So Much Haute Air

THE jostling and jibing; the bustling and buzzing, the titling and tattling prior to the preview has begun. It is the curtain raiser to a trend never witnessed before by the Indian fashion world and as always, one quite does not know what to expect. There are a host of haute couture magazines on the clothesline—possibly clones of Cosmopolitan and Vogue with desi designer price tags attached. The names are high-sounding enough—Oomph!, Karma, Society Fashion and the as yet unconfirmed Elle—the plans even grander. Eight-colour printing on Zanders art paper, lavish fashion spreads shot on location in Mauritius and jet-setjaunts in and out of gay Paris. In a darzi-dominated country where pret-a-porter is anything but passe, would these rustlings from the ramp make any fashion sense?

"Fashion is a niche concept that we have lifted from the West. So we might as well adopt it in its entirety. And after the kind of knowledge that fad freaks have got from Vogue and STAR TV, Indian fashion magazines cannot be promoted as a novelty. The idea is to make sure that we are at par with international fashion magazines," opines Reshma Shetty, managing director of Models Plus. Her designer plans for Karma are still on paper—and Shetty hopes to strike only when the scene is hot. Meanwhile, Nari Hira's Society Fashion, which with an early June release will in all probability lead the print parade, wants to look nothing like the overseas mother mags.

 "We do not want to be Vogue wannabes and recycle stuff for our readers. If our readers are among those who are willing to shell out anything from a thousand to a lakh for an outfit, I'm sure they would be Vogue watchers to begin with. They wouldn't need us to replicate it for them," argues Minal Khona, editor of Society Fashion, a Magna publication.

Tripping over the trappings and each other, the scramble for the success formula is unmistakable. But is this only a shifty look of the season or is there gunpower beneath the puff? James Ferriera, designer and editor of Oomph! wants to pack more than pretty pictures in the inaugural issue scheduled to be out in July '96. "Besides beauty, jewellery, accessories and international fashion, we would also be doing art, travel, music, film, interiors, food, entertainment, portfolios and more," says Kamlesh Shah, publisher, Oomph!

The critics of couture however feel that there is more grease than paint on the picture. "It is actually threadbare—more pfaff than fashion," sniggers a fashion follower, "When they can't predict the in-thing, how can one expect them to project their usefulness?"

 Being hung up on haute couture is obviously not enough and the results of the existing fashion magazines are glaring. Apparel is an industry magazine; La Mode is more of a catal-ogue; and Gladrags emphasises more on flesh than fashion," remarks a fashion expert. With designers playing dictators and a dearth of good ones, credibility also faces a crunch. "As with Vogue, Indian fashion magazines should have exclusive designs commissioned by the magazine itself. Also, instead of carrying reams on just one designer, the mag should have the authority to mix 'n' match accessories and attires of different designers." says Shetty.

Not that the disadvantages have made much of a difference. Just about everyone with enough experience in the publishing business seems to have designs on the market, a fact that bodes ill for the fashion world. Meher Castelino, writer and fashion consultant rules: "Fashion magazines are excuses for making money out of advertisements. Those pages that do not get ads will carry couture. Nobody is really interested in the fashion industry." For the publishers too, it could prove to be risque business. A clear enough indication being the fact that they can afford to allow their publications to function only as bi-annuals rather than regular magazines. "That alone will tell you what kind of need exists for fashion magazines," states Castelino. The fact is that every new entrant is wary of treading new ground and each is waiting for the other to make the first move.

It is most certainly not going to be a cake-walk capturing the catwalk and all that it carries. If Indian fashion has a long way to go, so do publications to function only as bi-annuals rather than regular magazines. "That alone will tell you what kind of need exists for fashion magazines," states Castelino. The fact is that every new entrant is wary of treading new ground and each is waiting for the other to make the first move. It is most certainly not going to be a cake-walk capturing the catwalk and all that it carries. If Indian fashion has a long way to go, so do the fashion magazines.  As supermodel Mehr Jesia says: "From the models and designers point of view, we are definitely at par with the West. I can't say the same about the magazines." 

The process of putting the act together is still on. If lucky, the fortunes of the hopefuls will not reinvent the meaning of the term 'fall collection'.