Decoding the codes of fashion

Ashima S. Batish

Trends that incubate on the ramp at times fail to flourish off it. Season forecasts that lay the foundation of the year’s fashion, crumble at reaching the market. Yet each year, in routine, fashion magazines, journals or online portals dish out lists of what’s in, what’s out, colours that you must wear, or shun, silhouettes to go for or avoid.

On the other hand, creators of fashion detest defining trends. A constant refrain is, “Fashion is more than how trends are spelt for the season. Unfortunately, these are taken a tad too seriously.” In this peculiar situation, where fashion forecasters establish trends, fashion portals swear by them and fashion designers shrug off any question pertaining to season’s trends, how seriously one should take forecasts? Or should one simply slip into what suits one?

Rahul Mishra dreads the quintessential question — what’s in for the season. JJ Valaya refuses to comment, Nikhil Shantanu’s reluctance becomes apparent while Varun Bahl prefers to give it a pass. Samant Chauhan, a fashion designer, who doesn’t follow any rules for seasonal hues, says that it is a misconception that designers follow trends, the fact is trends are deduced from what designers showcase on the runways. “Fashion designers always strive to experiment with designs, to surprise the clients and audience. They aren’t the trendsetters, they are the trendmakers.” The former profile, he says, fits Bollywood better; the fraternity members have a larger influence on the dressing sense of the masses.

If you examine Samant’s collections, it’s only texture, fabric and silhouettes that separate the winter ensembles from the summer.”

The fashion rulebook finds its maximum followers in the corporate sector. If formal wear is the dress code, it strictly means a three-piece suit. Even in the sweltering heat, you can’t swap it with a Fab India kurta and linen trousers. Vito Dell’erba, creative director (lifestyle business) Raymond Limited, rues the trend the world over, especially in countries with hotter climate. “Following trends or dressing-up rules shouldn’t seem like a punishment.” He seconds Samant’s take that Bollywood sets the trend with each project that rings in money. “And even if a trend is not comfortable, it finds its endorsers in many, who claim to know-it-all-about fashion.” With these facts in mind, he designed flexi jackets for men in the corporate sector, who can’t afford to break away.

Longevity of trends also depends on the appended economics. Clothes that cost less either enter and exit the cycle of fashion faster than clothes that come with a heavier price tag — often also termed as classic pieces — or the affordable fashion becomes a staple in every wardrobe. A Sabyasachi saree will be evergreen, so will a JJ Valaya lehenga (His anecdote of a lehenga becoming an heirloom piece, which a mother brought to him for fitting for her daughter’s wedding is quite popular), or a Diane von Furstenberg’s wrap dress. On the other hand, the ubiquitous and affordable denim is a staple in every wardrobe, and, of late, a cropped top has found world-wide acceptance.

If you open the pages of history, fashion rhetoric has much more to it than trends ascertained from ramp shows. The socio-economic-political order of a state was a determining factor. Payal Singhal, another fashion designer, explains, “Before the World War I, costumes for women were very elaborate. But during the war, these became minimalistic, as was the demand of the time. Men went to the war, leaving behind women to go out of their houses to fend for their family. Now that couldn’t have been possible in voluminous gowns with trails.”

Similar other factors at different times dictated trends, and fashion forecasters and designers followed these cues. For example, global warming leads to a shorter winter season, which further leads to creations by designers that work well throughout the year. Development in fashion technology gave birth to neoprene, a wrinkle-free fuss-free fabric.

“Most of the times, what we make is a twisted, stylish version of street fashion,” says Anupama Dayal, a fashion designer, who doesn’t mind claiming, “Respectful attitude towards trends.” Even Ridhi Mehra says that it is important to strike a balance between trends and what people want. She maintains that trends are the culmination of street fashion, socio-economic parameters of a country and practical silhouettes that both men and women can easily take to. These shouldn’t be just what’s in and out!