This Catwalk Has Potholes

Haute couture in French may mean high fashion. But in India it has acquired another connotation - that of snitching, backbiting, backstabbing and undermining whatever little creativity is meant to be there in the 'airy realms' of fashion designing. So, when the news about the run-up to the first Lakme India Fashion Week (beginning August 17) being marred by mutual jealousy began trickling in, followers and patrons of Indian fashion were not shocked.

Modelled along the lines of the London and New York fashion weeks, the biggest fashion event of its kind in the country is supposed to have 33 designers presenting their pret-a-porter (ready-to-wear) line through 24 fashion shows, of which 21 will be individual shows and the rest with four designers each.

All this, however, may not take-off smoothly with the clique-ridden industry living up to its reputation. Mumbai designer Pallavi Jaikishen is already feeling affronted that she was contacted the hour before the twelfth. She has refused to throw in her lot. Says she: "I wasn't even aware of it till 25 days ago. There was a meeting in Mumbai and I still wasn't informed. They said she wouldn't be interested anyway. I felt the way it was done I was not going to get a fair deal. You can't cheat someone, specially someone so senior."

But one didn't need Jaikishen's complaint to be enlightened about the state of affairs. Even before the announcement was made, media wires were abuzz that all was not as rosy as it seemed and that fissures in the industry were too deep to be completely on the mend before the week took off. Speculation was fuelled by bigtime names which were missing. If India was presenting the best of its designerwear, could it afford to skip Shahab Durazi, Ravi Bajaj, Madhu Jain, David Abraham, Abu Jani-Sundeep Khosla, Hemant Trevedi, Anju Modi, Krishna Mehta and Pallavi Jaikishen? What the show list of 33 offers, on the contrary, were some names which came with little or no great design credentials - socialite Malini Ramani, for instance. Many other questions cropped up in no time: why so many designers from Delhi? More importantly, why this race against time - with barely three weeks given to each participant to put their pret line together? It's really ridiculous when one looks at the trend abroad, where designers are intimated six to nine months in advance to work on their creations.

Sumeet Nair, the man behind the show and board member and spokesperson for the Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI), the apex body of Indian designers, regards these as minor hiccups. These omissions, he says, were not intentional. Some declined the invitation, while many others missed the boat because of a precondition that the participant should be a member of the FDCI.

The fangs may not have been bared yet, but what can't be concealed any longer is the cynicism about the event. Will the design community stick together for a good cause? It's mostly suspect. The response of a designer, "Too many cooks spoil the broth", is indicative of the spirit. And though Delhi-based designer Madhu Jain considers it a great opportunity to create synergy, she would rather wait and watch. Says she: "The fashion fraternity is such that they might be nice to each other on the face but there's a lot of politicking behind the scenes and I would like to steer clear of that." She wants the organisers to prove themselves. "If it's serious and genuine, I'll join them next year," she adds. There are others who are less circumspect though. In designer Rohit Gandhi's opinion, it offers "us a chance to become more organised. It'll highlight not just one designer but the entire fashion industry. Everything may not be right the first time but it will be a hit over the years". For Monisha Bajaj, just the thought of such an attempt is heartening: "Somebody is trying. At least there's an intention of working together."

There are, however, few who support this. Delhi-based designer Ravi Bajaj claims he wasn't invited for the show. Perhaps because Bajaj, who was one of the founder-members of the FDCI, resigned from its membership early this year. Bajaj believes that the world of fashion can't be a fraternity. It'll always be more a game of individuals. Says he: "You have to get your own house in order first." That's a prerequisite for trying to turn into a corporate entity. According to him, the solidarity is notional. Says he: "If a store owes me money, the other designers won't stop business with it." Gandhi, on the other hand, believes that competition and cooperation can be made to coexist. He asks: "Why do we need to look at the negative side of the picture?"

For some like David Abraham, it was a question of being out of sync. Says he: "Personally I think it's a great idea but we can't coordinate our calendar. They are showing the Autumn 2000 collection in August while we are already showing our Spring 2001 collection abroad."

