Beachwear: Demand creates new opportunities for designers

The first edition of India Beach Fashion Week (IBFW) 2015, a three-day long fashion extravaganza organized by UVAR Global ended in Goa recently. The best part of the event was designers presenting their innovative yet wearable collections dedicated to resort, swim, beach and cruise wear. A day was also dedicated to destination bridal wear.

Beachwear, a newfound love of Indian fashion designers, is emerging in a big way. While the percentage of Indians willing to flaunt smart beachwear and resort wear while on their holidays is still less compared to the west, resort fashion is surely making waves as far as fashion shows are concerned.

Designers launch innovative beach fashion

Indian couturiers like Anjalee and Arjun Kapoor, Anupamaa Dayal, Babita Malkani, Komal Sood, James Ferreira, Nachiket Barve, Pria Kataaria Puri, Raakesh Agarvwal, Rimple and Harpreet Narula, displayed their latest designs during the show. And the grand finale designers Shane and Falguni Peacock presented ‘Runaway Bride’, collection dedicated to destination wear. Models sashayed in sleek gowns, embellished crop tops with printed skirts, lehengas, delicately embroidered jackets and dresses in pastel shades of pink, greys, blue, white and aqua green.

The fashion event also provided an opportunity to students of Rachana Sansad School of Fashion Design and Technology to showcase their talent, through a joint initiative with Talent House, an online platform where artists from the world of film, fashion, art, photography and music collaborate. For the first time, the pop-up shops put up during the event allowed visitors to browse through the collections on offer and buy the designer wear and accessories.

Asmita Marwa’s collection ‘Bela Alma’ meaning beautiful soul in Portuguese had a touch of Bohemia blended with ‘Susegad’ (derived from sossegado in Portuguese) state of Goa. The range was dominated by golden pants, silver tops with checkered pyjamas, yellow capes, shining shorts, striped drawstring pyjamas, bikinis, crop and ruffled tops for women. For men, the line featured printed pants and see- through shirts. Shriya Saran, showstopper for the designer flaunted a one-shoulder scarlet toga with a thigh-high slit paired with a dazzling gold belt.

Nautanky by Nilesh Parashar had a retro feel to it because of the polka dots and funky prints inspired by fragrance bottles. His slim, fitted yet fluid silhouettes had a nice combination of pastel and bright shades. The range also featured very high-slit maxis amid otherwise simple silhouettes. Nachiket Barve’s range was focused more on resort wear and was influenced by African tribes and culture having colours like red, copper and bronze inspired by the Kalahari and Namib Desert. The collection had bikinis and capes, breezy pants, tops with intricate detailing, sheer skirts, capes and evening wear dresses having dragonfly and shell motifs highlighted in the designs.

Pria Kataaria Puri’s designs meant for the modern woman, had jackets, kaftans, maxis, cut-out wraps, skirts, high waist pants, cropped tops, and beachwear with big bold Persian prints in sunshine yellow, cherry red, mandarin orange, soothing turquoise off-whites and black.

Consumers respond to bold beachwear

Though the consumers may not wear beachwear or resort fashion during domestic holidays, recent data shows that in 2013, approximately 15 million Indians travelled around the world, and have the probability of beating China by 2020 in outbound travel. The most preferred destinations for Indians are beaches of Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and UAE. And even among inbound tourists, Goa, Kerala and other beach destinations are most popular. No wonder many designers are diverting their attention to the segment.

However, some experts argue that while today’s generation has become modern enough to flaunt bikinis, mod dresses or sexy gowns, the nation is still bound by the age-old culture and traditions holding it back from taking on the world of resort wear and cruise collections. While Indian designers are seeing this as an opportunity to explore, it is still being considered on experimental basis since there is no permanent demand for such collection in the country.

But with designers ever-ready to experiment with fashion, offering designs in comfortable silhouettes and flowing fabrics, which could also be worn to semi-formal events like brunches and cocktails, the beach and resort fashion fever is surely catching up.