People have got to dress up, you know, even if it is recession time. Well, that?s the line designers and the Indian fashion fraternity trots out whenever the R-word is mentioned.

Most designers refuse to accept that India is hit by the recession. In addition to the three weeks ? Wills India Fashion Week and Delhi Fashion Week and Lakme Fashion Week ? another one, Kolkata Fashion Week, has got added this season. And the existing ones mention that they have the highest number of participating designers and buyers.

Vikram Raizada, Head of Fashion, IMG India, which is associated with Lakme Fashion Week for a decade, cites the numbers to say that the situation is looking up. But privately, designers do admit to a slowdown in orders, and even cancellations from last season?s orders. ?There were some cancellations from our last year?s orders but they were from first-time buyers,? says desi-gner David Abraham. ?We hear of the market recovering by August-September, when these collections are for. Our domestic market is at 30% and it is still growing.? Designer Satish Kapoor too says a buyer returned the orders due to a market downturn.

Denial and optimism are the order of the day however. Debutant designer Saunak Sen Barat of House of Three, expects enquires from the buyers to transform into orders. ?India is not badly hit. There is no dearth for talent here,? though he admits he is ?not sure? about the market.

?Recession is good to reinvest,? points out designer Savio Jon, adding that ?editing the collection makes

sense for curbing costs.?

?All my headgear are made of junk,? Chauhan explains his collections. ?In times of recession things that you put aside become meaningful.?

Market matters

Most debutante designers at the fashion weeks seemed clueless about the market. Surabhi Chawla expects buyers to come and experience her Europe?s street fashion collection. ?Because pr?t is more about everyday wear,? says the 23-year-old.

Buyers however are a rare commodity this time at the weeks. And their order books are invisible. Though regular US-based buyer Anthropologie is here, there are few new commitments yet. Designer duo Alpana-Neeraj claim to have new buyers from Australia.

The hitherto second-level domestic market is also getting more importance. Designer Abhijeet Khanna says that it?s a global market. ?Domestically, people are looking for Western cuts.? Megali Charruyer, an agent from Paris says the stores are full at the moment. Designer Rahul Reddy says the overall buying is a bit slow this season, but it?s not specific to fashion.

Narendra Kumar Ahmed, designer, feels, ?the problem arises when Indian designers try to straddle two markets. The West wants backless and off- shoulder clothes while the Indian market is not keen on it. I am not creating anything specially for the Western market. My line is made with the Indian consumer in mind. If the West likes what I make, they can come and buy it.?

Mitsue Yamagishi from Tokyo who comes to India two to three times a year to pick up clothes and jewellery for her high-end store, Sun Motoyama, in Ginza, says, ?Quality wise, the ranges are improving. I look for Indian jewellery and high quality Pashmina shawls.? Buyers are making a beeline for their favourites, but prudence is in play too. ?There is some cut in our spending for this season,? says Mananl Al-Duwaisan, a buyer from Kuwait, who is here for the second season. However, she says, ?We are buying as much as last season. In Kuwait, the market for fall winter is small, and we are buying accordingly. We buy 15-16 pieces from each designer. We have liked Manish Arora, who is popular in our country as well. We have also looked at works by Kavita Bhartia and Niki Mahajan.?

Road ahead

What is the need of the hour for couturiers? Raghavendra Rathore, designer, and VP, FDPC says, ?Everything we do has to have an acumen of business. Localisation is the big buzzword now. We do not need to fly buyers in, instead we have to go and showcase at their venues. At fashion weeks, we have to increase bandwidth. Fashion is still not seen as an industry.?

Designers still yearn for infrastructure. Says debutant designer Saunak Sen Barat, ?We need a back-end support, a proper logistic system, finance and production support. It?s a slow process as in India it?s still a small industry here?.

Another designer Cherry D, says ?the need is to take Indian fashion forward. The embellishments should be incredible as the cuts and finishing are not up to the mark with the European designers?. Alpana feels though Indian fashion is going at a good pace, only a select few are making their mark.

The future is in the hands of young designers who are holding shows at London, Paris, Milan, says Abhijeet Khanna. ?As a result, they will start recognising India as a design destination.? Amen to that.

?Fashion market in India is dismal?

Fashion Weeks in India at anytime is a source of amusement, says Arvind Singhal, Chairman, Teknopak Advsiors. ?Fashion in the time of recession is even more laughable,? he says. Singhal reels off statistics. ?The total sale of all desginer wear in India combined will not equal designer brands such as Tommy Hilfiger, Esprit or Levi Strauss. So what are we talking about??

?It is a confused state in there,? says Singhal. Europe has many fashion weeks but their clothing market is valued at 250 billion Euros, of which designer wear was pegged at value 50 billion Euros last year. Compare this to India where the total clothing market is Rs 1,50,000 crore and designers contribute about Rs 450 crore; which is not even 1%. Departmental stores abroad have a very powerful range of private labels and they look at fashion weeks for trends and designs.?

Singhal says India lacks designers of quality. ?There are designers and designers. But the talent required to make a mark is solely missing. No matter what the designer says or his/her Page 3 photographs, the fact is they don?t do business. This is because almost all of them have no business sense or patience.?

?Designer wear internationally sell on names,? says Singhal. ?An Armani emporium has people wanting to buy it. Can you think of one designer name in India, which will match to that? Is there a wow effect for any designer?s creation here? If designers say that their clientele are Bollywood or the wedding season, I find that is kidding themselves. For weddings are not about designers. People who splurge on their weddings spend far more on the imported flowers and decorations than a few designer labels at their wedding. If the designer claims he is selling abroad, it is again to the NRI and not to the Western market.?

Accessories Ahoy

Will accessories bail out at least some of the designers in these troubled times? They have a visibly greater presence than earlier editions at the ongoing fashion weeks. Regulars also point to the greater number of designers participating in this category at most of the weeks. ?It is recession time and people will not mind spending on accessories for personal use and also as gifting options as against buying designer wear,? says Gunit Kaur, jewellery designer at DFW. ?Accessories are a good investment as it stays long and it has a lasting value,? she adds. A Bikram Rana, who has apparel and accessories such as scarves, stoles, mufflers and shawls at DFW, says ?there is a lot of scope, especially as, at times the designers themselves become the buyers when they place orders for their shows.? Designer Kevin Nigli of Abraham & Thakore feels ?accessories are crucial as when apparel is beyond reach, the customer can still reach for the belts, bags and scarves?.