As the screens take over for the India Couture Week 2020, FDCI Chairman Sunil Sethi tells Chahak Mittal how, even with a pandemic at hand, the business is always sustainable in the wedding market
How would we have survived a year like 2020 if we did not have the internet? A thousand businesses, which temporarily moved to digital spaces during the lockdown, might have been permanently shut. As we can see today, no product gets marketed, no movement is made and nothing is collected, communicated or analysed without an integral digital intervention. Well, if things have started finding space online, why not fashion, believes Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI) chairman Sunil Sethi, who is all set to present the first-ever digital edition of the India Couture Week 2020.
Keeping up with the new reality, FDCI has taken prompt strides for a robust digital transformation. This attempts to give an opportunity to designers to reach out to an audience that matters and explore interesting ways of showing their collections.
Sethi believes that it was the need of the hour to conduct the show online. “What do we do after all? If the environment is not conducive to do any physical activity in the public, then, of course, the idea of necessity being the mother of invention comes into play. And in this case, the invention is a digital couture show. Looking at how everything is going digital, why not fashion?” says he. Well, the official hashtag for the event, #DecodingCouture, with the graphic theme of “waves”, too, signifies how the digital space is creating ripples in the global fashion industry.
Even as the screens take over, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the business has surely been affected. Designer Reynu Taandon, who will unveil her collection Surkh at the week, says, “Due to the pandemic, the purchasing power has gone down. There is a sharp fall in the number of impulsive buyers because people are not willing to step out. Thanks to the digital space, now we’ll be able to create an experience for the customers while they sit at home. This time, my motto is ‘higher quality and lesser quantity’.”
The buyers might have lessened but the wedding trousseau never gets compromised. This is exactly why Sethi believes that the wedding market in India will never fail to sustain couture. “There is no way that in India, the spending on weddings or occasion wear is going to come down. The budget or the number of guests at the function might decrease. Friends and relatives might compromise on new outfits over what they have ready at home, but a bride would never do that. The bride and the groom-to-be need their dream outfits, for posterity. It’s something you keep for life to remember how you looked at your wedding. Even people would keep that statement alive in their minds. They’d post it on social media, talk about it and try to dig out something similar. Well, on social media, nobody wants to be not looking good. So as far as I know, the couture market is not going to change. In this market, the business is sustainable.”
So what’s the new face of couture this year? Sethi tells us what he took away from most designers — traditionality of designs depending upon the fact that weddings are now intimate affairs rather than big fat. “Each designer has his own take but I think, many are going in to create a traditional bride with the colour red coming back in fashion. Well, I am no trend forecaster but the traditional format is going to be back in business. There is a demand for red. Having said that, the beauty of couture is that it creates something for everyone. It’s unique for the bride and she is free to choose it whichever way and of colour she likes. So it is all also based on how the modern Indian bride may decide to go,” says he.
Given the current crisis, Reynu brings another theme to the fore — sustainability, something which makes us guilt-free and conscientious. She says, “I think sustainability is the new face of not just couture but the whole fashion industry. One thing that we should take away from the present times is ‘waste not, want not.’ It’s what I am following too. We, as designers, should start being mindful of the smallest details and appreciative of local artistes instead of heavily depending on imported goods, while ensuring the quality of every garment that’s been made.”
The India Couture Week is known for its grandeur, innovation and reflection of the modernity of an Indian bride. How does it plan to recreate the experience virtually? For Sethi, it has been challenging to hold a grand event like this online. But he believes that it’s more challenging for the designers, “who have to be creative enough and pull off a digital show that resonates with the audience,” this time an infinite one. He adds, “They have to come up with more innovations and newness to show them what they are doing. But I also feel that they’re creative enough to have been facing such challenges and coming up with efficient results ever since they got into the business. It’s not a challenge, which is unsurmountable. It is certainly possible that this time, the collection only comprises 20 or 15 or 10 ensembles instead of 40, due to which there might be less choice with the consumer. But again, couture is about making up to each customer’s requirements. That way, it is not off the shelf.”
How will the audience be able to focus on the designs, which they do easily while in person? Sethi has found an advantage. “In a ramp walk show, the models come and go. And you visit an ensemble only once because you’re sitting at one place. But in this case, because it is digital, the designers will specially focus the cameras on every ensemble and zoom on the embroidery or the texture. This way, you won’t be able to miss the artistry at all. Just sit in your homes, in comfortable clothes, and be a part of it as a front row-viewer. You won’t miss anything! The videos the designers shoot will give you enough to concentrate on. This is absolutely a plus!” says he.
During the shows, one can also find out details about the designers’ collections on the FDCI website. Each day, a new designer will be live and talk about her/his showcase. The six day-long event will have top couturiers showcase their couture films/videos and supporting content that will go live on a preset show schedule, emulating the format of a physical event.
(The shows will be streamed on FDCI’s official handles — Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and the FDCI website — from September 18 to 23.)
