Now that the fashion weeks are over, there are a few things that I feel the organisers should implement to make shows better and less boring.
Cut, cut
I have always felt that no matter how good a collection is, a well-edited collection always manages to catch the attention of people in a much more effective manner. Barring a few (Prashant Verma’s being the best example), shows I felt needed editing badly with some of them touching 50 plus on a solo show and 30 plus in two designer shows. I feel that it’s enough to show just what’s required rather than going on trying the same stuff one after the other, unless of course a designer has the ability to hold the interest of the audience with varied creations.
Look Who’s coming
I have always felt that the number games played by the fashion weeks should stop as soon as possible. The number they flaunt in terms of media accreditations and participating designers, etc., I have seen, often falls flat with many of them not even deserve to be there in the first place. At the Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week (WIFW) that concluded recently, I saw many carrying media badges but came there with intentions other than just fashion. I suggest FDCI should immediately look into it and make sure that next time these unwanted people are removed from the media list. Entry should also be controlled. For this, organisers should circulate the media list among the participating designers for runway shows (as is done at shows in NY, London, Milan and Paris) and let them decide which media/journalist they want for their shows. I think this way media accreditations and their subsequent attending of shows can be controlled. What is happening now is that, more than 85 per cent of accredited media which sits for shows does not come with serious intentions of covering shows.
Talent only, please
The same should apply to runway shows as well. This time, there were 38 runway shows with as many as 68 designers taking part in them. Perhaps it will be a good idea to exercise some editing here as well, since I found some below average as well as a few real bad collections. Reduction in numbers by weeding out the bad ones will make the event less hectic and more in terms of substance.
Talent only, please
The same should apply to runway shows as well. This time, there were 38 runway shows with as many as 68 designers taking part in them. Perhaps it will be a good idea to exercise some editing here as well, since I found some below average as well as a few real bad collections. Reduction in numbers by weeding out the bad ones will make the event less hectic and more in terms of substance.
Right Models
Model selection could also be better. I saw a couple of foreign girls with full-grown body hair (now what kind of a statement was that? And how come people missed seeing it?) walking the runway. It was stark and while in light became even more visible and shabby. And there was another one who was really big hip down. I think there was a grave misjudgment from the model selectors.
Perhaps next time they should think of such models as Nayonika Chatterjee, who always kept herself in good shape and grace over the past several years, as role models while doing the selection. In some of my columns in the past I have expressed as to how nice it would be to have just one fashion week in Delhi with all the fashion designers showing their collections under one single umbrella. Now that it has happened, hopefully fashion weeks here will get better and better in the coming seasons.