contemporary indian fashion

EDITED BY FEDERICO ROCCA

In weiter Ferne, so nah! (“Faraway, So Close!”): the title of Wim Wenders’ famous film could also be the title of this book. India and the West. The well run in (at least to date) fashion system of the West versus the first newborn cries of what (either tomorrow or, more realistically speaking, the day after) might become the Indian fashion industry. These are two very remote extremes, also on a geographical level. And yet they are potentially already so close. Without counting Japan – which is Far (-ther East) still and as such “ubiquitous” (as it has been for over twenty years) – the West and India are two seemingly irreconcilable world fashion poles that are searching for common ground. It is simply a matter of understanding where exactly they can meet, given the intensity with which they are attracting one another - much like two very powerful magnets.

On the one hand, there is the hunger for western fashion, which for several years has been consuming India’s established and nouveau rich alike. Fashion as a status symbol, for show, as tangible and recognizable concretization of a social position. As a “release” of a continent-nation that within the space of just a few years has acquired a leading role on the world stage of global economy. Just like Italy, no more, no less, exactly one generation ago. The “legendary” Eighties have only just reached India now, but are even more sensational and insatiable, if this is possible. There’s a desire to spend spend spend. It’s hedonism, sui generis. Consumerism. The Land of Plenty, to paraphrase another Wenders’ film title. In New Delhi and Mumbai single-brand boutiques are opening up left, right and centre. Glossy fashion magazines vie with the crème de la crème of the most influential international titles. Kelly, Knot Bag, New Jackie and Downtown have become the best arm-buddies of amber-skinned Indian misses with silken tresses clad in spectacular saris. In the evening these very same women shed their daywear in favour of creations by Roberto Cavalli, Dolce & Gabbana, Gucci, Dior and Chanel, which they wear to attend parties at fashionable clubs ... And the more they possess the more they put on - literally. Western luxury finds exceptionally fertile ground in India. Although, perhaps, in a somewhat less natural and more affected way ... that’s in-your-face? If you look closely, you will see that the most deeply-rooted taste of Indians essentially retains its“Indianness”, which Western taste may complement, but can by no means replace.

On the other hand ... almost coyly, one might say, the most innovative and refreshing groups of fashion devised, designed and produced in India by designers (invariably very young, almost always young and sometimes even “mature” in years”) who are Indian by birth, but international by virtue of their training and taste and are attempting to find their niche on the catwalks and on the Middle Eastern, European and US markets. It is a Gold Rush towards the West at a pace, which –for the time being – is that of a sedate and polite invasion. It’s an exploratory mission to put out the feelers, to gain exposure, an attempt, using hard evidence, to debunk one of the (many) common misconceptions that pigeonholes India into an “all-perfumes&colours” box. Many – perhaps most of – the names of these designers will not ring any bells. They are Anamika Khanna, Sabyasachi Mukherjee, Ashish N Soni, Gaurav Gupta, Kavita Barthia, Rajesh Pratap Singh... and Manish Arora, who, to tell the truth, is popular to the point of excess: he dresses pop stars, works with major make-up and watch brands and for the past few seasons he has regularly occupied an important slot during Paris Fashion Week. However, the other designers are also often guests at international Fashion Weeks and they sell their creations to the world’s most influential multibrand stores. The West observes these designers with an odd mixture of curiosity and suspicion, attraction and incredulity. Will an Indian designer– and this seems to be the silent, yet thunderingly loud question – ever dress western women? The book’s answer aims to be obvious. Look at their clothes and you will see the answer for yourselves.

More ambiguous still is the answer to the question: what is this Indian fashion like? If any effort at all has gone into the making of this book, it has been that of giving an account of the sheer variety of styles, interpretations and declensions that make up the proposal of this new wave of Indian fashion. The range spans from the most austere minimalism to the most bizarre and ironic kitsch proposals. If a common denominator is to be found at all costs, then look for it in the words of the interviews so generously given by the many designers involved. Almost all the designers recognize as a trait d’union in the different personalities of new Indian fashion the quasi-religious respect for their age-old tradition, which more specifically translates as the superb quality of craftsmanship, the originality of the workmanship, the exquisite prints and the sumptuousness of the embroidery ... Not so much in the visible and obvious escamotages that astound those who see and wear them, as the small, imperceptible wonders that can only be appreciated by caressing a fabric, or by looking closely at an appliquéd stone or by observing a colour in the half-light ... because (astoundingly) as many of them state quoting Mies van der Rohe, “God is in the details”. One of them goes on to add another interesting element. It is the young – and, as one says in these instances, “upcoming” Anuj Sharma, who says: “We Indians have a rather unusual trait among several others; making the most out of the least amount of resources... I like to create out of the least possible resources”. Creating the best out of nothing. Necessity is the mother of invention, as they say.

