Will India suffice as a market for Indian designers? Given the rather lukewarm response from international buyers, stores and agents at the two recently concluded fashion weeks, finding markets globally is not going to be easy. Perhaps the Indian fashion sector?industry seems too generous a word given the extreme reluctance to share numbers or any data whatsoever (too coarse ? it?s all about letting the world know we are here too)?needs to hear the world remains by and large unimpressed.

Visages from distant shores remained rather glum-faced through the Wills India and Lakme fashion weeks, held in Delhi and Mumbai recently. ?There?s fine embroidery on show, but the styles are not appropriate for the west,? says French fashion consultant Benedicte Bro Manon Schaap of Paris? Le Bon Marche echoes the sentiment saying ?The fabric is not suitable for our autumn-winter ranges.? Fatiha Habchi, fashion consultant for Henri Bendel, too points out that ?these collections are not suitable for our winters?. WIFW regular Chantal Rousseau, operating vice-president, Europe, too went back rather disappointed this year, with little buying done.

Nor are they very pleased about the attempts to cater to diverse sensibilities. ?We need to see how Indian designers interpret indigenous designs with a western sensibility,? says Schaap. ?There is a need for both contemporary and traditional elements, but the balance has to be right,? says Carla Cereda of Biffi, Milan at WIFW. ?It’s still too early for me to make a comment as to who I liked and who I didn?t,? says Albert Morris of Browns.

The same names keep cropping up. ?I have placed orders with Rajesh Pratap Singh as his collection is done in an Indian way but very European too, says Boston?s Alan Bilzerian. ?I have ordered 50-60 pieces. I feel that Pratap has mastered the technique of excellent finish, which is why I love it.? Manish Arora and Sabyasachi remain favourites as more than one global order was for them, again.

Inflation and the falling dollar played havoc here too. ?Prices have risen significantly, and I have placed 30-50 orders rather than the 300 I did earlier,? says Mohammad Salah of Moda In, Kuwait, a regular buyer at the WIFW. He says some Indian designers have started asking for higher prices at the time of delivery, creating a negative impression in the market.

Domestic buyers again saved the blushes. ?This year I have done 30% more buying in the WIFW and ordered 500 pieces,? says Tina Tahiliani of Ensemble. Kimaya?s Pradeep Hirani adds ?There are eight to 10 designers with whom I have placed orders at LFW but my budget for the week was down by 40% this time. I think the designers were confused and had no clue of the market as their collection didn?t speak the autumn-winter theme. At WIFW however, my budget was up by 70% and I placed orders with Tarun Tahiliani, Rohit Bal, Anamika Khanna, Ranna Gill and Renu Tandon.?

WIFW had, for the first time, drawn categories for the participating designers to assist buyers. Though a lot of designers themselves failed to grasp the system, Sumeet Nair, executive director, Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI) says: ?It will take some time for designers to understand the categorisation system and to work accordingly?. FDCI says domestic buyers return, while those from the West are largely different each week. FDCI director Rathi Vinay Jha adds, ?We definitely try to meet the standards of the global fashion weeks. However, we do have our handicaps, like systems and venues.?

An Assocham study reveals that Indian fashion industry accounts for barely 0.2% of the global industry?s net worth. Currently, the global designer wear market is worth about Rs 1,62,900 crore and is growing at 9.5% every year. If Indian designers want a larger share they can ill afford to let the western buyer go away disappointed each time.