Touted to grow into a Rs.7.5 billion industry from the current Rs.2.7 billion tag according to an Assocham report, the Indian Fashion industry is making a mark across the world with its designers and the dotting line-up of fashion training institutes across the country.
Despite being in a nascent stage at the moment vis-a-vis world fashion, the domestic fashion market accounts for only 0.2 percent of the global designer wear market, worth Rs 1630 billion and growing at around 10 percent annually.
Indian fashion however has thousands of years of tradition behind it. India has a rich and varied textile heritage and each region of India has its own unique native costume and traditional attire.
Apart from the rich tradition, the strength of the Indian fashion industry also lies on strong raw material availability, which is no problem here. India is the third largest producer of cotton, the second largest producer of silk and the fifth largest producer of man-made fibres in the world. The country also possesses large number of skilled human resources and has the lowest labour costs in the world.
Post-Independence, fashion was an exclusive enterprise and a pursuit of wealth. The lower tiers of the society settled for garments that were more often than not entirely family hand-made-downs or stitched at home. With time, networks of neighbourhood tailors began to evolve into a retail history and the boom followed by boutique selling.
Garments today are laser cut by computers and sourced from all over the world.
In the early times, one of the greatest influences on dress code was the movement towards equal status for women. Hence, a new breed of business-like women emerged and made corresponding demands on their dress.
In India, the fashion scenario was in confusion as it was a turbulent period of conflicting ideologies, when the consciousness of an Indian national identity was beginning to find political expression and the struggle for Indian independence was getting momentum. Thus the fashion trends within high society (read the royalty), was strongly influenced by the British with the result that western clothes became a status symbol.
Then courtesy the ideas of socialism, communism and fascism, women's fashion became more and more feminine in keeping with conservative ideas. However this period also saw the emergence of the vamp and the culture of cabaret and hence the dresses became more body hugging and the colours deep and dark in tune with such themes.
The establishment of the Indian cinema also proved to be the strongest influence on the fashion. Due to the western influence, the use of angarkhas, choghas and jamas diminished considerably, although the ceremonial pagri, safa and topi were widespread as ever. They had been replaced by the chapkan, achkan and sherwani, which are still standard items of formal dress for Indian men.
The women even though were accepting change, continued to wear their peshwaz, kurtas, ghaghras and odhnis at religious and ceremonial festivities, sometimes using imported fabrics but using mostly traditional handwoven fabric.
In the 1940s, it was Christian Dior's influence that turned fashion upside down with a new shape, the bosom pushed up and out, a pinched waist and hips emphasised with short fluted jackets. It was also a decade marked by the second World War and the ensuing independence of India with the result that women's clothing was simple and functional.
The 1950s saw the dawn of art colleges and schools, which became places of rebel, and hence in silhouette, narrow waist and balloon skirts with bouncing patterns were in vogue. Also due to the freedom struggle and the espousal of khadi by Gandhi, khadi garments became a rage giving a boost to the sagging handloom industry.
The 1960s was one of the most shock-filled decades of the century and saw sweeping fashion and lifestyle changes that reflected the mercurial passions of the times. This decade was full of defiance and celebration in arts and music and cinema, marked by a liberation from constraints and new types of materials such as plastic film and coated polyester fabric got popular. Besides tight kurtas and churidars and high coiffers competed with the mini-skirts abroad and at the same time designers understood the need of the moment to launch cheaper, ready-to-wear lines.
One of the most revisited and retro periods in the fashion indsutry, the 1970s saw the beginning of 'anything goes' culture with the result that fashion became another form of self-expression and bold colours with flower prints that were adapted in tunics, with shirts and bell-bottoms. As drug culture became a mass phenomenon, psychedelic colours were garish, shoes were tall and hazardous and silhouettes were extreme and the dressing of the earlier times was out.
The 1970s also saw the export of traditional material with the result that export surplus was sold within the country itself and hence, international fashion came to India much before the MTV culture. Synthetics became popular and the disco culture had a profound influence on fashion and the clothes became as flashy as the mirrored ball that spins over the dancers.
