Fashion shows in Europe and America are tied to seasonal offerings. Hence autumn and winter, spring and summer collections are de rigueur. Along with the cat-walks and show-stoppers, Indian fashion too seems to unthinkingly follow the European pattern.
One wonders why Indian fashion designers and show managers do not want to infuse some indigenous ideas to make fashion a little more vibrant and give it the much-needed desi branding. After all, fashion cannot mean Italian and French design patterns being adapted through Indian fabrics and to Indian preferences.
The general lament that what you see on the ramp cannot be worn on the sidewalk is slightly impertinent because haute couture is essentially a statement of passion, imagination, extravagance and opulence. While making high street fashion accessible at the downtown market is a business proposition,what is more relevant is whether India’s fabulous resources, not just in terms of fabrics, but in terms of climate, can be made into a leitmotif of design as well.
It is surprising that the rainy season, which is such an inalienable part of the Indian calendar, does not inspire a monsoon collection among our designers. It could and should inspire designers to think of ways of getting drenched in a downpour without looking downright bedraggled. Then there is the famous, or infamous, scorching Indian summer which should prove as much of a challenge to the fashion designers’ imagination as the rainy season.
The renowned gauze-like Dhaka muslin is an example of what the fabric can be made to do to meet the demands of weather. A similar raiment response is the Lucknowi chikan.
If one digs a little more into the Indian mode beyond rains and summer, the designers should be able to discover the traditional six seasons celebrated in Sanskrit and other Indian language literatures, the most well-known being Kalidasa’s Ritusamhara, which is a description of grishma (summer), varsha (monsoon), hemanta (early winter), shishir (late winter) and vasanta (spring). Each season should lead to a collection, and there could be six instead of four European collections.
This is not exactly a case for going native or striking a note of cultural nationalism. This should be an exercise in giving Indian fashion its own resonance, which will make it an attractive player on the world stage as well. The saree, the wrap-around of all seasons, is getting much attention from designers and the gliterrati all over the world. To add seasonal motifs to Indian fabrics will not only make Indian fashion exotic, but also give it that niche value which is the hallmark of sound business.
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