Fashion Weak

An appeal to fashion weeks!

September marks the beginning of the fashion season. It’s an exciting time as new collections enter stores and new fashion weeks herald a gamut of new trends. But this September, I am neither excited about fashion nor looking forward to any of the fashion weeks in India.

The reason? The word “Fashion Week” has been abused. There is Lakme, Wills, Kolkata, Van Heusen, HDIL , Pearl Infrastructure, and did someone mention a Jaipur Fashion Week? We probably have about half a dozen designers of note in India, so where is the content to fill these fashion weeks?

With Lakme starting this week, I am struggling to find one day where I actually want to see all the shows. Which is probably why designers resort to using Bollywood on the ramp—it is a pretty mask to cover the lack of actual fashion on the ramp and a short cut to media coverage.

Every season, the quality of fashion at these Indian weeks just seem to get more and more diluted as ever newer fashion weeks keep springing up. And as a member of the fashion press, I find it hard to divide quality coverage over all the new fashion weeks. As a magazine, the team needs to work its schedule around each fashion event, and we also need to allocate budgets, hire photographers, and spend time attending the event. The situation, after a while, will become impossible to handle.

So here is my small but earnest appeal to the fashion industry—if you want people to take the fashion seriously, come together and do ONE important fashion week. Focus on quality fashion rather than PR stunts. Basically, bring the fashion back to fashion week!

All Day (& All Night) Long

So it is time for the September issue! For fashion that’s the start of the year…

The Fall fashion issue tells you what the new statements for this season are, what the must buys are, and how to wear it. Many women I know may skip fashion magazines throughout the year, but they always buy the September Issue! It is the definitive guide for the months ahead.

And fashion seems a little confused this year: minimalism is back and we have to thank Phoebe Philo of Celine for this, as is lots of decadence ala Giorgio Armani & Max Mara. There is a beautiful femininity courtesy Valentino’s new duo (Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli), Marc Jacobs at Louis Vuitton and on the other hand Hermes goes androgynous ‘Avenger style’. Perhaps it is not surprising that fashion is confused because the world is confused: Are we still in recession? Who are the new superpowers? And closer to home, will the Commonwealth Games even happen?

Maybe due to this puzzled state of mind, the colour nude has made a comeback! It’s a shade which lends itself to every style. It looks great in the day and sensual in the evening. Confusion has lead fashion to one clear direction – there is nothing as soothing as a non – colour like nude. There is simplicity to it, and right now it’s time to get rid of the clutter & make things in life simpler.

If I had to single out another clear message that the Fall/Winter fashion weeks brought out (and I attended them in Paris and Delhi) it was return of Daytime Chic – which is what we celebrated in the September issue at Harper’s Bazaar India. After many seasons of seeing the emphasis of red carpet gowns on the ramp, it was so refreshing to see some beautiful daywear as this is more relevant for India than any other country. Personally I do not believe any gown can compete with the sensuality, elegance and beauty of the sari, so when it comes to formal wear this is always my number one choice!

More importantly the focus on daywear shows fashion is more confident, that things are looking up & women are ready to spend on more than evening wear. Its time to look like a lady all day (& all night) long!

With the above in mind, here is my wish list for fall:

- Abraham & Thakore’s beige and black sari worn with a wrap jacket (In pic)
- Valentino’s beige coat dress (in pic)
- Lanvin’s one shoulder beige drape dress (in pic)
- Hermes leather pants (if you can afford them)
- Chanel’s 2.55 bag in beige
- Stella’s nude Kitten heels
- Gucci’s over the knee beige boots (in pic)
- And the LBD of the season comes from the studio of Rajesh Pratap Singh (in pic)