Designers say they consciously plan to concentrate on the business of fashion and avoid star-power for attention at the ongoing Couture Week. So will B-Town be conspicuous by its absence?
It has been a long drawn debate whether fashion shows need show-stoppers especially from Bollywood with many serious fashion-minded designers expressing their resentment in parading B-Town celebs on the ramp to garner eyeballs.
The last five years have seen a celeb explosion on the ramp as along with big superstars even the tiny starlets and C-grade turks have got attention. While some designers say B-Town brings them media attention, others say they don’t need attention to sell clothes as buyers will pick outfits if they have the quality and can match global trends.
This year’s Couture Week is the harbinger of change as After Hrs has learnt from sources that most designers participating in the high profile fashion extravaganza in Delhi have not invited B-Town folks. It is also to be noted that almost every big B-Town celeb is out of town to shoot their respective films.
“Out of the guest list that we have received from the designers, we hardly have Bollywood names either on the ramp or for the front row. Looks like the Indian fashion industry is wisening up and looking at fashion from a purely business point of view.
Moreover, since the week is now happening in Delhi, the fashion capital, it is time for serious fashion and concentration on buyers than parading Bollywood celebs that overshadow fashion and the designer who works hard to get a line out. This trend had to stop,” says an organiser of the Couture Week on condition of anonymity.
Veteran designers Abu-Sandeep told us that they won’t have Bollywood, another confirmation that the fashion industry is looking at slowly detaching itself from the frenzy that Bollywood brings to the shows.
“We had an outlandish extravagant production plan during the last Couture Week (Amitabh Bachchan and Tabu were supposed to walk the ramp). The focus is on the clothes like in any mature fashion week as celebrities are only incidental,” says Sandeep Khosla.
Designer Gaurav Gupta, who has never got any Bollywood celeb to walk for him, seconds, “It is really silly to have Bollywood stars endorse your clothes on the ramp. It doesn’t bring business as buyers only look at quality. Though I have nothing against Bollywood celebs, I feel they dilute the attention from fashion. Celebs can come and see the shows like any buyer.”
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