This story is from April 19, 2014

‘The very concept of fashion week is a rip-off’

Excerpts from an interview with Fashion Design Council of India president Sunil Sethi in the aftermath of the Gurgaon Fashion Week debacle.
‘The very concept of fashion week is a rip-off’
Excerpts from an interview with Fashion Design Council of India president Sunil Sethi in the aftermath of the Gurgaon Fashion Week debacle.
The Gurgaon Fashion Week, which was supposed to host a number of new designers including a top name like Ritu Kumar, fell flat on its face. Were you aware of the event?
Sethi: Yes. In fact, I was invited to attend it, but I politely turned it down.

What do you think about the quality of arrangements that the organizers made to host the event? It was of a certain scale.
Sethi: Firstly, the whole concept of organizing a ‘fashion week’ is a rip-off.
There are profit-making fashion events all over the country now, with people coming in to make quick money. The ‘week’ concept in India is a Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI) effort, such as what we have been doing at the Indian Fashion Week and after. It is easy to try and copy our model but one needs to understand that we are a non-profit body with which all the reputable fashion designers of India are attached.

It has been our effort to give a platform to Indian fashion designers. This is what we have done for years to bring the industry where it is today. Exercises like the Gurgaon Fashion Week only bring down our years of effort by several notches.
Nevertheless, there is a need for young talent to showcase their work and be gainfully occupied in fashion designing. Don’t you agree?
Sethi: There is a need, and there should be platforms for young talent to showcase their material, but it needs to be the correct platform.
How can one host an entertainment event along with a fashion week?
And if fashion is at the heart of the event, why does it need to be named a ‘Gurgaon’ fashion week? Can fashion be restricted to a city like Gurgaon?
At least one big name, Ritu Kumar, and several newcomers were roped in for the event. What is your take on their participation?
Sethi: My only advice to the designers is that they should do their homework. Look into the profile of the organizers, check their credibility and then commit yourselves. That’s because one must remember that when they lend their names to such events, their reputation also gets tied to the organizers.
Such baseless events could only result in designers being treated in a non-serious manner in the times to come.
Designers should do their homework. Look into the profile of the organizers, check their credibility and then commit yourselves. That’s because one must remember that when they lend their names to such events, their reputation also gets tied to the organizers.
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