Find Me The Answer
I strongly believe that the Indian Fashion Fraternity is unique in both, good and bad ways. The fraternity’s certain constituents idiosyncratic ways, arrogance and Janus like dual behavior bewilders me. Also there are many questions of which, I never found answers like how a designer not only survived but flourished in the industry or why a physical appearance of a designer is more important than his/her creations. Most importantly I never understood why are there so many fashion weeks.
Folks I have a humble request and that you kindly take this post with a pinch of salt and pardon my ignorance. Now I have the following questions:
Questions & More Questions
* What makes Manish Malhotra a top-notch designer? He dressed few film actresses and that’s about it. So is Bollywood styling jobs the ace up his sleeve because honestly his creations are a blend of Rohit Bal, Varun Bahl and at times Anamika Khanna and Tarun Tahiliani’s looks? And why HT City has to feature Manish Malhotra on the front page even he lands in Delhi, farts and goes back?
* Why Sabyasachi is so surreptitiously arrogant? Why can’t he respond to a revered fashion personality’s repeated queries when he is getting him a big-ticket client? I know calling Sabya to be surreptitiously arrogant would offend most but that’s his calculated strategy. Yet I fail to understand if someone is offering you a half-a-crore trousseau business, why those nakhdas? Is Sabya a greater designer or a better marketing man in the industry? Why a scribe cannot criticize his collection? By the way Band, Baaja, Bride has earned him enough moolah that he is soon opening a mammoth 10,000 square feet plus store in Delhi to Band Bajao the rest.
* Why Rahul Mishra is acknowledged by his peers only after winning the International Woolmark Prize in Milan? He has been doing equally brilliant collections for almost five years now. Do we still need Firang approval to appreciate a upcoming designer?
* Why none of the fashion magazines don’t hire a straight male in their fashion editorial team? Is it an unsaid basic disqualification?
* Why does Infinity Luxury Group that owns the franchise of numerous international luxury labels like Roberto Cavalli Missoni, Emilio Pucci, Versace closely guard the fact that the company is funded by a Kanpur based Guthka baron – Shrikant Chaurasia. He owns Rajshree Guthka that is famous for the Kamla Pasand brand. Does Infinity Luxury feel that association with a Guthka Company is too ‘LS’? DS Group owns the license for Tom Ford in India. Their Guthka roots haven’t made any dent in their luxury business?
* Why does Vijay Singh of India Bridal Week yet again want to do a 5-day event in Delhi when his biggest sahara – Sahara Shri is locked up in Tihar and Sahara will no more the magnanimous sponsor for the event? Why does he want to put in his personal money in the event? Yeh kya locha hai bhai?
* Why are certain couples who make the most hideous clothes surviving and flourishing? You know who all I am talking about – Anjalee & Arjun Kapoor, Kapil & Monica, Rimple and Harpreet and Manu & Mamta. Are their people who like ugly clothes?
* Why Indian Corporate Houses never supported the fashion industry? Why Reliance have to get international brands when there are much more talent here?
* Why hasn’t the Enforcement Directorate ever raided luxury stores in DLF Emporio where 95% transaction are done in cash? As per the law only unto Rs. 25,000 can be accepted in cash. I was told by staff of these stores that the credit card machines are used rarely and are rotting.
Please folks provide me the answers!
Remind me to never buy ‘luxury’ brands supported by the Gutkha barons. None of these brands would be caught dead being sponsored by any Tobacco related company in the west. It is acknowledged that tobacco (tambakhu in Hindi) chewing is the biggest causes of cancer in the Indian Sub-continent. Such double standards these guys have!
You missed out the Couple who makes the band baaja barati outfits and pays the Media to write about them as ” Designers”-Bharat-Reshma”
Well I can answer a few, manish malhotra no doubt is a blend of designers mentioned, ii remember an instance at fashion week just before the start of his show a senior designer said multi designer show is about to begin, the point about him being famous our country is starstruck with bollywood and he is on tv with bollywood and always publicised by his so called bollywood friends and when some like a srk endorses you publically it makes a diffrence.
Sabyasachi definitely has an attitude problem after he has done his own tv show, being at cannes, and then yet again bollywood comes in the picture after tht happens few designers start thinking that they are very big stars. Also about 50lakh trousseau its not only him who behaves like how he is doing some other designers have the same problem.
