Fashion Week Blog

Why designers need to get ahead of trends

By Shefalee Vasudev

Editor, Marie Claire

Shefalee Vasudev

Working from a small corner shop in Shankar Market in New Delhi is Harphool, a burly, and barely smiling fallwalla. He started his business stitching falls and sequins on saris, doing neat peecos, making gold tassles on pallu edges, till a designer “discovered” him. Soon, Harphool’s business boomed. His speciality? Stitching on old benarasi brocade borders to new saris, transposing grandma’s laces from torn chiffons to new crepes, putting bronze mukaish, old stones and pearls on dupattas and fabrics that have been dyed or blockprinted by the designer. Harphool has begun learning the tricks. “Antique?” he asked once letting me into “designer secrets”. The long and short, he says, is affordable, old, second hand chic turned into “reinvented” garments.

Antique. Vintage. Or what fashion editors would call Retro. Reinvention–one of the biggest trends of recent times is actually one of the best examples of how subcultural trends are turned into marketing opportunities. Also, how despite the many seasonal war cries that create din and noise in fashion, it’s actually the past that’s become trendy. We now want antique jewellery, old lace, velvet and satin blouses and embroidery that’s “luxury” because it’s no longer available. Paris-based fashion journalist, Mark Tungate’s interesting book Fashion Brands hit the nail on the head of this trend when he wrote “The search for originality, combined with a growing excess of global brands has driven a worldwide increase in demand for vintage clothes.”

What we can see all around us in the madness of newness which obligingly alters every six months is that “being current” is an old-fashioned trend. It’s certainly not original, you are not going to be the only one to wear the purples and blacks, the gowns and dresses, the laces, tartans or architectural ensembles.

If the past can be trendy, how about a slice of the future?

If designers can overcome the bipolar seasonal slavery of current trends and give us what we will want (and need) 5 or 10 years later, there might be some truly innovative collections in store. Since no one, not even the consumers know what we will want in the time to come, fashion can become a futuristic mentor, because besides style, it may end up indicating who we will be in the next decade.

Designers need to really forecast. Not only for Spring Summer 2009 but for 5 or more years later. There is nothing as original as future. And nothing sells better than tomorrow.

Any takers?