Last resort?

Resort wear can make our fashion weeks more business-oriented.

Resort wear can make our fashion weeks more business-oriented

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For long we have seen seasonal confusions taking place at fashion weeks.

No matter what the seasonal theme is — spring/summer or autumn/winter — most of our designers choose to present what they care for, mostly summer/resort wear.

I doubt whether they can be blamed for this. End of the day what they want is business and in India winter clothing is restricted just to the North and for designer wear, perhaps just Delhi. In such a scenario, why would any designer want to waste his/her money and effort by making winter collections just to fit into a fashion week theme? What our designers need is collections that bear an all-year theme.

Keeping this in mind perhaps, Lakme Fashion Week has now decided to devote its collections to resort wear. Now, most thought resort wear as skimpy swimsuits or beach wear, but, on the contrary it only means light weight and easy to manage clothes that we see our designers doing most of the time.

A resort wear collection may include flowy kaftans, sexy shorts, light-weight suits, dresses or evening gowns or clothes adhering to this theme. For years, our designers have presented collections on these lines bearing spring/summer themes. Resort theme is a good idea because of its growing demand around the world.

On the other hand, clients for Indian designer wear for winter are just restricted to Delhi. Even in cities like Delhi, I see very few going in for Indian designer wear during the season, especially the ones who are either well traveled or have the option to shop Italian or French luxury labels. And, as for the international buyers who come for our fashion weeks, I do not see them buying much of our designer winter wear either.

In such a scenario, it’s always better for our designers to have a uniform theme for fashion week collections and come out with collections that are vibrant, easy to wear and easier to sell. A clear-cut theme such as summer/resort will eliminate the seasonal confusions on fashion runways as well. As it is our designers are eager to present these lines on the runway, and making this official will surely bring in more talent and newer creations that can sell.

Resort wear might well be the last resort to make our fashion weeks more business oriented.