Lakmé Fashion Week has always been ahead of the curve and a strong supporter of fresh energy. Every year nearly 2500 students pass out of fashion schools, passionate about being designers – they have the zeal and the creativity, what they lack is proper guidance and platform to showcase their ability. Being one of the most prestigious fashion weeks in India – Lakmé Fashion Week is the best stage to display their thought-process and prowess, and it has done just that. We have got some amazing talent through this initiative of LFW – Nachiket Barve, Rahul Mishra, Masaba, Prashant Verma, Vineet Bahl and Rimzim Dadu bear testimony to this. In my capacity as the Board Member of LFW and CMD Kimaya, I have always attempted to make sure that Upcoming Talent gets their due. They are the future of Indian Fashion Industry, if we don’t nurture them now; we put our future at stake!
India has some amazing creativity and in addition we have a rich heritage of crafts and culture. Some of the applications for this season showed an intriguing use of dying Indian arts and others took a plunge at European styles in a very contemporary fashion. I have a lot of hope from the young designers, based on which, I have always promoted India as a strong contender of next Fashion Capital of the World.
This season’s Gen Next Designers are very promising! Young designers besides being creative also have a commercial bend of mind. They have reached the inflection point much before their predecessors. All seven of them had a diverse portfolio on offer, giving a breath of fresh air to Indian fashion. When you are young, your thought process is naïve, so you dare to experiment. Once established, you develop your style and think around in boundaries; hence it’s always a pleasure to see a Gen Next Designer’s creation on the ramp.
Indian customer is coming off-age, they now demand for global Fashion and style. They want fresh stuff; they are done with buying same embroideries and surface ornamentations for ages. Hence Gen Next Designers should keep in mind the commercial viability of their merchandise. They should understand the Indian consumer psyche and make clothes that flatter their personality. Despite the liberalization and global exposure, Indian customers are little hesitant in experimenting – especially with the silhouettes. For example, off late a lot of beach-wear designers coming up with focussed collections, but their sales in India are limited. So, if you want to run business, give customers what they want, rather than give them what you want!
According to me, Indian fashion is still in its embryonic state, the growth can be traced back to the last ten years. Indian fashion has seen tremendous growth in the last one decade, be it the fashion institutes from where over 25,000 students pass out every year, or the number of serious fashion media publications that has gone up by 700%, from one fashion week; today we have over 12 fashion weeks in the country, from a handful of known designers in the ‘90s, we have over 300 designers today. This is the India story, one that the world is paying attention to. The world is looking India-wards. With Chanel doing an entire collection of 72 pieces with India as an inspiration there is no doubt in this. Dior, Hermes and so many other luxury brands have taken to this route – Canali’s Nawab Jacket, Ermenegildo Zegna’s Guru Jacket, Hermes’s Special Saree collection and Judith Leiber’s India-inspired Limited Edition collection are just some of the examples.
The luxury designer wear apparel market in India is pegged at INR 1000 cr; and is growing at a healthy rate of about 22-23% YOY. We believe that it has the potential to escalate to Rs.5000 crores in the next five years. A projected grow rate of 30-35 percent per annum is easily achievable. Though the size of the Indian Luxury Apparel market is small, but the potential is immense and it is going to grow exponentially over the years. The metro cities are saturated, now the brands are shifting focus to pocket-rich middle class sitting in tier-2 cities. That is where the focus is right now and will be for next decade.
India is unique and so are its fashion requirements. There being a north -south divide in the topography and the climatic conditions across the country, the fashion needs of inmates are also divided. While Delhi may observe harsh winters and people there will need woollens and knits; Mumbai or Chennai will remain warmer and hence mixed fabrics will continue to do well there. However, India is also the land of celebrations and during the months of August to December, the festive needs of fashoinistas nationwide are common.
The best advice I can give for the upcoming designers is to try and attain equilibrium between commercial viability and creativity. We need fresh fashion, but we need fashion that sells. Try and read pulse of the market and make clothes accordingly. Our hopes for being the next fashion capital of the world lie on your shoulders!
