Polite, pleasant and professional are three words that come to mind with the name Sunil Sethi, though India's fashion insiders give him credit for being much more. As President of the Fashion and Design Council of India, he has been credited with being the force that has brought discipline, unity and much more structure to India's burgeoning fashion industry. He took off - last year - from where former President Rathi Vinay Jha had left and brought with him twenty years of experience in the business of luxury fashion and lifestyle. Mr Sethi founded Alliance Merchandising Company, a sourcing and buying agency in 1988 and over the years went on to represent some of the world's most famous stores like Anthropologie, Crate & Barrel and Armani Casa for their product development and buying out of India. It was with this experience and several awards acknowledging his efforts that he stepped into heading the FDCI with. And be it the designers or the media, India's fashion connoisseurs have welcomed his involvement as one of the best steps to ascertain the growth of fashion as a business in India. Instep caught up with the very busy man during India Couture Week for his insight into the possibilities of India and Pakistan collaborations at India Fashion Week…
Instep: What in your opinion is the biggest significance of holding a fashion week?
Sunil Sethi: Each fashion week has its own relevance. Couture Week was about individual clientele and a lot about which celebrity will be present at which show. The buyers are interested in fashion and the media is interested in the celebrity quotient. There were only one of two shows a day. Wills India Lifestyle Fashion Week (Delhi) is completely different; there are eight shows a day and it is a business to business event. It is about the creativity of designers and the presence of buyers. We had almost 200 buyers this time and 110 designers. At the end of the day, this is where designers are looking for the next six months of business.
Instep: Has the buyers' interest increased over the years?
SS: It may not be increasing for every individual designer but overall it certainly has. You have to understand that first there used to be 200 buyers for 30 designers and now the same number of buyers for 110 designers. So the pieces of pie going around have become smaller. But this year we have tried to tap interest into the Japanese market and have around nine Japanese buyers.
Instep: Manish Arora has been a great representative of Indian fashion in Japan..
SS: Yes he has. He has just returned from Paris for fashion week. Manish has proven himself to the world and we have spoken about how; I would now have to ask the media to also concentrate on the 109 other designers who are doing great work but are not covered as much.
Instep: Do you think that the many fashion weeks occurring in India have taken away the significance of one?
SS: We have many fashion weeks and each of them has an individual flavour but we have one very strong council that unites everyone and that is what is important.
Instep: Do you see a possibility in Pakistani designers showing at India Fashion Week as some of them are already stocking and doing good business in India?
SS: It is possible, of course. We have good ties with Pakistan. But I do think this has to work both ways. If Pakistani designers are allowed to showcase at India Fashion Week then we would also want Pakistani buyers to come, order and take Indian fashion back to Pakistan.
Instep: Several labels like Ritu Kumar, Tarun Tahiliani and Rohit Bal are already available in Karachi and Pakistani buyers have been frequenting India to keep the business rolling…
SS: If they have been coming then it is not in official capacity. I would like to extend a formal invitation to Pakistani buyers to register now and come for the next edition of WIFW in March 2010. Visas should not be a problem if negotiations get rolling immediately and we'd be more than welcome to have a reciprocal arrangement with Pakistan |