Besides, there are those senior designers who have a hang-up or two about sharing space with amateurs. One of them says so in as many words: "Some of them have just been assistants to leading designers, others not even that. They haven't been in the profession for even one year and already have a king-sized ego." Ravi Krishnan, joint managing director of img/twi, South Asia, differs. He believes the idea is to promote new bright talent as it's to showcase recognisable names. That's hardly anything to pacify Jaikishen who is miffed with the upper hand of the Delhi designers. "It's not that Delhi is getting more attention, they're grabbing whatever they can for themselves. We'll land up there and get the worst slots. Mumbai has much better designers than Delhi, the attention we command is much more than anything Delhi can come up with but there is no equal representation," she says. That seems to be highly unfair, that is if Gandhi's reasoning is bought. In his opinion, Delhi should get pride of place because it is the main fashion centre. Argues he: "The main labels are based here, even the National Institute of Fashion Technology (nift) is located here."

All this muck-raking and controversy has naturally led to the digging up of more dirt. FDCI has come under scrutiny. Set up in December 1998 under the aegis of the textile ministry, FDCI aims to be the mouthpiece of the industry and also boasts of names like L.V. Saptharishi, director-general of nift, among its members. Bajaj, who was one of the founders, explains why he moved away: "I found that I had no common objective with the council." This mouthpiece of the fashion industry, it seems, has turned into a battlefield of oversized egos.

In all this intra-industry strife, there is something that emerges pretty clearly: the Delhi-Mumbai rift. The common refrain among the designers from the Maharashtra capital has been that they have been given the short shrift and sidelined repeatedly. Jaikishen's is a representative voice: "When the FDCI was formed in Delhi, they didn't include Mumbai designers from the beginning. In fact, all this should have been done in Mumbai. In Delhi, people will party and bitch about each other. In Mumbai, nobody has the time."

But it's not merely a game of individual egos. Questions are also being raised about the aims and objectives of the event. Asks Bajaj: "What are the objectives, who are they inviting, whom are they targeting - the buyers or the general public?" The logic of the enterprise is sound on paper. The unique pitch is its focus on pret-a-porter. According to Saptharishi, Indian designers have focused on haute couture aimed at the limited high-end market. And Nair adds that this Rs 350-400 crore couture market has plateaued in India. Says Saptharishi: "A concomitant development of an affordable designer ready-to-wear line, marketed through an effective distribution network, is essential." He hopes that the fashion week will provide the right direction towards this end. Veteran designer Ritu Kumar believes that the individual fashion for women in India has never followed the dictates of the ramp in Paris. "We have had a very definite design of our own evolving in the country," she says hoping that the fashion week will provide a wider market to make it more relevant. "Fashion has to go across not just to a few cities but to every nook and corner," she says. "That's all very fine, but they should understand what pret is really all about. It has to be priced under Rs 2,500," says Jain. However, the mrp fixed for garments in the show is Rs 800-Rs 10,000.

The current export and domestic branded apparel market is estimated to be worth Rs 55,000 crore. FDCI hopes that by 2010 at least 20 Indian apparel brands will become both nationally and internationally recognisable and the fashion week is being pitched as a first step in that direction. According to Nair, India has the potential to become a global player in the clothing and apparel business. An active interaction with mill-owners and retailers will help this cause. The question is, who are these retailers? Asks Bajaj: "There are hardly any retail stores in India except Shopper's Stop. So what do you do? Where do you sell and to whom?" It can also be contented that with ready-to-wear garments available at Janpath at a much lower cost, who will go for the designer options.

The controversies and questions will continue in the weeks to come. As of now, the designers are busy putting their house in order. And their exercise will be complemented by the international makeup and haircare experts who will conduct workshops through the fashion week.

Besides, Wahindia.com is setting up a portal for covering the event on the Internet, Channel 5 is shooting a documentary. What's more, in a first of its kind event for the cosmetics industry worldwide, Lakme will come up with a special collection of lip and nail colours inspired by some of the leading Indian designers. The cherry on the cake is the participation of the internationally hot model, Jodie Kidd, along with Lisa Butcher, Natascha Mucafir and Caroline Fowler. Nair pegs it as "the beginning of a new era in Indian fashion industry". Let's await the sun, the odd clouds notwithstanding.