Now about the gutkha baron, fashion industry somehow how thinks that gutkha which is a mass product how can u associate it with luxury, not only gutkha in some cases other mass brands like red label tea are also treated the same way, fash frat thinks that owners of mass product brands lack their class, and easily forget tht these mass brands owners of india are their biggest buyers and huge moneybags, high time people start valuing money.
Vijay singh has major problem and jack you are well aware of it, news is that the money getting utilised in the upcoming bridal week is his money, which is not true, still being backed by sahara but not publicly, those Vijay singh is yet to pay designers from the last season, wonder why is he not clearing payments and doing another event when already in debt.
About the couple designers they exist because people of their mental level and taste exist, not to mention west delhi typicals.
Rahul mishra I have known since he had a partner samar firdos and they made their debut at Lakme fashion week as rahul and firdos, and rahul ditched his partner badly some time later(too many rumours on the break up some said rahul cheated and other stories), so rahul lost respect among his nid batchmates(i know quite a lot of them personally), but india still has white skin syndrome, and after the award peers were left with no choice.
Indian corporates not supporting fashion, has a strong reason, coz fashion designers lack the corporate structure in their own companies, a senior designer recently got funded by 100cr but it took 2 years for the process, coz the designers took more than 1.5 years to come up with a corporate structure and business plan, and corporates do not work on whims and fancies but on structured business plans and deadlines.
And about the dlf emporio cash transaction, not only the mall but jewellers in Chandni Chowk, karol bagh and all across india deal majorly in cash, car retailers and other business follow this practice where huge cash transactions so practically our country works like that and about 25k law I think it applies to only current bank accounts of company where after paying some on 25k, you can’t have any cash transaction and tds process and other banking process has to happen
There is a commercial reason behind every move, which is very well calculated.
Manish Malhotra, I doubt he ever sewed anything in his life. He claims he netted 108 crores last year. Making sacks, using tacky fabrics, and turning out shoddy finishing. Indeed his designs are a copy of all other designers’ work. Like one kurta from his brand with ‘shell’ darts was a lift from Ulyana Sergeenko.
Sabyasachi – On that show BBB, he gifts cheap bridal clothes to the brides, using his signature mix, match, contrast collage with overpowering zardozi or sprays of sequins very Zuhair Murad. He often comes up with matronly styles with a ruse of fully embracing Indian traditional and ethnicwear in all it’s glory.
When bloggers and twitterati were critical of how he dressed Vidya Balan at Cannes, he said that the Indian internet audience “have borrowed aesthetics from the West.”
If something is good, isn’t it universally liked? Aren’t Chanel’s tweeds and Dior’s New Look corseted skirt suits adored all over the world? In the same vein, you find Tarun Tahiliani’s sparkling sarees appreciated by Westerners and Arabs. Or lately, Rahul Mishra’s work.
It’s a pain to tame and tailor Indian weaves like chanderis, because of puckering. Rahul Mishra would seamlessly make trenches out of chanderi. People here go by hype rather than skills.
I have seen some nice pieces by Anjali and Arjun Kapoor in the past. It’s sad how their offering has turned degenerate and borderline grotesque. Designerwear is mostly synonymous with wedding clothes here, the consumers of which are easily seduced by jazzy colours and embroidery overwrought with bling. Customers tend to rely on designers who carry out timely delivery of orders. Delivery and cleverly moving subpar merchandise around, like making dispatches to points of sale from Gujrat to Kuwait, that’s how they’re all winging it.
Versace was financed by the Italian mafia, guess shiny things derive their shimmer from the underbelly.
Who we refer to as designers here are not really designers, but people who know how to do business and sell. Which is an amazing feat if you can sell and flourish, but lets not make the mistake of lauding them for their creativity. Thanks for speaking out. You broke the glass ceiling with some of your revelations. No newspaper compares to your findings.
