired by the Sikh religion. Wendell Rodricks is inspired by the untouched people of the world's islands. No one, but no one, is inspired by the idea of clothing the modern - not model - Indian woman.

If genius is 1 per cent inspiration and 99 per cent perspiration, so is wearable fashion. The fashion fraternity is excellent at the first, hopeless at the second. It is the local tailors and boutiquewaalis who put in the sweat. These folks follow Fashion Week keenly, adapt an element here and an idea there to make clothing that women, with good money to spend, will buy.

But this doesn't matter to the designer darzi. No sir, we design for the international market. Didn't you know LIFW now attracts foreign buyers - the kind with authentic white skin?


You can read the complete piece I wrote in the latest Businessworld by picking up a copy of the magazine. Or, check it out here. (username and password required).

4 comments:

  1. Anonymous1:51 PM

    Fair Enougfh Rashmi. Lakme Fashion Week(Weak as U d say it) is a vehicle for self promotion; for the jittery eye balls and brain dead morons who are otherwise called as TV junkies. Plus of course, the advertising trends that bill it as the "most important event of the year in Indian fashion industry".
    Your article has exposed the double mindset and hypocrisy of these "designers".
    Keep up the good work.

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  2. Thats a bit harsh. The fashion industry isnt meant to do anything other than throw ideas out there. Thats the whole point- You don't judge it purely on the basis of wearability.

    Fashion shows are not purporting to be a reflection of the real world, they are attempting to be an example of creativity with clothing. Unfortunately it is way too common to assign the industry the role of producing clothes that can be mass produced and wearable. As you pointed out, other people do that (whether small outlets in India or large retailers somewhere else).

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  3. Anonymous5:57 PM

    hi!!!
    do read this and spread it!!
    http://web.mit.edu/adorai/timetraveler/

    ReplyDelete
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    info@rolisingh.com
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    ReplyDelete

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