Behind the scenes at Wills India Fashion Week, courtesy of PR Pundit

This week on The Business of Fashion we welcome several guest contributors to give us the scoop on recent fashion weeks, the IHT conference and local market trends in India. We’re calling it our own India Fashion Week, but as you’ll see, that might be the last thing India needs.

NEW DELHI, India — Bollywood, Cricket and Fashion. Everyday these three topics bring to life the popular culture pages of India’s leading national newspapers, The Times of India and Hindustan Times. And of this colourful ménage à trois, fashion is the relative newcomer, but is growing fast.

In the last year alone, the local scene has exploded to include three major prêt-a-porter fashion weeks, a bridal couture week, a regional fashion week in Kolkata, a proposed men’s fashion week and enough corporate sponsors to power each one. Multi-brand fashion boutiques and über-luxe malls featuring international brands have also recently opened. Local fashion media has reached critical mass, with Harper’s Bazaar, which launched an Indian edition last month, Vogue India, and countless other magazines all aimed at India’s it-bag aspiring middle classes.

But, let’s start at the very beginning, to see how it all began.

India’s first ever fashion week took place in New Delhi in the Autumn of 2000, organised by the newly created Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI), the international talent agency IMG, and title sponsor Lakmé, a leading Indian cosmetics and beauty brand. This edition ran until the big split in 2006. Since then, Lakmé Fashion Week (LFW) by IMG is held in Mumbai, home of Bollywood and “filmy” glamour, while the FDCI continued as Wills India Fashion Week (WIFW) in New Delhi. Add to this Delhi Fashion Week (DFW), only two seasons old, created by the FDCI’s defecting former executive director.

Which brings us to the Autumn/Winter 2009 shows last month, where over 180 fashion and accessory designers in 80+ runway shows, unveiled their collections across three events in two cities, between March 18 and 31, with a record number of corporate sponsors including Hewlett Packard, Audi, Grey Goose, Carlsberg, Yahoo, Reliance, Kingfisher airlines and Fedex.

As FDCI president Sunil Sethi told The Business of Fashion: “Even in these times of recession there is a definite buzz around brand India and a special place on the rack for us. It is all about continuity.  If a customer has come to us once, whether they add another designer or replace one with the other, they nevertheless carry brand India forward. Let us get the international fashion community here first. Let them see our creativity, our warmth and the hunger we have to be part of the world of fashion.”

But that is easier said than done, and there is a long way to go before this is achieved.

If only these fashion weeks did not shift venue every year, resulting in constant logistical reprogramming between glitzy five-star hotels, a spanking new luxury mall, a drab industry trade venue, and a crumbling performance arts hall, creating an image problem, which never helps in fashion

What’s more, designers are split and often conflicted, especially the younger ones, as to which week they should participate in. On one occasion designers even fought publicly, one accusing the other of delaying his show on purpose.

For media and buyers, the three fashion weeks are no treat either. Media outlets are forced to deploy larger teams to simultaneously cover all events comprehensively. The all-important front row of international buyers, such as Julie Gilhart, fashion director of Barneys New York who attended WIFW last month, must choose between fashion weeks or face the impossible drive across Delhi between venues, in the deadlock of peak traffic hours.

What the Indian fashion community needs to do instead is create a single organisation to interface between designers and related government bodies, retailers, manufacturers and financial institutions. We should aim to make a global imprint with our craft and textile heritage, creativity and colour at global standards of competitiveness; marketing India as a design hub. Indeed, the craft and colour of India has caught the imagination of the world, not just-a-bit helped by the phenomenal success of Slumdog Millionaire.

To outside commentators this is more than apparent. A few days ago bigwig fashion journalist Suzy Menkes wrote in a New York Times article, “As the vast country’s designers take Indian style beyond the draped sari and its woven fabrics to Western cut and sew, a local industry is now doing more than making low-cost clothes for export overseas. [Yet] in spite of a vibrant market across the subcontinent, the rallying cry of those 150-plus designers is this: “Can we make it internationally?”

Manish Arora has made it, with critical acclaim, if not commercial success. Pieces by Rajesh Pratap Singh have been stocked at Colette in Paris. Other designers including Anamika Khanna, Sabyasachi, Ashish N. Soni and Namrata Joshipura, are also making their mark internationally. A couple of other promising up-and-comers including Gaurav Gupta and Varun Sardana are waiting in the wings but need seed investment to take off.

As for the crowded show calendar and multiple fashion weeks, some industry participants think it might be too early to tell whether three really is crowd.  “I think we should reserve judgment for the time being,” says  Nonita Kalra, Editor-in-Chief of ELLE India. “I don’t think the calendar is crowded. Just compare the numbers to the burgeoning middle class. India is a big country with big tastes. What seems like an explosion to the rest of the world is just a small party for us.”

Either way, while the dust has settled a bit this year, the chaos of fashion week in India is not a pretty sight.  That said, the threat of recession has turned quite a lot of people rather more serious in bringing Indian fashion from fraternity to industry, not gang war. And that can only do us some good.

Sita Wadhwani is a writer, fashion stylist and trend scout based between New Delhi and Mumbai.

Thom Browne, courtesy of NYMag

Is Thom Browne Going Downe? (Blackbook)
With lavish spending on tailors and elaborate shows, Thom Browne’s business may be amongst the first high-profile independent designers to face financial difficulties as demand for his high-priced shrunken suits wanes.

Breaking into the West is hard to do (IHT)
Due to Indian designers “lack of Western-style business structure and of financial support” their effort to break out of the local market is being hampered.