Clothes is a dicey business, from Yoji Yamomoto to Michael Kors and Narciso Rodriguez, all faced bankruptcy at one point. There is a lack of faith but nothing takes off like an innovative business model, Indian Corporates are not adventurous.
superb post
Why none of the fashion magazines don’t hire a straight male in their fashion editorial team because everyone wants to be miranda priestly and they definitely want queens around them
Indian corporate houses do not use Indian designers as most of them blindly copy from west. Gauri and Nainika copy from Armani, Chanel etc. So better acquire western brands directly. Due to internet many brands like A&F, DYNC, Za, etc are really popular.Also Indians have a mindset that foreign products are status symbols and are good in quality.
Manish Malhotra became popular by designing clothes for actors like Sridevi, Karishma and Kareena. His chiffon sarees and suits became instantly popular due to movies. Manish Malhotra’s sarees are aspired by most Indian brides in their Trousseau collection thanks to many bridal looks he created in movies. He was on board for Balaji telefilms for designing for leading characters in them.
Sabyasachi became popular as a in house designer for lenghas for Marwari weddings in Kolkata. He also became popular as a high end Saree designer for super rich Bengali. He then participated in lakme fashion week, bridal India and opened a store in Mumbai. He regularly invited page 3 and actors to parties. Band Baja Bride has been used by him as a advertisement portal to show himself as a the best designer and true supporter of a bride who is ready to spent crores in her weddings. The wedding bloggers like Wed me good, wedding sutra are also one of his advertising portal.Sabyasachi would never meet someone who is not rich,famous nor has any media influence. He is like a typical designer who does not wants to mingle with middle class.An original Sabya lengha is generally retailed above 10 lakhs not a mere 2 to 3 lakhs cheap copies of his work and can go unto crores in original gold and silver patti is used with Basra pearls and encrusted with precious stones on Ahimsa Silk.So opening a store is no issue.His lenghas have most demand in Delhi- Visit stores in Chandni chowk or stores like Frontier Raas and Frontier bazaar where each wannabe Bridezilla ask for Sabya lengha for wedding
As far as cash transcaction is concerned Indians just distrust using credit cards. Ask a customer for credit card and he would either cancel his purchase or started lecturing you for asking credit card. I used to be part of this luxury business so I have seen people paying crores in cash. Most of the companies have a dummy Pan number inserted in machines so their is no problem. If you are getting business then no one would want to spoil their business by asking for identity proof or pan card.And most of the money is black money.Bribery also thrives in this country so no raids are their stores.
I think I have helped you enough Jack
absolutely fabulous what a briliant article dada ! I was your fan but now I love the way how fearlessly you undress these clowns !!!! am eagerly waiting to see the answer if our beloved from vogue india or harpers or any media house who run their show on bollywood with so called fashion . I have no idea how many of them even posses 10% of knowledge about fashion before they pen down .
@laveena, great observation 🙂 do you work in fashion industry? im curious
Laveena is fashion blogger – fashioninquisit.com
She knows fashion!
Thanks for your brilliant feedback!
Amazing Amazing Amazing post!
Jack, Thank you for bringing this up. I have been reading your blogs for a quite a while now. I am a data scientist with an interest in fashion. I was looking at Instagrams all these fashion designers in India and there are a few things that stand out to me. Correct me if I am wrong and off course my observations are based on network theory:)
1. In Indian fashion scene network is a lot more important than talent. Example: Masaba, she is friends with bunch of stars and is very well connected and even though her collection is mostly repetitious and hideous (to be honest), she does well (evidenced by all the stores that she opening all over the world) because of her friends.
2. Nepotism is very big in Indian fashion scene. Example: Nishka Lulla. I am not even apologetic when I say this that her collection is completely hideous, I mean horrible, but she is Neeta Lulla’s daughter and she has good connection and gets her clothing featured in fashion magazines.
3. Talent is secondary: Its about money and connection
4. Indian fashion scene is about a leader and a follower system, Few are individualistic and follow their own sense of style. Do what everyone else does.
Anyways, keeping in mind that I left India 10 years ago and have not been back there in almost 5 years, I may not be the best person to comment on this:) but I did build an algorithm on Indian designers on Instagram, how well connected they are and how often they post on other celebrities pictures and blah blah blah.
Also, my sis-in-law in India is trying to build her own line of saris and because her and my brother do not have family money they have been saving from their pay checks and investing in their business. I would love for you to critic her line or provide suggestions, but I know it has been hard on them because talent does not matter and what matters is money and connections.
