Fashion weeks are treated as 'tamasha': Rohit Bal

Expect the unexpected from fashion designer Rohit Bal. Having been a part of the Indian fashion frat for more than two decades, Bal now feels that the fashion weeks in the country are losing the plot. With less focus on the essence of the event itself and a lack of international appeal, Indian fashion weeks, as Bal points out, are increasingly becoming Bollywood oriented.

Bal, currently on the advisory board of a Fashion Week, says, “Why should Bollywood be in the forefront in a fashion week? Isn’t it a fashion based show and shouldn’t the garments and accessories be taking the limelight? In international shows, the stars are the outfits, the models and the drama created by the designer. Therefore we see more buying taking place. But here we do shows keeping the B-Town stars in mind, which isn’t working right for us, because we are not getting buyers at these fashion weeks. Once in a while a star walking for a show is different, but making it a tradition is simply inept. Often a talented designer gets sidelined due to the absence of star-power, but on the other hand, a not-so-talented designer makes headlines by getting a celeb walk for him/her. I feel sad as fashion weeks are treated as tamasha, which they aren’t.”

He adds that younger designers are also sometimes responsible for the chaos.

“They don’t try to find out their specialty and are not sure of their market. They imitate designs by ace designers, tweak them a little and get some celebs to walk for them. You will find thousands of cheaper copies of Sabya’s (designer Sabysachi) outfits but that doesn’t affect Sabya. Copycats will copy. But we, as senior members of the fashion frat, should see to it that talent triumphs over unskilled guys,” Bal signs off.