THE DHANDA IS NOT MANDA!

Another season of WIFW ended a week ago. And while I could talk about some great design and emerging trends, the focus of this piece remains the business generated at this trade event.

Now before I start, here are two disclaimers. First, the designer fraternity is not forthcoming about numbers. They don’t have to be, they are all private businesses. Second, the percentages mentioned are approximate only, since these were shared on the last day of WIFW and even though they have a fair idea, lots of math needs to be done before designers arrive at exact figures.

If you’ve been following my blog (thanks!) you already know that a large number of designers are happy to report a rise in orders from domestic players. In general too, business has increased and in some cases been status-quo. No decline for anyone (at least no one shared it!) and that’s always heartening to hear.

Gaurav Gupta reports a rise of 30% in business this season. For Rajesh Pratap Singh, the growth has been 20% and for Abraham & Thakore 25%. Meanwhile designer Varun Bahl says he’s seen a 100% jump in business from last season! Ahem, Ahem!

What’s common to most designers is that their domestic buyers have placed more orders than before.

For instance, for Gaurav Gupta domestic players on an average have increased their order size by about 40%. For A & T that figure stands at 25%. And there’s a reason.

Domestic retailers themselves are in expansion mode. And as they go on inaugurating stores in even non-metros, the consumption of designer wear is growing. Hence, the number of orders.

Designer Kavita Bhartia says that although more domestic stores are placing orders, the order size remains small. The high churn in the business still comes from exports for her. Anupama Dayal also is more dependent of foreign orders for the balance sheet to smile back at her.

Another point to note is that the domestic buyer is definitely coming to the rescue of developing talent. I spoke to two Indian buyers who have 2 stores each in Delhi and Bangalore respectively.

They both explained how they prefer working with younger talent since being small players, the stores get more bargaining power and plus the younger guys are more ‘eager to please’, ‘stick to deadlines’, ‘are willing to adapt’, ‘give the buyers respect’ etc etc… It’s a win-win situation. In the early stages of the business designers don’t really have the infrastructure to deliver huge volumes which are required by foreign buyers. So smaller orders from smaller Indian buyers are just what the doctor ordered.

While the rise of the Indian buyer is one part of the story this WIFW, the other is the money power of the Middle East. There wasn’t one designer I spoke to who didn’t mention Middle East as an important/active market. So that’s where we’ve arrived as a sourcing hub and plan to be planted until China gets into Indian embroidery (which I hope is never!)!! The other significant mentions came for Japan, Singapore and Hong Kong. (More power to Asia I say!)

To wrap up, for the past 3 years India has been the shooting star of Asia. Whether it’s the world’s best luxury brands or high street players, everyone is making a bee line to cater to the Indian customer. While some have always known it, many Indian designers are now realising that India is where the focus needs to be. And it’s not just about focussing on the Indian buyer, it’s also about looking at the best that traditional India has to offer and adapt THAT for the modern Indian.