It takes two to tango

IIPM : EXECUTIVE EDUCATION

Having participated at both Wills and Lakme Fashion Weeks, Arshiya Fakih chooses to be with Mumbai’s LIFW

“For a country like India au courant with fashion as well as deeply involved with it, a fashion week holds a relevance of its own. It is the only way you can showcase your nation’s designers’ genius internationally. It is at such events that the whole world looks at us and therefore, it becomes even more crucial to project oneself well professionally. The Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI) has bridged the gap between government policies and fashion designers and has helped not just by organising a fashion event but by also ensuring that the fashion industry grows on the whole. Its work is quite commendable.

I have participated in both the Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week (WLIFW) and the Lakme India Fashion Week (LIFW). I don’t prefer any one of them over the other. In fact, the two are more similar than different. Both are balanced. While the Mumbai fashion week (LIFW) is more Mumbai centric and the Delhi one (WLIFW) more Delhi centric, the participating designers are often different. If one gets to see a lot of fresh and young talent in Mumbai fashion week, the Delhi fashion week can boast of the established designers. And if, the Delhi fashion week enjoys the brand image of being the older and the experienced one, Mumbai fashion week has Lakme as its official sponsor that has been party to fashion weeks in India since the very beginning. Both enjoy great brand value and that’s why a designer’s criterion of choosing a fashion week has more to do with viability and feasibility than the promoting companies. For instance, I am based out of Mumbai and my brand is largely present over here with of course one store each in Delhi and Bangalore. My clients and even my retail customers are based in Mumbai. As a result, there is a certain level of brand image and goodwill that I enjoy in Mumbai. So, at this point of time from my business perspective, I prefer Mumbai FW over the Delhi FW. Though Delhi has a higher number of international buyers, Mumbai has plenty of local buyers to balance that.

At present, there are more designers than buyers in the market so participating in both the fashion weeks might get you that edge. If one has the infrastructure and commercial feasibility to support both, participating in both is quite viable. On a few occasions, the buyers do overlap but showcasing different collections in the events makes it viable. Normally, one doesn’t change the design aesthetics for buyers in a fashion week unless it is a specific buyer that you regularly supply to. So, it is more like deciding the aesthetics first and then finding the buyers whether in the Middle East or Europe.

While I have my plate full with almost two lines a year, there are a lot of designers who aim at films and TV. While location isn’t anymore a constraint for films, there tends to be a comparison between the fashion weeks. In that respect, LIFW and WLIFW are still at a nascent stage but are evolving. If the presence of two big fashion events causes a division between designers and buyers, it also keeps the two from becoming complacent. That means there is no short cut for experience in this journey of being the best.”

Swati Hora and Neha Sarin

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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