Fashion Designers and Lionising them – The Father & Daughter Argument – No Winners till Now !.

I do not know of how many friends watch ‘Band Baja Bride’ on NDTV Good Times, its about the makeover of a bride (at times a bridegroom) with a leading designer associating in the process. Its all ooh and ahs and squealing and gesturing and make believe excitement as the ugly swan becomes an ‘oh such a pretty young thing’!. I reach Chandigarh most weekends at night, Priyanka (my daughter, with very much a clear mind of her own and not afraid to state it) will normally be watching the show, my reaction normally and on purpose is, ‘so you are watching the glorified darzi’s (tailor’s) show ?!. Initially there was a violent reaction, with her questioning as to how I or anybody could even think of labelling Sabyasachi or any other designer as a darzi and when would I learn to appreciate the finer aspects of clothing lines . Now it’s a cool ignore from her as I make my observation , no more loud voices in protest but the channel does not change and neither does the enshrinement of the designer as some super cool dude with a superhuman artistic touch and an ability to ostensibly turn gawky females (short, fat, tall, wrongly proportioned, buck toothed and what not) into princesses on the most important day of their life. Its another matter they still look essentially the same with some gloss and glitter, which any good beauty consultant, draper and cosmetic or dental surgeon (if required) can achieve in most cities.
Don’t get me wrong, I am not some taliban mindset guy with an entrenched fundamentalist outlook, I simply oppose placing clothing designers on a pedestal. I do value their contribution to the economy, after all assistants, drapers, weavers, cutters etc are all gainfully employed by design houses and then taxes are paid on services rendered. They also create employment opportunities for sundry imitators in small towns and cities. They have also contributed to building a link for the traditional weavers, though many are extremely stingy on payments.
But to go breathless and sort of grant them the next to God like status of style icons and place them on an equal footing with artists from the school of fine arts, now that I cannot accept. Firstly, the outlandish garments are seldom sold or even if sold, hardly worn outside charmed & rarified circles. Secondly, the basic dress lines or products are nice, easy of the eye, outlandishly priced to make the wearer feel different and elevated but is it art ?. This is the moot point. There is only so much you can do with the fit and design of clothes, the only advantage of marketing changes in trends is that the cash registers of retailers ring happily and the economy grows. A piece of cloth, say a trouser, can be tight or loose around the waist, it can have narrow or wide flares, the number of pockets may change and their location and so on, but that’s it. I would like to point out the skirt can ride up or low, flare or be tight and then what. Embellishing it, embroidering it, using pearls or silver for buttons, this is all par for the course for anyone seeking to differentiate herself or himself from the common man by buying a fashion designers products . But are we to lionize, fete and fall all over the designers for this.
The media, specially the visual media, has primarily driven this movement to glamourise the upscale tailors (darzis – there I go again), and young breathless anchors are encouraged to go all weak in the knees at every piece of cloth that passes by them. Of course any short dress which conceals less and reveals more can always make most of us go weak in the knees, but I would prefer to think this is not the avowed objective of any designer!. The other essential qualification is the ability to express well in convoluted English, using with ease words such as interwoven, vibrant, bold, traditional yet of the times, futuristic (when you know nobody will wear it), cultural subtext, authenticity, colours of the season, tactile feel, fresh and young hues, inspired by costumes from the Aryans or Moghuls or whatever lineage springs to mind (they know we do not know atleast !) and so on.
My daughter feels strongly that nobody can even dare to question the credentials of fashion designers, that I am out of touch with the real world along with being unaware of fashion trends and changes. Maybe unaware I am but glorifying them with breathless admiration I will not. We sit together, watch the shows, she tolerates my comments but refuses to accept my point of view. As of now it’s a stalemate, neither is willing to give in, a ceasefire prevails for now provided the issue is not brought up in any manner. Well let’s wait and see who wins this round or does it simply fade away over a period of time. I think I will wait 15 years, she would be in her thirties then and would start veering around, maybe if I add ten years more to this wait period, my point of view should prevail!!.
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