My gaaaaaaaaWWWWdddddddddd
How dare you people have managed to do NIRBHAYA KAAND on our so called Indian Fashion Industry.
How brut’Tallee copulated on the sheets designed by KuchBhiNaaSaachi.
AFTER READING THE POST…
FDCI must be repenting & HT CITY, DT nithallaaz must be scratching @$$ you know naa what.
How intelligently you have post mortemed in just a SINGLE POST.
How darrrrrrrrrrre…. Grrrrr…
Maarungi sabko.
Aaise bhi koi poora hi kholta hai kisika pole.
Why you have shattered my false dreams regarding few ones like SubbaNahiSaachi.
Ohhh my god.
What fancy has left for me after reading so much REALITY.
Beda garak ho jaaye tumhaara.
Kahin to jeene do.
India mein ab reh hi kya gaya.
Maalyaah nee waat laagi.
King has lost all the fishes.
INDIAN GLAMOUR has succumbed to this “injuring post”.
How dare you, you all THINKERS & the Master Mr Jack.
Ohhhh cummmmmmmmon…
How our fashion industry is, so such, full of morons.
Ohhhhh my god.
I would love to hear something really really from the desk of “compatible/adjustable” with “ALL”
(so sustained till NOW :-)), the Prez of FDCI, onto this post.
P.S. (Fashion Design Ch¥ts of India = FDCI).
Chal SheeriDevi ka chaddhi design karr aur bann jaa designer.
Warrna flop Zayed ka undie hi milega.
MaahNav ki Kasam 🙂
Aapki naadaan innoCent fashionista
God Shareef
Kya aapke andar ki God, Shareef hai???
🙂 🙂 🙂
Excellent article! What I have been saying for years. Re Rahul Mishra, I am so happy I backed him from the onset
It feels good to know that there maybe hope for the upcoming n actually talented designers , they might find there way like this,, somebody might trust them n thy get recognised for there style!With so many artist all across the country! But I still hope there was an institution wr these designers could be adopted! There is so much talent in India!
Yes…sad fact it is…success for a designer is nothing to do with originality,aesthetic sense n creativity but the right connections , money n political strategy.first hand talent does not get a chance to emerge….
Yes..sadly so…success in the fashion field not so much to do wth originality,aesthetic sense n creativity but the right connections, money n political strategy.Most often true talent does not get a chance to emerge…!!!!!
Success is the key word in these times – get is which ever way is the mantra – thats what people r doing – how can one blame them?
WHAT & WHO IS KILLING OUR WEAVERS?
Well we designers means a certificate holder of degree/diploma means we are educated n we have proper knowledge of yarn, thread, fabric and their process, color, patters, forecast, style, design techniques, tools, and principals involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models bla bla bla… now come to weavers, in general terms they are simply weavers but in real they are like a creator of amazing yardage which we Designer use to shape of dream projects, now Question is that,
Is their condition, their livelihood better as ours????
Govt. says they fund thousands of crore on different schemes??? If it true where all fund goes
Many National, Padma Shri, Shilp guru, Sant kabir, State awardee committed suicide, who else are behind it??
Are they have proper working place, ohhh forget place, do they have enough bread to feed themselves and their family???
If we are directly or indirectly associated with them, if we think they are the root of our industry then why we are not watering our roots why we are watching them getting dry. We are educated and we know what is good and what is bad for us then why we are just dependent on International clients, Foreign funds, Government schemes??
WHY DON’T WE TAKE A STAND FOR US?????????????????
absolutely tragic to see young designers targetting only bollywood beauties and doing every thing to attract their stylist . no wonder they understand if designers like manish malhotra vikram phadnis rocky S Neeta lulla have made it so big because of bollywood.
In a country where there are more followers than leaders who understand fashion which is so subjevtive changes with every 100 kms you move with culture taste and region .
fashion a 20 year old young In this country yet to experience the real taste of international blood of fashion in their veins.
1000s of fashion institute with rubbish garbage to teach and educating a million fashion students every year accross the country. who are only exposed to what movie stars are wearing and who.is making them wear. thats the epitome of fashion .
10 years in this industry from middle east . euprope to america and in India .
