Corporate designs

FASHION: Corporate dressing gets bigger as more and more companies tie up with designers to get the look that sets their brands apart.

Corporate look has moved beyond staid ties and conservative sarees. Multinationals including the IT companies, travel, aviation and hospitality companies, cosmetic majors and even schools are increasingly seeking designer help to draw a look that is exclusive to their brands.

"Style direction," says Anita Dongre, a designer who has done a sizeable number of projects with companies, "to corporates covers corporate uniforms, staff livery, grooming and social etiquette. While we only do the uniforms for corporates, we insist on expert guidance on grooming to ensure that the designer look is justified on the person."

And it's not only the aviation and hospitality sectors that have developed fancy designer uniforms. "The new trend that is emerging is the IT companies and even schools coming to us with requests to design dresses for them that reflect international standards," says Dongre, whose clients include Dhirubhai Ambani International School, Lilavati Hospital & Research Centre, Talwalkars, Neutrogena, BPL Mobiles and others.

Dongre feels that designers can't really indulge when it comes to fabrics and designs. "Considering the fact that uniforms have to be washed and worn often limits the imagination," says Dongre. This, however, has not prevented people like Manoviraj Khosla, Tarun Tahiliani, Raghavendra Rathore, Ashish Soni, Ritu Beri, Arshiya Fakih and JJ Valaya from joining the bandwagon of fashion designers for corporates.

The good news is that budgets for corporate uniforms continue to soar. A conservative estimate puts the corporate uniform market at Rs 70 crore, with average project size being in the range of Rs 10-15 lakh for uniforms alone. The basic grooming, styling, makeup and accessories cost extra.

"Corporates like to bring in a designer who can not only design outfits professionally within a given brief, ensure they are wearable and also keep a tab on the costing, " says Arshiya Fakih, a fashion designer who has worked with several hotels in Mumbai, the latest being a seven star resort in Maldives.

The steady stream of money from designing corporate uniforms keeps Arshiya's label Araiya going strong. The designer has gone ahead and equipped herself with a production facility that can churn up to 5,000 dresses and keep budgets at as low as Rs 1,000 (per uniform).

Price range might vary, but on an average, a designer trouser-shirt combo or ladies wear, can be produced at Rs 900 and go up to Rs 3,000, if finances allow. "The trend," points Fakih, "is creeping towards western formals, with sarees taking a back seat with most international corporates having operations in India."

So, a dash of Indian signature style, like, say, an embroidered pattern, would be enough for most corporates who want to follow western fashion. Schools, on the other hand, are getting more innovative with their uniforms with customised patterns, fabrics, cuts for summer and winter sessions.

The only dogma that designers face is the "daily use" or "standardised clothing" tag associated with designing bulk uniforms. The good part, as Fakih points, is that the designers will get to widen their market by piggybacking on the corporates.