Indian high fashion in high-wire act

India Dispatch: Designer goods are becoming more popularin the country as the nation¿s middle and upper classes grow, but fashion houses wanting to tap the market and expand often have to look for outside help.

Spectators watch models display creations by designer Khushali Kumar during Lakme Fashion Week in Mumbai on Friday. AP Photo

Would you buy a couture Pepsi can, fashionable mineral water with a luxe logo or perhaps a packet of designer mints?

Or would you choose to visit an ATM adorned with exclusive patterns, or take out a credit card that featured a designer line as a special offer?

Indian fashion designers certainly hope so, as the country's fashion industry's "new black" seems to be designer tie-ups - a marriage of everyday consumer items and high-end fashion.

At Asia's largest fashion event - Mumbai Lakmé Fashion Week - the future of India's upmarket fashion business was much discussed in between endless air-kissing, skinny lattes and low-fat bhajis.

And if pundits are to be believed, India's top designers are increasingly looking to expand their reach into the mass market with a little help from household brand names - most notably H&M and Lanvin.

"It's a winning formula for everyone. High-street brands get fashion credibility from high-end designers, consumers get to wear their favourite design at just the fraction of the price, and designers themselves get wide-reaching exposure of their work rather than just be worn by an exclusive club," says Anjana Sharma, the director of fashion at IMG Reliance, one of the main sponsors of Mumbai Lakmé Fashion Week.

The truth is Indian couture has always been for the in-crowd, and it is unlikely to become mainstream in the near future.

Most Indians would not even recognise high-end fashion brands, but from a business perspective, creating brand visibility with consumer tie-ups is a clever way of exposing designers to the country's increasingly wealthy middle and upper classes.

"The collaborations make designer [goods] accessible to the larger audience," says Alpana Parida, the president of the brand consultancy DY Works. "Most people may not have seen the designer's creations before, but when they recognise their pattern, for instance, it will instantly become more familiar and may help the consumer to decide to splurge on the real thing."

The tie-ups may not yield a huge direct profit to the fashion houses as most are likely to get only small royalty payments from their designs, but the visibility aspect is crucial for the designers in the growing luxury market. The market is today worth US$5.8 billion (Dh21.3bn) in India, according to AT Kearney. The value is expected to grow to $14.7bn by 2015, the management consultancy says.

But there is a downside to the tie-ups - the seemingly unstoppable business of designer fakes.

"There may be less appetite than in Europe for the high-end brand tie-ups because there is so many knock-offs freely available in the country," Ms Parida says. "This is the key reason Indian consumers may not see the value in spending on a designer/high street tie-up product."

One designer exhibiting at the fashion week who has witnessed a profitable overseas collaboration first-hand is Krishna Mehta. She launched a line with the Swedish high street fashion chain Indiska two years ago.

"The deal was very lucrative for both of us. The garments sold well and the store was pleased with my designs," Ms Mehta says.

She says the chain was able to use her know-how as a designer and her deep knowledge of the Indian textile industry. Indiska, in turn, provided the infrastructure to sell the garments.

"Collaborations can only be good for designers in the business sense," Ms Mehta says. "They do not dilute the brand but are in fact the only way today for Indian designers to get exposure overseas."

But the domestic market is also valuable for fashion retailers, since it offers attractive opportunities for designers willing to branch out of their core client base of socialites and, very often, Bollywood stars.

Indian fashion consumers, usually female - although there is an increase in male fashion awareness - are typically 20 to 45 years old. According to the Technopak research house, about 20 million consumers can afford the premium brands in India, but at the same time they lack knowledge of the latest trends and brands.

"With an increasing range of premium and bridge brands [those whose goods cost less than $1,000] available in India now, brand consciousness is increasing," says Saloni Nangia a senior vice president at Technopak. "Brand loyalty has not developed as yet. These people can afford top-range fashion but are not oriented to high-end brands."

The industry needs constantly to innovate and seek new talent to keep the consumers loyal to brands as well as seek faster ways of bringing products to market.

With high fashion still a niche market in India, any Indian fashion house would be foolish not to jump at the opportunity of collaboration with either local or international brand. One thing is key though - the fashion darlings need to update their view of the customer.

"The Indian designer crowd needs to get real in terms delivering their products on time," Ms Sharma says. "They need to do a reality check in terms of pricing and really think: who wear their clothes? Who are we designing these pieces for? If they want to stay as a small, exclusive designer with just few garments, then fine. But collaborations are really the only way forward for global success."

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