Ravi Bajaj not in favour of India Fashion Weeks

In the mad rush to see and be seen on the Indian fashion scene, Ravi Bajaj stands out like a quiet voice in the wilderness.

“Over the years, there have been a lot of changes in fashion. As far as
fashion weeks are concerned, they are good launching pads for budding
designers. But I am not in favour of participating in either Lakme
India Fashion Week or Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week because the
whole world is now coming to India. Moreover, I am catering to domestic
clients and not looking at exports.” – link

This makes one think – what is the purpose behind participating in a fashion week? Is it only to find an international buyer or does one keep to old business stategies that have worked for you in the past? What about domestic buyers and what role do they play in building a brand? Arre domestic buyers only important for budding designers?

Mr Bajaj seems content with or rather confident of the niche he has made for himself. There are other designers like Sharab Durazi whose mystery only works in favour, but this may not be the best strategy  for even the most established designer, when more and more designers are  crawling out of the woodwork looking for their space in the market.

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WOW

Nine Indian fashion designers have been chosen to showcase their collection at the Montana World of Wearable Art (WOW) 2006 to be held in New Zealand as part of a tie-up between the Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI) and the New Zealand Tourism Board.

– link 

Ashish and Manish in London

Creation by designer Ashish Gupta at London Fashion Week (S/S 07)


Creations by Manish Arora at London Fashion Week (S/S 2007)

All photos from BBC.

Hiccups mar fashion week

The Indian fashion industry has arrived but is yet to take off. That was more or less the unanimous consensus at the end of the week long Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week

An article looking at the weaknesses faced by the fledgling fashion industry.

Varun Bahl

Selecting Varun to showcase in Milan was a natural choice for the FDCI, given his brilliant work recently showcased at our just concluded WIFW (Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week) platform. He has grown from strength to strength as a designer and we are proud to have him represent the best of Indian fashion in Milan later this month.

Varun Bahl selected by the FDCI to showcase his designs at the upcoming Spring/Summer Milan Fashion Week in the Upcoming Dseigners Section from September 23rd – Oct 3rd. – link

Sabyasachi Mukherjee

Ashish Soni was the first designer to show at the Olympus Fashion Week. This week Sabyasachi Mukherjee became only the second Indian designer to show his clothes at the prestigous New York fashion week.

Couture in the City has excellent reviews and some pictures of his show – link 

            FashionTribes analysyes his collection – link

Designer seeks new grounds for Creativity

‘In today’s fast-paced world, everyone yearns for an unwinding experience when they get home. My line thus uses earthy shades and soft design themes to make the homecoming an unwinding experience,’

Sabyasachi Mukherjee launches Bath and Bed Line for Bombay Dyeing.

Good News for Fashion Industry

India’s 17-year-old fashion business is estimated to be worth just $50 million (BD19m) – a tiny fraction of its $12 billion textiles industry – but is estimated to be growing at 11 per cent annually.The domestic branded apparel market is reckoned to be worth around $2.5bn, according to Atul Chand, retail vice-president at Wills Lifestyle, a chain of 40 clothing stores and the event’s main sponsor.

According to this article in the Gulf News more and more Indian designers are turning away from their traditional market of bridal wear and instead focusing on making wearable clothes by tying up with bigger appparel companies.

Ritu Kumar

An interesting article on how the Grande Dame of Indian Fashion today started out.

“I mounted a way-out, futuristic, exhibition, of macho styled kurta-pajamas. These styles, or as we called them kurtas, were designed to be held together with suitcase zips, latched and bolted with hardware from Bagri Market, and patched with arrows of leather and assorted trims. For this audaciously gauche exhibition, The Statesman gave me a truly brave review.”

When she opened her first boutique..

Ritu rent[ed] a part of a grocery store on Wellesley Street for Rs 150 every month. She still remembers the many shows at coffee mornings at Trincas where the Bengali bhadrolok turned up in anything from dhoti-coat to box-wallah suits.

The Statesman August 22nd

A far cry from the fashionistas of today.

Read the entire article here

WLIFW

The Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week seems to have emerged victorious from the scruffle with Lakme India Fashion week. Upto 75 designers have opted to show their clothes and accessories at the Delhi fashion week.

Read more about the WLIFW here.