In the 1980s the money ruled. It was the era of self consciousness and American designers like Calvin Klein became household names. In India too, silhouettes became more masculine and the salwar kameez was made with shoulder pads. Power dressing and corporate look became dominant dress codes. The influence of cable TV became more prominent and the teenage market boomed with youngsters going in for the trendy look, which in turn influenced the elders.
The 1990s was one of the extremes in terms of fashion here. The excess of the early decade gave way to the drastic pairing down and stripping away in the hands of German designers like Helmut Lang and Jil Sander. Perhaps the biggest fashion news of the 1990s has been the ascendancy of the younger generation of designers into the mainstream. The decade also looked for independent women with comforts, poise and confidence as key features.
The decade also saw the revival of ethnicity with films becoming more discreet and launching a 'back to ethnic' look. While on the one hand the new drive for information technology popularised the corporate look, an ethno-cultural revival made people again go back to the traditional forms of art and crafts.
The fashion industry however got a major boost with the victories of a number of Indian beauty queens in International events such as the Miss World and Miss Universe. Contests such as these made Indian models recognised worldwide.
While contemporary and global-appeal designs by leading Indian fashion designers such as Ritu Kumar, Ritu Beri, Rohit Bal, Rina Dhaka, Tarun Tahiliani, JJ Valaya and Manish Malhotra has also opened the doors for domestic fashion to go abroad.
Fashion literature in India
Despite the history, there is a big dearth of seminal literature on the subject in the country. There are hardly 10 books and magazines each on fashion and some 50 titles on Indian textiles, handicrafts and techniques penned by domestic authors.
Designer Ritu Kumar's "Costumes and Textiles of Royal India", Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla's "A Celebration of Style", author Rta Kapur Chisti's "Saris In India" and "Tradition and Beyond - Hand Crafted Indian Textiles" and Hindol Sengupta's "Indian Fashion" are among the few books on offer.
As far as fashion magazines go, there are In Touch With Fashion, Images Business of Fashion, M: Men Informed in Style, FNL: Fashion & Life Made Easy, Sports Wear, Couture India, Designer Mode and GQ to name some.
The country's fashion books and fashion magazines market is estimated to be nearly Rs.250 million ($8 million) and about Rs.600 million ($15 million) respectively.
However, publishers are optimistic that the country's fashion literature market will flourish manifold in the next few years, courtesy the media boom and the increased visibility of international labels that arouses reader curiosity.
Apex body for Fashion in India
Headed by Suneet Nair, the apex body of the Indian fashion industry is Fashion Design Council Of India (FDCI). It also organises the Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week (WIFW) twice a year here.
National Institute of Fashion Technology
Set up in 1986 under the aegis of Ministry of Textiles, Government of India, NIFT offers a range of undergraduate and postgraduate courses in fashion design, fashion communication, footwear design, accessories design, et al. It has been granted statutory status under the act of Parliament of India in 2006, empowering the Institute to award degrees and other academic distinctions. Its branches are spread across 12 centres in India and one in Mauritius.
Organsied by the Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI), WLFW is an annual six-day event held in New Delhi. Deemed as the country's one of biggest fashion business event, it attracts designers and talent teams from all over the country.
14 seasons old as till date, WIFW also brings in agents, buyers and experts from overseas to further streamline the business of fashion.
Jointly organised by cosmetic and beauty brand Lakme and IMG Fashion, Lakme Fashion Week (LFW) is a bi-annual five-day affair held in Mumbai. While the Fall-Winter collection is showcased generally around March, the Spring-Summer is unveiled around September.
1841 IST, Tuesday, September 21, 2010
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Touted to grow into a Rs.7.5 billion industry from the current Rs.2.7 billion tag according to an Assocham report, the Indian Fashion industry is making a mark across the world with its designers and the dotting line-up of fashion training institutes across the country.
