May - June, 2005 < Back To Article
Khadi Breeches, Jewelled Bodices

Illustrations by Vinita Chand
Published: Volume 13, Issue 3, May-June, 2005
Shantanu Goenka apparently copied Tarun Tahiliani and Sabyasachi had a double whammy with the accusation that Kiran Uttam Ghosh as well as Anamika Khanna drew inspiration from his collection last year, titled ‘Frog Princess’! ‘Indian handicraft-chic’ is how Bandana Tewari dubs the most significant trend that emerged from this Lakme India Fashion Week (LIFW). Silencing, once and for all, the hue and cry about the death of Indian tradition Every year, Lakme India Fashion Week (LIFW) puts us in a weird existential dilemma – is there life after fashion? Is there life in fashion? Especially our new crop of fashion journalists, who till recently were covering social-political beats, are now besieged by the truth behind trimmed lace or shimmering lamé. In one week, we have read more than we possibly could about the shenanigans of Indian fashion, written with a new found delicacy for words such as embellishments, craftsmanship, Euro-sensibility, Indian oeuvre…. Fair enough. We are all developing and honing skills that will allow us to explain fashion’s ‘India-sensibility’ to a world looking at us with renewed zest. But this year both designers and writers grappled and grappled hard to tell their own story. Introduced only recently to the demands and dictates of international buyers, press and clients, it was evident that both designers and journalists were struggling to find an individualistic voice. Where the designers were concerned, there was more drama on the ramp than there is in a spring carnival. Where in some, the theatricality of a ramp show worked for their benefit, in others it was a simple cry for help. Leafing through all the fashion fodder that emerged out of Fashion Week, it’s interesting to see where mere terminology stopped and fashion rhetoric began. There were big (and unfounded) accusations thrown in the air by people who were armed with little less than the information from last year’s shows. So we saw Manish Arora accused of ripping off John Galliano (actress, Shabana Azmi, declared, "I am not here to watch a Galliano rip-off."); Shantanu Goenka apparently copied Tarun Tahiliani and Sabyasachi had a double whammy with the accusation that Kiran Uttam Ghosh as well as Anamika Khanna drew inspiration from his collection last year, titled ‘Frog Princess’! And brows were raised when Tarun and Sabyasachi produced collections that were similar to what they showcased last year.	ARTICLE TOOLS Email This Article Print This Article EMAIL NEWSLETTER Enter your email to subscribe to VerveOnline's FREE newsletter

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