Fashion Weak, Is It?

Fashion weeks are becoming less about the excitement surrounding the unveiling of the season’s new collection and more about the people who have come to witness it. It is hijacked by those who come to bask in its glow — to be seen on the front row or in the VIP Lounge, and to network with fellow fashion fraternity folks.

The weeks appear a scam these days ; a sophisticated version of the emperor’s new clothes, where you wait in anticipation for some pageantry and nod along with the first ‘expert’. This situation begs the question whether fashion weeks are still relevant, or have they become a victim of their own superficiality.

Style over substance

“ No fashion week existed 20 years ago. At the most, designers could participate in trunk shows; they could carry their product abroad and sell only what was available with them. There was no systematic way in which designers could show their collections. The whole process started in India when the Fashion and Design Council of India (FDCI) and its members decided to create a platform,” says Sunil Sethi, present chairman of the FDCI.

Like any other trade fair, a fashion week is supposed to be a B2B event to fill the gap between makers and retailers. Currently, it seems as though the spectacle has taken over the story. Journalists covering the beat often don’t need to attend a show; we can accurately gauge what the collection is going to be based on the press releases sent to us, before the show has taken place.

The paucity of original thought has affected the way curators work as well. “Most designers we buy from don’t even feel the need for a show at these events. They call us, we do a preview and make a selection from that,” says Cecilia Parikh of Le Mill, a leading designer store in the country.

Brands like Burberry and Tom Ford have adjusted their shows to match the retail calendar, so that their goods will be available immediately after the showcase. With social media showing us the whole cycle from when something is being made till it is showcased, the product gets dated by the time it is available in stores. “Not only dated, it is also copied, even before it has had the time to come in to my own stores!” rues Tarun Tahiliani, one of the leading fashion designers of this country.

In the end, it is the design that loses out. “If everyone has it, no one wants it and if everyone has a copy, you want it even less.” So in line with the international trend they have “already made the switch”. Tahiliani’s stand-alone store displays their Spring/Summer collection at the store in February, but “you can’t expect the same sort of press coverage” as international brands.

A new relevance

A lot of the focus has shifted from the buyer to the press. Aakanksha Jain, fashion editor at L’officiel India, believes this may not necessarily be a negative thing. “It is not only a fashion event. It’s a media event, a lifestyle event. Be it Amazon, Lakme or the many other showcases, you have everything from restaurants to a photo exhibit, make-up artists and models. There are more stakes involved than just those of the designer.”

The presence of 24/7 media attention has democratised a business that was reserved for the elite. Now with a live broadcast via Periscope and instagram, everyone has access. Social media has created an entirely new breed of influencers. Even buyers keep a keen watch on the social media pages of designers. Models are chosen on the basis of their social media popularity.

If the show format must evolve, Parikh believes, “what is more interesting is the exciting events like Chanel going to Cuba for a show, or to Beijing (the Metiers d’Art shows). What we might see happening is that these fashion shows will cater to an audience that is not limited to the ones watching it in real time, but also those who are logged onto the digital world.”

Tahiliani concurs “Rohit Bal, Sabyasachi, Anamika or I, none of us have done solo shows at the recent shows. The real growth will come from your own store because it speaks your design language”. Even Parikh believes that for a designer it becomes more important to be part of a designer showroom, to be discovered easily by retailers.

Burberry or Tom Ford have their own retail stores and are not dependent on the seasonal shows. A young designer does not have the luxury of opening standalone stores. This is where fashion weeks will find new relevance, far from resting on the heels of the old guard but, in fact, championing the new.

Earlier, even prêt-a porter was being done by couture houses but now as designers evolve, so has the format of the fashion show as people recognise it. There is a separate couture week now which has made room for RTW (ready-to-wear collection) designers in the seasonal fashion weeks. They need the logistics, the branding and the infrastructure; this is where the institutional structures come in. What a fashion week does best now is act as the best branding exercise for your label and as Sethi says, “If a fashion week can do that, more power to it.”

Published on April 21, 2016, the hindu business line