CUTTING EDGE MANTRAS

Designer Ritu Kumar believes that to be able to take the Indian fashion industry forward, one must fall back upon our rich traditional crafts and textiles. This unique combination could, she writes, make us the most unique fashion country in the world

 

RITU KUMAR

 

The fashion industry in the country has a history which is unique in its own right and remains so to this day. We have been selling textiles and clothing to the world for more than 1500 years. If you define fashion though, through the images on the ramp – the Indian fashion industry is not more than two decades old. In the last decade or so, there has been a quantum leap in the visibility of this industry. This is largely due to sponsorships and the media’s response to glamourous images on the ramp. This has, albeit inadvertently, given an impetus to our nascent fashion industry and thrown up young talent that is given a platform to show the interpretations of fashion – which often takes on a handwriting of its own. The collections are a mixture of influences, partly reflecting aspiratons of the upwardly mobile international young Indian and partly keeping to what we wear as a nation.

Ours is a vast and complicated subcontinent. I have been in the fashion world of designing now for close to 40 years, now. I started in the atmosphere of post-independence, where a strong patriotic feeling led us all to go back to our roots and help revive dying and forgotten crafts of embroidery, weaving, printing and a multitude of skills lost over 150 years of colonial rule. There was a sense of pride in wearing our own styles and apparel. I went out into the field and this barefoot doctor approach led to a rejuvenation of the rich textile craft skills of this country.

Today’s generation has that heritage to work with. The lines between Western and Indian looks are getting fluid. There is an acceptance of the fact that if we have to be global in our approach to design, we must – as we always have as a country – customise endlessly to create a modern, cosmopolitan, yet indigenous collections. The world’s fashion today is owned by multinationals. In most countries small designer houses have closed down and the world is left with no options but to dress the way it is prescribed by a predominantly Euro-American fashion world.

The Indian fashion industry has visibility, but is misunderstood to a large extent. The fact of the matter is that a fashion designer’s profession it is one of the most difficult ways to earn a living. There is no financial or government backing, very little professional infrastructure to back their efforts. Most designers who work, work despite the inherent difficulties of an unorganised market place. The fact that the Indian designers are able to adjust with the coming in of international brands says a lot for our resilience and accountability to the choice that most of us have made. The fact that there are multiple choices today between ethnic, bridal, fusion and western wear in India, reflects the country’s richness.

The global community looks at India today as a large market which it can tap for its potential to sell their goods. There is a growing awareness of the fact that this is a country which is not a simple walkover – thanks to the fact that it has an indigenous fashion industry of its own. Some of India’s designers who have shown in the western countries at their high-end fashion weeks are getting some recognition. But Indian design is largely inspirational for western designers, especially for their summer lines. The time is still to come when they will buy these from India as high-end goods in any volume. If any Indian designer makes it internationally, it will not be a question of only talent, but investment to be in the same bracket as brands which can compete with the international ones. In the meantime, the huge marketing skills of the Western fashion world and their clout is creating a climate in India where these brands are becoming aspirational for the youth.

Will India be able to keep a toe hold in its own market? I certainly hope my optimism is verified in the years to come. India will change – but will not give up the richness of its traditional aesthetics. We may start wearing tshirts with paisleys on them rather than a kurta, but it is not going to be a war between a little lycra dress and a saree. I feel both will co-exist. The real question will be – can our fashion industry, with its young nascent infrastructure, its reliance on sponsors, its soft financial ground, be able to take the fallout of the recession? There will be a shake out, but I feel the industry will survive it, at least for the next decade – largely due to the fact that it is built on a strong foundation of 16 million textile crafts people who work in this sector, these consists of weavers, printers, dyers and master-craftsmen, and women, who have inherited textile skills which are unique in this world. If Indian fashion is a catalyst between these skills and national and international sartorial needs, we could yet be the most unique fashion country in the world.

 

(Source- The Times of India)