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Ramp rage: The right music counts
Clothes alone do not make fashion shows rock. Without the right music, as models sashay down the ramp, a show could lose much of its zing.
Clothes alone do not make fashion shows rock. Without the right music, as models sashay down the ramp, a show could lose much of its zing.
With 39 designer shows lined up at LIFW 2005, music assumes more importance than ever before.
So what musical recipes do choreog raphers have in store this year? Says choreographer Vidyun Singh, of The Media Makers: "There is a shift in the designers' taste for music. Nobody wants 'fashion show music' anymore. Heady beats have given way to gentler tracks." The advantage: slower the music, the longer can a model linger on the ramp and display a creation.
Singh isn't ready to give out specific details of what's in store, though: "That'll be letting the cat out of the bag. We've gone for an `out of India' sound." Adds choreographer Aparna Bahl of The Preferred Professionals: "We're composing each piece specially. It's not fair to reveal the surprise element!"
Selecting the right music is a tough task. While Aparna and Tanya work with Gaurav Raina of the MIDIval PunditZ fame, Asha and Vidyun Singh have DJs Ashwin Sharma and Arjun Waghle. "On international ramps, designers have used opera for prêt and hiphop for couture. It's all about striking a balance between the music and the clothes. You have to create your own trend," says Aparna.
For Mumbai-based choreographer Lubna, the balance has to be achieved between the concept, clothes and the music. "I'm working with a huge va riety. Anything between six to 15 tracks can be used for one show," she says. "We are creating new tracks and remixes of old ones."
Asha and Vidyun will be using everything from western classical to remixes to Bollywood numbers to retro and the "very popular" contemporary jazz. Vidyun elaborates: "Generally speaking, prêt will have no-drama music. Since diffusion (a level between prêt and couture) is all glam and glitter, the music will have to be sexy."
