How stage was set for designers

WHEN the Lakme Fashion Week starts in Mumbai on March 26, it will mark the silver jubilee of India’s first marquee fashion event, a trendsetter.

In these 25 years, the fashion industry has stitched a mega success story. According to an industry report by Statista, the revenue in the apparel market in India is projected to reach $109.45 billion (over Rs 10 trillion) in 2025. Women’s apparel holds the largest share, with a market volume of $53.13 billion (over Rs 5 trillion).

However, in the early 1990s, the established names today were just starting out. “JJ Valaya, Ashish Soni, Rajesh Pratap Singh, Ritu Beri, Rina Dhaka, Rohit Bal, Rohit Khosla, Tarun Tahiliani and many others were just about beginning their careers. There was a great momentum and more designers were coming out of the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT). But there was no one platform for designers to showcase their vision,” recalls designer Narendra Ahmed, who graduated from NIFT in 1990 and was ELLE India’s first fashion editor.

The Apparel Export Promotion Council (APEC) had facilitated some designers to present their work at fashion shows in New York, London and Paris. With that in mind, most designers were feeling the need for a fashion week in India, says Rajesh Pratap Singh, who was one of the designers to showcase his collection in the first fashion week.

The Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI) had been set up in 1998, in response to an urgent requirement to organise the Indian fashion industry under a formal structure. Sumeet Nair was appointed the executive director of the FDCI.

“Most designers felt that an Indian fashion week will provide the right platform to bring all designers together. Most of them were already holding individual shows but such an event could provide a collective platform for both the designers and the buyers,” says Ahmed.

While most industry stakeholders felt the need for such an event, two persons came together to conceptualise and create India’s first-ever Fashion Week in 2000 — FDCI’s Nair and Zubin Sarkari, fashion director at IMG (International Management Group), India, a global sports and culture company (now known as RISE Worldwide Limited, a subsidiary of Reliance Industries Limited).

“It was all very exciting. Some of the nitty-gritty of the first fashion week was thrashed out in our office where Nair and Sarkari would hold meetings with us, my partner Asha Kochhar and I, seeking inputs on various logistics — from the size of the ramp to the number of green rooms for models to the music to be played, and much more,” remembers Vidyun Singh, co-founder, Media Makers. Vidyun, part of the journey of Indian fashion since its first hesitant steps in the 1980, and Asha had already been working with designers in creating individual fashion shows.

The FDCI and IMG then approached Lakme for the title sponsorship, convincing its then CEO Anil Chopra to steer the fashion week.

“The initial years were really wonderful. We were doing everything ourselves, whether it was designing the sets or sourcing the music. I used to create music sequences while editing on spool tapes. I remember a crazy incident from one of the early fashion weeks. It was a Rohit Bal finale, and set designer Sumanth Jayakrishnan had crushed mica and mixed it with sand to create a sparkly set. We felt proud at our innovation but when the models walked on the ramp, the hems of their long lehengas blew the mica-sand mix right into the eyes of people sitting in the first row! Those were challenging but fun times. The best part was that the event literally put India on the global fashion map. Though it is still not as big as other international weeks in Paris or London, designers got access to both international and Indian buyers,” says Vidyun.

The week became the catalyst that not only sparked the fashion boom in India, but created a large number of new jobs. “Apart from models and modelling agencies, many ancillary professions evolved and grew exponentially over the years because of the fashion week, including stylists, makeup artists, scenographers or scenic designers, production and set designers, show directors, music creators and many more backstage jobs. Sound and light vendors invested in special equipment because they realised that this is a recurring business. Everything grew organically from there,” adds Vidyun.

In the earlier seasons, most designers did ethnic wear. This brought back the focus on traditional weavers and artisans. Hand embroideries like zardozi, chikankari, kantha and phulkari came back in vogue through elaborate wedding wear, emphasises designer Sonam Dubal, the first designer from the Northeast to create a stir in mainstream Indian fashion. His first fashion week collection was a blend of cultures weaving Pali calligraphy onto eri silk and using Banarasi silk and Chanderi to contemporise the Sikkimese honju and bakhu dress.

“India has a vast heritage of traditional techniques, be it in weaving or block printing. As the industry grew, it provided support to a lot of craftspeople around the country,” says designer Rakesh Thakore of Abraham & Thakore.

As the market grew, so did the awareness and understanding about fashion. “People realised fashion could be a full-fledged career,” says Ritu Kochhar, founder director, Inter National Institute of Fashion Designing.

“This led to the expansion of fashion education institutes. NIFT opened more centres all across India,” adds Dubal.

As more and more young designers emerge out of these institutes, the fashion week, too, has expanded its scope to provide a platform to these emerging voices in its GenNext show. “It has given us talented designers like Rahul Mishra, Nachiket Barve and many more,” says Ahmed, one of the brains behind the show.

While social media and fashion influencers may have taken some sheen away from these fashion weeks, most stakeholders across the industry agree that that one event 25 years ago changed the landscape of Indian fashion forever.

Stitching success

— The first Lakme India Fashion Week at Taj, Delhi, in 2000, had 32 designers presenting pret lines over five days. The number increased to 44 during the second fashion week held in Mumbai.

— Between 2000 and 2005, there was just one fashion week a year, alternating between Delhi and Mumbai.

— In 2000, the major buyers were international brands like Selfridges, Macy’s, Browns. At present, over 80 per cent buyers are domestic.