Indian fashion goes mainstream

Bombay designers are no longer targeting the rich

By Sanjeev Srivastava in Bombay

In the world of international fashion, Indian designers have been branded elitist and self-centred.

But Lakme India fashion week in Bombay found them trying to shed that image.

The latest designs are accessible to regular buyers

The event saw 44 of the biggest names in Indian fashion design rubbing shoulders with buyers from off-the-peg clothing chains and department stores.

The reason for the change is simple - the designers want more customers.

The latest clothing lines are described as "wearable and within the reach of the common consumer".

Coming together

Bringing mainstream buyers and designers together under the same roof benefits everyone, said Sumeet Nair, executive director of the Fashion Design Council of India, which organised the event.

Indian fashion is going global

"For the buyer it's as much a scouting as a learning opportunity. It is here that he is educated and exposed to the latest trends in designer wear."

Mr Nair said the influx of business people as much of a godsend for the clothing's creators.

"More often than not they find it difficult to handle the business aspect of the trade. Here we have provided a meeting ground," he said.

Delhi-based fashion designer Aki Narula said the event has helped him to map out his retail strategy.

"What I would ideally like to do is, instead of producing those 10,000 shirts to enter into a mass market, ... turn into a design consultant, tie up with a shirt company and sell my design to them," he said.

"If you really want to get into the domestic mass market, people have to really bring down their prices and make clothes which are more wearable for all the classes."

Foreign Interest

Local buyers were not the only ones who came to sample the latest Indian trends.

The use of colour is different from Europe

Liz Riding, Selfridges buying manager

Some big foreign companies were also represented.

Selfridges of UK created the biggest splash of this fashion week by announcing plans for an Indian season next year.

Overseas interest was boosted by Bombay's film industry - known as Bollywood.

Recent hit movies have raised India's profile outside the country.

And a new generation of the South Asian diaspora has created a fresh market overseas.

Different look

Liz Riding, Selfridges women's wear buying manager, said she particularly liked the bright shades found in Indian designs.

"The use of colour is, I would say, different from Europe," she said.

"They are a lot less afraid of colour. The other difference that I've noticed is that women's wear is a lot more feminine."

She described Indian men's wear as "quite masculine and yet sexy".

Stores like Selfridges have placed only exploratory orders at this stage.

But designers hope that fashion week has created a greater awareness of Indian design.

Now the industry's challenge is to maintain that momentum while at the same time closing the gap between fashion and the common consumer.