Richness of tradition and poverty of resources translated into lavishness of ideas: this is – to say it à la Wenders once more, Der Stand der Dinge (“The State of Things”).

We have – probably – now come to the crunch. These characteristics of Indian fashion could magically transform into a compass or conversely, into ballast. Contemporary Indian fashion now has the chance to truly break its boundaries with a bang and carve for itself a place in the sun of intercontinental prominence. This will likely happen. When? We shall only find out Im Lauf der Zeit.

Federico Rocca

MANISH ARORA 1997: Manish Arora launches his Label “Manish Arora” and starts retailing in India. 2000: Manish participates at the first ever India Fashion Week held in New Delhi. 2001: Manish launches his second Label “Fish Fry” and shows this collection in six leading cities in India. Is stocked at Lord & Taylor, New York. 2002: Manish opens his first flagship store Manish Arora Fish Fry in New Delhi. 2003: Manish opens his second flagship store in the commercial capital of India, Mumbai. He has a successful showing at India Fashion Week in Mumbai and starts stocking at Maria Luisa in Paris starting a successful export business. 2004: He is awarded the best Women’s Prêt Designer at the first ever Indian Fashion Awards 2004 held in Bombay. 2005: Manish has a successful debut at the London Fashion Week in September 2005 and receives an overwhelming response from the press as well as the buyers. Collaborates with Reebok to design a collection of shoes under the brand Fish Fry for Reebok. Manish exhibits some of his work at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London for an exhibition called “Global Local” in association with the British Council, India. 2006: He confirms himself as a fashion designer of great potential during his second showing in February 2006, receiving rave reviews from top fashion journalists like Hilary Alexander, Suzy Menkes and Lisa Armstrong in all the leading publications. He is stocked at 75 well known stores worldwide. 2007: Manish teams up with makeup & cosmetics giant MAC to design a signature collection. He collaborates with SWATCH for a limited edition of watches. In September Manish is invited to show his collection at the prestigious Fashion in Motion held at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London. 2008: Manish stars with his collections during Paris Fashion Week.

PRASHANT VERMA Prashant Verma began his training in fashion design at the age of 18 in London, at the fashion house of Alexander McQueen for menswear and womenswear, ready-to-wear and couture, working extensively on prints and embroideries for the runway presentations across 2003-2004. He then moved on to press and design at milliners Philip Treacy and subsequently to a powerful combination of avant-garde and establishment at John Galliano and Christian Dior in Paris. In 2005 Prashant graduated from the National Institute of Fashion Technology, New Delhi, with a diploma in fashion design and a graduate collection that was sponsored by Manish Arora, Puja Nayyar, Rohit Gandhi and Rahul Khanna, Varun Bahl, Ashish and Smita Soni, and Tarun Tahiliani.

Moving base to New Delhi in 2005 Prashant began to work closely with the Indian design industry to further enhance his strengths in the workings of traditional crafts and techniques in contemporary fashion design. Across 2005 and 2006, Prashant worked at the design studio of Manish Arora and then for Rohit Gandhi and Rahul Khanna as a stylist for the Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week Grand Finale AW 06/07 runway presentation. In 2006, he launched his label, PRASHANT*, producing two annual womenswear collections comprising prêt-à-porter and haute couture. Prashant’s clothes graced the cover of the inaugural issue of GQ India in October 2008. Focusing primarily on high-end evening wear, the collections exhibit a variety of techniques and ideas – signature digital prints, old school couture embroideries, hand crafted sculptural constructions in a luxurious and often unusual array of materials, blending silk with neoprene, knitwear in high quality viscose, cotton and silk jerseys, buffed leathers to yards of fragile organza – assimilating the traditional and technical diversity of textiles and craftsmanship. Severely constructed, sharply body-contouring, dramatically voluminous and excessive – PRASHANT* upholds an aesthetic of visual severity, opulence, gloss and strength.