My experience there is norhing happening around the world of fashion that does not belong to india .
be it Zuhair embroidery patterns set in bombay or georges chakkra s . it all goes from this highly creative country of ours . a normal hand embroider of bareily or the jaal maker of banaras has more aesthetic sense of design than our above mentioned designers .
please enlightened me MASABA GUPTA. NIKHASHA LULLA. NIKITA TONDON … do they even qualify to be staged in national fashion weeks . show me one sigle design that makes you feel. its worth that spot light .
why only manish arora could manage to gain the status of global designer.
when will our so called bible of fashion magazines will promote real fashion . a cover page of model not bollywood which is not fashion . masses wont buy
guru mantra is fashion is 10% rest 90 % is your other calibere that will make you successful designer in India
I don’t think sexual preference has anything to do with getting a job in a fashion magazine. For example, Aaditya Walia, formerly Vogue India’s fashion editor, and Rahul Vijay, currently senior stylist at Harper’s Bazaar India, are both straight males.
While evrything is true… im going to back Sabyasachi Mukherjee. His lehengas are not as expensive as compared with Manish Malhotra. He has Lehengas that start at 1 lak also. every indian bride today wants an outfit so that she can click preety pictures and upload it on social media. Sabyasachi, even through his show, dresses real women who have a story to share. All those clothes that are given cod have been sold to some bride who is facebook obsessed….
Fashion is so insecure business. The designers who form this motley group make an ass of themselves time again.
You raised few points. What makes Manish Malhotra tick. He sells himself very well. In the past 5 years he has done very many films, he has done huge number of fashion shows and his business that he claims to have 108 crores of business is purely sold on these finale and shows.
Sabyasachi is the most over hyped fashion brand/designere. Who more or less has played the same games as Manish and built his empire.
Rahul Mishra’s success isnt surprising and has been staedy. He has many fathers suddenly and even people like Wendell want to stake claim in his success when they haev zero contribution. Wendell was mentor to atleast 50 gen next designers – can he say the same about anybody else. will come to him later. he backs a masaba gupta who like manish is a marketing product.what talent does masaba have everyone knows
Funding by gutkha barons and lack of corporate investment is only because designers are a disorganised lot – no business plan, no path, no financial charts, no details. and they court and talk about lack of investment. Enforcement directorate if it raids most designer business – every one wil be naked. Genesis Sanjay Kapur would be in serious trouble, where is jj valaya today..he has no money.
Vijay Singh is a glorified pimp who wanted to make his wife a designer and then also a legal platform to solicit women…he also in between nurtured the dream to own the fashion world of india and ‘unify’ them.
Fashion industry is riddled with insecure bunch of people, who all take moral claim to be standing for the good of industry when in reality all they o is back biting and pull each other down.
People like Wendell who have bought/honored with even national recognition should know to stand for the right cause. Wendell went ballistic after manish malhotra was announced the finale designer, when he has been bidding his cause for it. he put status decrying it- then saying outstation designers should be charged less etc. such a sad irony that all these designers talk and fight are about fashion week and shows. every designer wants free/sponsored shows/prime time shows, and when they dont get- they go all out against the systems be it lakme or wills. wendell has angled for free shows every where. they all want to be on Board of all organizations to get free shows. if they mean business let them act on it than venting their frustration on facebook and twitter.
and jack, you keep asking questions – there are any skeletons waiting to fall out ..fashion industry cannot thrive without its petty politics-
Loved this article. Have often wondered about these things myself. I am not that invested in fashion , I am a researcher, who often wears a jean and t shirt to lab (acid spill can ruin even the most expensive garments and safety dictates cotton clothes). However when I have walked into these designer shop’s , have been appalled at the shoddy workmanship. I often pick my sarees directly from the weavers in Benaras. When you see the conditions weavers work in, it kills half the joy in wearing those Sarees. Also generally there is so much bling, prints and everything else going on with these designer clothes that you cant wear them outside India. Why cant Indian designers nail simplicity and elegance.
