While Celina Jaitley sizzled in a shimmering Varun Bahl outfit and Rohit Bal’s ‘Siyaahi’ (Urdu for ink) slowly seeped through stark white gowns, staining imaginations at the India Fashion week in Delhi; Manish Arora had planets, robots, rockets and androids burning the catwalk at London in stark contrast to what was happening back home.

This season different facets of Indian fashion were on display for differing yet discerning audiences on different sides of the globe at almost the same time fueling the ongoing debate the Indian fashion designers are preferring the West to ramps back home.

So when the recently-concluded Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week coincided with the much bigger New York Fashion week, viewers found some of the more fashionable names missing from the New Delhi venue.

Raising an uncomfortable question – where were the big boys and girls of Indian fashion? That is easily answered.

The man of vibrant shades - Manish Arora - was in London for a felicitation by the Victoria and Albert Museum where his ensembles made a finale to the Fashion in Motion programme; Ashish Soni was in New York for a showing; Anamika Khanna was getting ready to participate in the Paris Fashion Week while others like Ritu Kumar, JJ Valaya and Malini Ramani preferred a stall to a show. It was simply a matter of preference.

Both the Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week in New Delhi and the fashion extravaganza in New York opened on September 5, and many feel that the organisers should have been more careful while fixing the dates because not many international buyers (including Bloomingdales) turned up.

The New York Fashion Week took preference for both top designers as well as buyers. The amount of business generated has been modest this year with the reasoning going that if the big players stay away the big businesses will stay away as well.

Unperturbed

However, Rathi Vinay Jha, Director-General of the Fashion Design Council of India does not agree. According to her over 80 percent of the business of fashion is not with international buyers but within the country. Only about five per cent is with London and New York. “I don't think we need to look west at all, if we don’t want to,” she has been quoted as saying.

Atul Chand, Vice-President, Marketing, ITC, Lifestyle  Retail Business Division, is unperturbed as well. “India Fashion Week is growing from strength to strength in terms of participation of designers, models, buyers, media and other stakeholders,” he says, adding that every year new standards are being set for the Indian fashion industry.

Fact is that from an almost non registered presence twenty years back, the fashion design industry is now worth 1.8 billion dollars. Growing at 20-30 per cent it competes with New York in the 35 billion dollar fashion market.

From the neighbourhood darzi stitching for the next big shadi to the specially crafted high end “Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week” line retailing from the store next door in the “Ramp to Rack” initiative, we have come a long way.

No wonder then that Indian designers are heading where the big monies are. Manish Arora and Anamika Khanna are all set to participate in the Paris Fashion Week end of this month to showcase Spring/ Summer lines for 2008.
Rajesh Pratap Singh will be on the Paris ramps next year. What makes their debut important is the fact that they will all be showcasing under their own labels.

“It’s a great moment of glory. For the first time our designers will showcase their collections under their own labels,” exults Jha. So far Indian designers have been displaying their products abroad under the labels of foreign fashion houses or retail chains.

According to Arora, the change shows that Indian fashion is getting the much deserved international recognition to build its own brand. This, he feels, is not just good news for the industry but also a source of inspiration for young designers. Participating in shows abroad also gives them the necessary recognition to later establish their own brands.

It was Arora’s fourth show in London and he is now set to design a line under the Levi’s brand. Raghavendra Rathore worked with Donna Karan before launching his own label in India. Anamika Khanna has been selling through Harrods in London.

Fact remains that when Indian fashion designers head westwards they walk a delicately balanced tight rope.

While on the one hand they are often criticized for blindly incorporating Western elements into their outfits to cater to international buyers, on the other it is felt that if they are too ethnic Indian the designs don’t work.

To sell abroad they need to have top quality stuff and follow international forecasts. The fashion industry is growing. At this stage it is silly to restrain serious talent by screaming slogans of nationalism. The West has more business, they buy in larger quantities and designers make a world presence by showing alongside international talent.

A great marketing team to handle sales and publicity and a big business partner to support the expenditure are inherent to a tryst with fashion abroad.

Rathore, has candidly said that international success costs a lot of money. A designer has to spend around two million rupees at every fashion metro to start a publicity operation. Big money, but then the stakes are big as well.

So we wait with bated breath for the Paris Fashion Week. Manish’s line is inspired by the 1970s style and loaded with colour.

Anamika is showcasing 35 outfits in an oeuvre comprising strong Indian colours though of less intensity. She is being careful not to take ethnic India abroad concentrating instead on “sexy and contemporary”.

When the fashion fiesta gets underway in the French capital on September 30, not only will these two talented designers showcase their collections but we shall also see Delhi’s discarded plastic bags go on display after being transformed into eco-chic handbags by Conserve, a local environmental charity. I suggest we give petty concerns a break and Indian designers some cutting space.

If the ramps of Paris are going to showcase not just Indian cream but also Indian garbage, can it get any better than that?