DRASHTA SARVAIYA After completing her BA in Fashion at NIFT (National Institute of Fashion Technology), Drashta took a plunge into the fashion world with her love for colours and eye for freshness. After kick starting her career as a designer with a leading fashion house in India, she went to head an Indo-Irish firm until, realizing that she had a clientele for her unique creations and unorthodox clothes, she launched her signature label with a dramatic SS 08 debut collection at Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week in New Delhi. An invitation from Lakme Fashion Week followed to showcase her next season. After two domestic fashion weeks, and a good response from buyers and media, Drashta is all poised to hit the big league. A keen traveller and a foodie to boot, Drashta brings true “joie de vivre� to her clothes. She is a part of the new order in fashion, the ones who are breaking borders and setting new rules and trends.

With a unique approach towards colours, pattern and structuring she has announced her arrival on the global fashion map.

FIGHTERCOCK are Abhishek Gupta and Nandita Basu. Gupta studied fashion at NIFT (National Institute of Fashion Technology) and trained under couturier Rohit Bal before starting his own line. Nandita studied at NIFT and later at Central Saint Martin’s in London. Both Nandita and Abhishek also have their signature lines that they sell from their store at Crescent in New Delhi and several other prestigious boutiques across India and the Middle East. In March 2006 they joined forces to launch their new label Fightercock, a fusion of Abhishek Gupta’s street-chic style and Nandita Basu’s experiments with cut and texture. Fightercock is an exuberant line for men and women which reflects the contrasts and chaos of the global village that the 21st century has propelled us into. Fightercock mixes Indian elements with western cultures, creating a new contemporary aesthetic. At a time when identities intermix and boundaries disappear, whether geographical or temporal, the label finds conformity between styles that have nothing in common but complement each other when put together harmoniously. Developing new expressions of Indian creativity, Fightercock’s collections challenge classic dress codes by channelling together alternative concepts to create a multifaceted prism of cultural hybridisation.

SHANTANU GOENKA Even as a child he was fond of seeing women dress up and would often mix and match stuff for his mother and sister. He often spent time at his mother’s boutique Ducklings which sold readymade clothing for infants, kids and women. Cutting, decorating and stitching up beautiful outfits for the fashionable Barbie raised a lot of eyebrows in the family, but no one could even think in their wildest dreams that this would end up in a thriving career. Although coming from a conservative Hindu family this young boy, who was all of 18 years old, enrolled at the National Institute of Fashion Technology in Kolkata in 1995, right after high school, with a vision of establishing his own label and making a mark. The NIFT course was like a roller coaster ride but it was worth the effort. He went on to finish it and graduated with an award for the most creative designer in his year. No sooner had he graduated as a designer than he launched his own label Shantanu. He began with wedding clothes and trousseaux.

His life changed when he got married in 2002. Although his wife was from a non-design background she fitted perfectly into the system, handling company administration and management. Together they went on to open their own studio in 2004. He then launched his label Shantanu Goenka Couture. He gained recognition in 2005 with participation at the Lakme India Fashion week: nominated best debutant and voted among the top five collections by the media. And nominations at the MTV awards and F Awards couldn’t have given him a better springboard to stardom. The following year flew by. By this time he had also launched his accessory line of bags, shoes and jewellery. In 2006 at the Fashion Week he showed his Elizabeth collection. He showcased for the third time at the fashion week in 2007. This time his collection was titled Ms. Doolittle. Although he had been doing menswear for quite some time it was only this year that he launched his menswear line on the runway. An English dandy look for the men and the transformation of Eliza Doolittle from flower-girl to a poised beauty spoke of excellent storytelling through his ensembles, a vivid reminder of the play “Pygmalion”. With all these feathers in his cap, he has taken a year’s sabbatical to recharge his batteries. Today he is a goodwill ambassador for his former NIFT and has recently been honoured by the government with the best citizens of India award.

Contemporary Indian Fashion Edited by Federico Rocca © © © ©

DAMIANI 2009 The authors for the texts The photographers for the images Still lifes, Lele Corni - Studio Carlo Coppitz

Damiani editore via Zanardi, 376 40131 Bologna, Italy t. +39 051 63 50 805 f. +39 051 63 47 188 info@damianieditore.it www.damianieditore.com editorial coordination Enrico Costanza editing Eleonora Pasqui graphic layout Federico Rocca Lorenzo Tugnoli ISBN 978-88-6208-100-9 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical - including photocopying, recording or by any information storage or retrieval system - without prior permission in writing from the publisher.

Printed in July 2009 by Grafiche Damiani, Bologna.