Too many fashion weeks?

Let’s see…there was the India Lakme India Fashion Week — Spring Summer Collection, Lakme Fashion Week — Winter Autumn Collection, Couture Week, Delhi Fashion Week, Asia Bridal Week, Wills Lifestyle Week, Derby Day, Dubai Fashion Week and the list continued till one lost count. Besides these, there were also innumerable private fashion shows, intercollegiate fashion show competitions, fashion and design institutes holding their own shows.

That was in 2008. By the end of the year a sort of ennui had set in every department that gets associated with the world of fashion. Be it the media, which earlier used to devote reams and reams of newsprint for all the five (or seven days of the event), there was visibly reduced coverage — only the opening and closing days or a mere mention here and there in the middle of the event if something exceptional happened on the ramp.

In fact, many a time, even the designers repeated their creations or just couldn’t maintain their high standards of creativity, which became a really sorry state of affairs. This also happened because most of the times one fashion week was followed immediately by the other, forcing many designers to jet-hop from one Indian city to another. Sometimes even from one country to another.

“It is my wish that the FDCI (Fashion Design Council of India), Lakme and Couture Weeks come together on one platform. We are shooting ourselves in the foot by these multiple fashion weeks. There is fatigue on all sides: the media, the public and the designers,” said Goa-based well-known designer Wendell Rodricks, while talking about the countless fashion weeks being held in the country and elsewhere.

Rakesh Agrawal, the Delhi-based young and equally well-known designer too voiced his misgivings about it. “Yes, I totally think there are too many fashion weeks. I think there should one big fashion week like everywhere else in the world. Too many cooks spoil the broth. We can have one fashion week and we can have as many trade fairs as everyone wants. What I think we need now are more fairs than weeks. This will help regularise the business of fashion. And frankly speaking several fashion weeks also lead to unwanted competition.”

The designer from the Princely House of Jodhpur, Raghavendra Rathore quipped, “Now, with so much fashion it will slowly move from page 3 and the 9pm news to a more trade placement and get more of an industry status.”
However, they all agree in the same breath that the fashion weeks do help both senior and new designers. “Fashion Weeks provide a great PR platform to young as well as the established designers while offering the buyers a collective meeting point, at one time,” said Rathore.

Agarwal explained it further, “I too totally think they help the designers to get recognised, get closer to the customer and they also facilitate trade with the international buyers. Besides it also helps in getting international media attention especially with LFW. Like last season my collection was featured in style.com which is like the world’s fashion bible. After reading and seeing my creations many buyers contacted us.”

It cost a huge amount to host a fashion show individually. During fashion week everything gets subsidised. This in turn helps designers to cut huge costs and also encourages young talent to come forward. The younger talent gets recognised only because of these fashion weeks. In fact the poster boy of Indian fashion, Sabyasachi Mukherjee, too, got noticed during the LFW.

And the designers also feel that too many fashion weeks don’t dent the creativity. Agarwal said, “I don’t think they dampen our creativity. Why should they? We ourselves have chosen to be here. And come on, every field has become mechanical. But that said, a bit of breathing space between the shows would be an added luxury.”

Initially when fashion weeks started in the beginning of this century it was to bring the designers together, give them a platform to showcase their work and also to give buyers one platform to know the designers personally and develop contact. Previously many a time it used to so happen that there were buyers, both domestic and international, who wanted to get in touch with certain designer but they didn’t know how to go about contacting them. With the result, the buyers had to make do with whatever or whoever was available.

This is where the FDCI decided to help both the parties. Earlier, this arrangement resulted in the best of arrangement and everyone was happy with it. “Even now fashion weeks help get us customers and potential business partners too,” says Rathore. Continuing, he said, “And all said and done the fashion weeks make the system of seasons go round which is the life line for media, fashion and most importantly retail.”

But as Agarwal said, “I think fatigue has set in with too many fashion weeks. I think one big fashion week can get us a one big bang response. Too many fashion weeks get only divided attention.”

All said and done Rathore had the last word, “Fashion weeks are the best place to look for talent!”

1. Rakesh Agrawal

2. Wendell Rodricks

3. Raghavendra Rathore