Designers looking beyond fashion to scale up

Ever wondered, why top fashion designers are missing at prominent fashion weeks? It seems other areas have taken up their interest of late. For, instead of focusing on haute couture and apparel design, they are following other passions

creating like creating stylish homes, hotels, launching lifestyle stores, designing bags, shoes, watches, jewellery, furniture and even cars.

New horizons beckon

Having created a niche with their designer wear and apparels, top Indian designers are taking a sabbatical from designing only clothes. Take acclaimed couturier JJ Valaya for example. He opened doors to India’s largest designer interior, furniture and accessories lifestyle store in Delhi last month, called ‘The Home of the Traveler’. It is the culmination of his two decades journey in luxury fashion industry. He has taken inspiration from his couture labels for the interiors line.

After exhibiting his curated collection ‘SIAM: The Monk and the Monarch’ of rare handpicked artefacts meant, the idea of launching a lifestyle luxury store was born. The store spread over five floors is divided into six themes — India, Glamour, Vintage, Art Deco, Organic and World. The products range from carpets to curios and everything in between.

Top fashion designer Tarun Tahiliani, who has been creating couture masterpieces blending Indian craftsmanship and textile heritage with European tailored silhouettes since the early 90s is now dabbling in jewellery, watches and interior design. His interior designs are much like his garments, a blend of modern form with classic structure. TT for Timex is a latest offering by the designer consisting of a collection of jewelled watches. A jewellery line called Tarun Tahiliani for Asva was also launched recently in collaboration with the World Gold Council.

Veteran designer and this year’s Padma awardee, Ritu Kumar has now ventured into designing a line of bags and shoes that depicts ancient textile skills merged with modern day designs. Kumar’s bags debuted two months ago as a part of her A/W-2013 collection.

Designer Suneet Varma’s signature clutches are popular among Bollywood beauties and celebs abroad. He designs exclusively for Judith Leiber, the global luxury brand for bejewelled handbags. Next on his agenda are the interiors for BMW 7 Series to be launched later this year. Associated with BMW Motors since 2007, he hosts all BMW events and projects and has also come up with a new concept of ‘Fashion Appreciation’ evenings for which is currently on a 15-city tour. Varma has also been collaborating with Swarovski on developing clothing and interior projects. He has also used his creative energies to style advertising campaigns for clients that include Airtel, Raymonds, The Oberoi group of Hotels and various high-end jewellery brands.

The itch to venture out

While Indian designers maybe getting their share of global recognition with international celebs flaunting their designs, within India, designer clothing industry is yet to scale up. Barring a few known names such as Satya Paul, Anita Dongre, Ritu Kumar etc, who have tasted success with their labels, most designers are still at a nascent stage when it comes to taking the retail plunge.

This could a reason why many of them are diversifying into other segments. As per a 2012 Assocham report, designer wear industry in India is likely to cross Rs 11,000 crores by 2020, riding a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of about 40 per cent. The growth triggers are: higher disposable incomes, emergence of mall culture, changing sense of style, dressing and growing fashion consciousness among urban Indians. Perhaps this explains why designers are experimenting with several categories now.