Bollywood replaced buyers says fashion designer James Ferreira

About 40 years back, James Ferreira opted for a career that was at the time dominated by women. Today, he is amongst the foremost fashion designers in the country. James was slated to do an offsite show for the recently concluded fashion week in the city, which ultimately he did not do.

“I was supposed to do an offsite show, but then they asked me to pay Rs 8 lakh  and it seemed just insensible to pay such an enormous amount. They also want to know who my show-stopper was and which celebs would be on the front row. I don’t fit into this whole politics. Besides fashion week was earlier about buyers, now it’s replaced by Bollywood,” Ferreira explains, adding that he believes in following the international fashion calendar.

The designer, who is now gearing up to showcase his creations in April at Delhi’s fashion week, says, “My creations are based on a tale from Aesop’s fables — The Hare and the Tortoise. I wanted to highlight the issue of endangered species. My collection is an autumn winter line, which will have prints inspired by tortoise shell and rabbit fur. The colours will range from darker hues like greens, browns, midnight-blues to blacks. The show will be in association with a charity from Italy.” Those in the know say the association is with international fashion designer Stefano Pilati’s charity foundation.

Long before the designer boom in India in the 1980s, Ferreira was a name to reckon with in the business. “Garments are not highlighted these days. I guess the fashion weeks should make it clear what is more important— fashion or celebs. A fashion week is basically aimed at aiding the business of fashion and bringing one’s talent as a designer on the ramp, rather than who will be attending the show. We should not be diluting the two as the results will always end up being ghastly,” concludes Ferreira.