India Fashion: The Old Versus The New

I'm at one of India's Fashion Week -- this one in Mumbai. I am here as a guest of IMG, or perhaps more accurately, Lakme, the Indian beauty brand which sponsors the shows that IMG produces in Mumbai. (There is also a fashion week in New Delhi, run by the Indian Fashion Council, but that's another story.)

One of my prime reasons for coming was to see how far the evolution has come from developing country to a key provider of revenues for luxury goods companies. The night before I arrived there was a big party for the opening of a Gucci store, but sadly I missed it and the Gucci C.E.O. Mark Lee was off to the next Asian shop opening before I hit the ground.

India's fashion weeks are primarily a chance for the native designers to show their stuff to the mostly national shopkeepers who stock them. But for many in the audience, and certainly those of us who came courtsey of IMG, the eternal debate is: "Are any of these designers ready to go West in a really big way." The answer, despite many strong national designers, is not yet. Albert, a sharp-tongued buyer for Brown's in London, points out that the competition is fierce. By the time the designs seen on the runway in Mumbai hit the stores in London, they're as expensive as the collections we've seen on the runways in Paris.

A look by Sabyasachi at Lakme Fashion Week

And how much time can you spend educating your consumers about a young Indian designer when they can get similar ethnic vibes from someone to whom they've accustomed to buying, like say, Dries Van Noten? And, he points out, they sell at surprisingly similar prices. The problem, in brief, is quantities and the lack of top-notch manufacturing here, in addition to a lack of professional management and a disregard for big trends. Mallis, who heads up the IMG fashion division points out that in almost every case the buyer and the press contact for these designers is the designers themselves. But the shows are worth watching for the fabrics alone. They are nothing short of amazing and go beyond what I expected.

I sat down with Sangita Kathiwada, a retailer with over 15 years experience here. At her peak, she had three Melange stores in Mumbai and three in smaller Indian towns. She said she decided to close all the stores except for her headquarters because the local customers felt the merchandise wasn't as special when they could get it closer to home. She now focuses much of her energy on Morcrafts, a charity which supports Indian craftsmanship. Our conversation made me think about how often you see a talented London-based designer with interesting cuts and sharp tailoring, but sub-par fabrics. The opposite of my Indian experience.

A look from Duro Olowu at London Fashion Week

Kathiwada is coming to London next week and I'm going to introduce her to Duro Olowu. Duro's famous for his unusual mix of vintage and new fabrics and is fond of designing his own prints. He recently told me it cost him £2000 to have one of his runway dresses embroidered -- putting the retail price at a level one would expect from haute couture. (It's a special order item.) If we could get some of the Indian designers to London to work alongside talented British designers and help young British designers get access to Indian textiles and craftsmen, it might just save both the Eastern and the Western worlds from becoming ones that all sell the same ten brands -- at greatly inflated prices. And nobody benefits from that. Anyway, that's what Sangita and I are thinking. We'll let you know how it works out.