H&M profits hit by currency turmoil (Drapers)
“H&M saw first quarter profits fall back 12% to SEK 3.5 billion after gross margin was hit by currency fluctuations.”

America’s Favorite Foreign Retailers (Forbes)
In terms of market share, foreign retailers are closing in on American stores.

Turning a Page (Newsweek)
“In response to tough times, the fashion business discovers inclusiveness.”

Manish Arora A/W 09, courtesy of Coutorture

Indian designers make their mark with craft (IHT)
During Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week, designers are making a mark through artisanship.

Nike realigns global footprint (Just Style)
Sporting goods giant Nike last week unveiled plans to reorganise its namesake brand into six regions with reduced management in a bid to make its operations more efficient and trim costs.

Tiffany’s Reports Sales Declines (Seeking Alpha)
“Tiffany’s has exceeded earnings expectations five of the last six quarters, which seems to suggest that analysts underestimate Tiffany’s ability to sell in a tough consumer spending market. However, the declines in sales are serious and a real cause for concern.”

H&M and Zara top Retail Best Brands list (H&M)
According to an Interbrand report, H&M & Zara are in the top 5 of most valued retail brands.

Inflation surprises and jumps to 3.2% (FT)
“Inflation as measured by the consumer price index rose to 3.2 per cent in the year to last month, up from 3 per cent in January.”

No sooner had posted my own thoughts on the future of Indian fashion, that I began seeing other interesting perspectives which have emerged in other online fashion media over the past week on India’s luxury goods and fashion industry. Clearly, Indian fashion is on fire. Much of the content is infused with the intelligent musings of Bandana Tewari, who is also the newly named Fashion Features Editor of Vogue India and has become a good friend since we met back at London Fashion Week in February 2006.

The most recent JC Report focuses on India, covering Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week in Delhi and Lakme Fashion Week in Mumbai. The highlight for me was an insightful interview conducted by global fashion guru Jason Campbell (the JC of JC Report) who speaks to  Bandana Tewari,  who is equally guru like in her knowledge of the Indian Fashion scene. You could call it the meeting of the gurus.

Bandana also features as part of an interesting dive into Indian fashion aesthetic at luxuryculture.com. There is also a fascinating interview with India’s minister for Commerce and Industry, Shri Kamal Nath, who provides a detailed look inside some of the drivers of Indian wealth and how the luxury goods industry is shaping up. If you want to get your head around the dizzying growth of Fashion and Luxury in India, this article is a must read.

[The picture above is snapped in Bandana's hotel room at Delhi Fashion Week, when Bandana kindly ordered us some room service after an exhausting day full of shows.]

However, anyone who has done business in India will know that navigating the the notoriously challenging Indian business world is not easy. In Indian fashion, it is even more challenging. Darwinian forces and age old Indian cultural patterns  collide with the already flaky and frenetic fashion world. This is, after all, the country where Majed Al Sabah’s putative Indian business partner in an initiative to develop an Indian outpost of Villa Moda left him at the proverbial alter and then went off to set up his own competing business under another name, using the Villa Moda concept. Clearly, understanding the nuances of how things really work in India and how to gain the trust of and commitment from Indian business people is critical to success.

This is partially why I think there should be much more discussion on which of the local Indian designers (and there are literally 100′s of them who show in Delhi and Mumbai each season) will conquer the Indian market. These are people who have lived and breathed India from the get go, and have the know-how and connections to make things work in their home country. Sure, most of the big European luxury players partner with illustrious local business families with fashion cred, but it seems to me that having an operation that understands the Indian market and designs specifically for it can be a very powerful way in which local Indian designers can compete with the big guys.

The truth is, the tradition of cultural dress in India is not relegated to formal events or occasions as it is in some other Asian countries.  In fact,  Indian men and women, even at the most elite socio-economic levels,  integrate traditional dress into their everyday lives. This is, on the one hand, a reflection of climate. On the other  hand, it is a reflection of a distinct pride in Indian culture. For designers who share in this pride, understand the culture, and can design for it, they can have a leg up on any foreigners who come to play on the feisty Indian fashion playground.

Tonight, one of my favourite Indian designers, Sabyasachi Mukherjee, invited me to an event in London showcasing the work of some of the most talented Indian designers. Held by the Gallery Sumukha at London’s Bombay Brasserie, the event brought together 30 artists from India who collaborated to produce thematically linked pieces of fashion, art and design.

Though the Bombay Brasserie space did not lend itself well to this kind of exhibition, it was very impressive to see the work of so many talented young artists from India all in one place. At a fashion show in New York a few season ago, a Japanese buyer from Isetan asked me if I was the "Hermes of India". When I looked at him with a blank face, not knowing what he meant, he went on to describe an Indian ingenue of great talent and noteriety. I soon figured out he was talking about Sabyasachi — so you can understand the level of talent that was assembled for the event. Manish Arora, Rohit Bal, and Rajesh Pratap Singh were some of the other Indian fashion luminaries who were working the crowd.  Right now, it seems many of them have their hearts set on conquering the Europe and America. It’s my hope that one of these guys also finds the inner passion to also make it in their home market, building the world’s first luxury brand in India, for India.
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Sabyasachi developed this look based on the painting to the left by Paresh Maity. It is reminiscent of the  nerd girl chic collection he showed to great reviews in New York last September.

Manish Arora’s contribution was a signature Manish skirt and jacket based on the stunning work of Ravinder Reddy.

We fell in love with these  old-school valises in modern colours by Suman Sharma, inspired by Bose Krishnamachari in collaboration with Rohit Bal.

© 2007 Copyright Imran Amed – The Business of Fashion