Thaindian News

By Shilpa Raina
New Delhi, March 29 (IANS) Summer wear seems to be the hot favourite with designers. At the ongoing Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week (WIFW), though the theme is autumn-winter edition, most of the collections on display were bright, summery designs - keeping the buyers in mind.

The trend was first noticed at the Lakme Fashion Week (LFW) in March that first made the seasonal shift to focus on spring-summer collections.

At the LFW, designers as well as buyers welcomed the seasonal shift, saying it suited their business and also complimented the Indian weather.

At the ongoing WIFW too most of the designers are showcasing tunics, dresses, kaftans, kurtis with leggings and long dresses in bright colours on the ramp.

Designer duo Hemant-Nandita, who specialises in resort wear, says people all around the globe go for holidays and fill their suitcases with resort wear. So the two tried to stick to the demand and didn’t go with the autumn-winter theme.

“Resort wear is something that one can wear throughout the year. As people go on holidays, they prefer to carry light clothes; so our collection works for every season,” Hemant told IANS.

Apart from this, Hemant also pointed out that most of the designers churn out collections keeping buyers in mind.

“Most of the designers get buyers from the Middle East and it is very hot in that region,” explained Hemant.

According to designer Payal Jain, temperatures are soaring high globally; so there is more demand for summer clothes.

“It’s not just the buyer whom we keep in mind. Look at the temperature - every day in newspapers you read about global warming and rise in temperature. So if you look at the scene, the demand for summer clothes is higher compared to winter clothes,” Jain explained.

Hemant felt the forte of Indian designers lies in embroidery and colours. “We should stick to it rather than experimenting with winter wear”.

“To be very frank, I don’t think our designers match the level of international designers when it comes to winter clothing - be it warm jackets, coats, their experimentation with drapes…we just lack somewhere,” said Hemant.

“I feel our forte lies in colours and embroidery and we should stick to it rather than following seasons blindly and missing out on our regular buyers as well,” he added.

But Atsu Sekhose of label Atsu is not convinced and says if the fashion fraternity wants to come to the level of international fashion weeks, it should go by their standards.

“We should follow seasons if we want to go by international standards. This time some of the European buyers came to me and asked the same question on why not many Indian designers are showcasing the autumn-winter line,” said Sekhose, one of the few designers who showcased the winter line.

“It’s not that they will not buy our winter collection; it’s just that we don’t want to try,” pointed out the designer who has placed orders with regular international as well as domestic buyers.

(Shilpa Raina can be contacted at shilpa.r@ians.in)