Why fashion and fashion weeks matter

FASHION: Wills Lifestyle Fashion Week kicks off with a clutch of happy sponsors, but no one's talking numbers.

Over the next one week, lissome models will walk up and down the ramp in Delhi, displaying the spring/summer collections of top notch Indian fashion designers. Some of them are the leading lights of high fashion: Rocky S, Rajesh Pratap Singh, Rina Dhaka, Tarun Tahiliani, Ranna Gill and Rohit Bal.

In the galleries, amongst those waiting for a wardrobe malfunction to happen, will be serious buyers of Indian couture, who will place orders with the designers before the event is over. Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week might be a great visual delight; it also promises to be serious business.

About 140 buyers came to the fall/winter WLIF held earlier this year. This time round, the number is expected to be no less. The business transacted behind the ramp will filter in over the next few days. However, the Fashion Development Council of India, which organises the event, does not track the orders generated at the show.

"We don't ask either the designers or the buyers the quantum of business done and they don't tell us. But, if the buyers are coming back, then they must be happy. The buyers from West Asia give us the most business," says FDCI Director Rathi Vinay Jha.

Experts say that it will still be some time before Indian designers can make their mark in the West, though markets like Dubai have taken to their stuff. Global fashion houses might still not be inspired by the stuff on display at Indian fashion events, but the sponsors of WLIF aren't complaining.

Says Atul Chand, vice-president (marketing), ITC, whose clothing brand Wills Lifestyle is the title sponsor of the event: "At the brand level, we believe that WLIF enhances the imagery. Our brand has been on a growth path. For us, WLIF is the centre piece of our brand-building strategy."

This is the second year that Wills Lifestyle has sponsored the event. It has also introduced a designer line in its stores which, Chand says, now accounts for 15 per cent of sales. To prove his point further, Chand says Wills Lifestyle sales have grown 30 per cent after its association with WLIF, though the market has grown just 15 per cent during the period.

Nokia, the other sponsor of the event, too seems upbeat. Says Nokia India Director (marketing) Devinder Kishore: "Compared to others in the world, Indians are one-and-a-half times more driven by style and fashion. It has been well worth it for us. Our intention is to continue this association."

Nokia, for the latest edition of WLIF, is launching its Prism collection with a show by Mumbai-based designer Rocky S, best known for his work for Bollywood stars.

According to Jha, the queue of companies willing to be associated with fashion is getting longer. "In India, three things that work for the advertiser are cricket, films and then fashion," says she. While the cost of acquiring cricket and film properties has shot through the roof, fashion has started making more and more sense.

And Jha is in the mood to cash in on the rush. "Since there are now so many aspiring sponsors, we have decided to add two more events to the fashion calendar. We will be now looking at starting a haute couture week which is very important for our designers as well as a men's wear week," she adds.

Not bad going for something that many have dismissed as a frivolous activity with no bearing on real life and real people. To some people it may seem fashionable to be dismissive of fashion but for many more, and a growing tribe at that, it's becoming fashionable to make good money out of fashion. And money will always stay in style.