* What makes Manish Malhotra a top-notch designer? He dressed few film actresses and that’s about it. So is Bollywood styling jobs the ace up his sleeve because honestly his creations are a blend of Rohit Bal, Varun Bahl and at times Anamika Khanna and Tarun Tahiliani’s looks? And why HT City has to feature Manish Malhotra on the front page even he lands in Delhi, farts and goes back?
i can answer a few questions. the status that manish malhotra enjoys today has been a journey of (surely) hard work and dedicated working hours. I can’t say who copies whom but a lot of it really has to depend on being at the right place, at the right time and most imortantly- knowing the right people. if you observe nikhil thampis rise to fame- his designs aside its also a lot to do with the fact that the designer is fairly well connected now that he’s so in the scene and if he has one it girl loyalist to wear his garments to the red carpets, many others will follow soon enough. i like to think of nikhil as the new young and western manish malhotra. manish earns a lot of his money through styling big budget films. he would be flown into london and given a shopping spree with no budget. all of course, for the film. think selfridges, harrods etc. truth is- the same work couldve been done by a lesser known stylist but he gets away with charging those many lakhs more- for his name. hes thriving off of the name he’s built.
* Why none of the fashion magazines don’t hire a straight male in their fashion editorial team? Is it an unsaid basic disqualification?
This is untrue, I’ve worked at most if not all fashion magazines in india (unfortunately) at some point or the other. And both harpers and vogue had heterosexual males at very good posts. Also, fashion is generally a gay mans game i suppose. so there are more gay men than straight applying. but i dont see there being a need for preference of sexuality. That said, having a gay man around is a lot easier, especially during fittings when models and actors have to change between shots.
* Why Rahul Mishra is acknowledged by his peers only after winning the International Woolmark Prize in Milan? He has been doing equally brilliant collections for almost five years now. Do we still need Firang approval to appreciate a upcoming designer?
Seeking firang approval is deeply embedded into our culture and the mindset of the people of our nation. it’s too late to do anything about that. of course, i generalise. but the fact remains the same.
That said, it still is always great to have someone from our country being recognised for their work on a global platform. Every designer would love to go international. it means better exposure, better sales! I do believe the hype behind rahul mishra is natural. after winning an award, anyone would want to interview you. and with interview requests pouring in, articles being written about him it just appears that the designer suddenly got so much coverage when the truth is that you’re right. he did suddenly get immense coverage and the hype was more than ever. but it’ll eventually die. because a few years later someone else will win. and thats just how the cookie crumbles. it’s no big deal though. i like that someone like rahul mishra is being recognised for his work on an international platform. that said, he did step it up with the woolmark collection. so… there’s that.
* Why does Vijay Singh of India Bridal Week yet again want to do a 5-day event in Delhi when his biggest sahara – Sahara Shri is locked up in Tihar and Sahara will no more the magnanimous sponsor for the event? Why does he want to put in his personal money in the event? Yeh kya locha hai bhai?
its about keeping up appearances. and what may seem like his own money being spent, one never knows what deal is being cut where and with whom under the table. it’s also an investment thats blindly expecting great returns.
* Why Indian Corporate Houses never supported the fashion industry? Why Reliance have to get international brands when there are much more talent here?
What’s wrong with getting international designers to India? There’s a demand for it. Then may as well supply it, no? Sorry, but I’d rather spend 3 lakhs on a gucci bag than a (say) nappa dori bag. that’s assuming i had that kind of money to frivolously throw away. Gucci’s been in the game years longer, their reputation precedes them and sometimes, you just like what McQueen has to offer vs what gold shit some designer from punjabi bagh is selling.
* Why are certain couples who make the most hideous clothes surviving and flourishing? You know who all I am talking about – Anjalee & Arjun Kapoor, Kapil & Monica, Rimple and Harpreet and Manu & Mamta. Are their people who like ugly clothes?
Ugly/average/beautiful. it’s all subjective. I mean I’ve thrown up things prettier looking than what the designers mentioned above have designed but what one must understand is that there is still a huuuuuuuge market for their taste. and thats what theyre catering to. I mean the ones mentioned above are still new. i still am baffled by how someone like ritu berri has still managed to stick around. i vividly recall on my trip to corbett park once i saw a carcass of a deer that had been half eaten. it had maggots and flies and such around it- i would rather wear that than anything ritu berri ever designed. if there was a licence to design, it must be revoked.
I’m a part of the industry and from my understanding and what capacity my brain allows me to evaluate certain observations made, these are the conclusions i’ve come to based on my own experiences, thoughts and also those of whom i’ve spoken to the very same topics about.