Resort Wear: Is the New Age Indian women ready for it?

With almost every fashion show now focusing on resort wear, a newfound love of the Indian fashion designers, the segment is emerging in a big way in the country. But the question is what percentage of Indians is willing to flaunt a resort wear while on a holiday? Though the New Age Indian woman is

no more confined to traditional wear and has shown a clear shift towards western wear, experts feel that it’s still a small percentage compared to the real potential. But resort fashion is surely making waves as far as fashion shows are concerned.

Resort

wear gaining popularity

Are Indian consumers really ready for resort fashion given the fact that the country is still a newcomer and reserved in terms of western fashion sensibilities? Though they may not wear resort fashion during domestic holidays recent data shows that in 2013, approximately 15 million Indians travelled the world, and have the probability of beating China by 2020 in outbound travel. The most preferred destinations for Indians are beach destinations like Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and UAE. And even in the inbound sector, Goa, Kerala and other beach destinations are very popular.

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. A cruise collection is an inter-season or mid-season of ready-to-wear line, which is worn by tourists on vacations and Indian designers are seeing this as an opportunity to explore but it is still being considered on experimental basis since there is no permanent demand for such collection in the country.

So Indian resort wear lines are mostly a blend of western outfits having a traditional and ethnic wear twist. And according to global standards, these are a set of either badly crafted bikinis or Indian wear gone wrong with pastel or bright colours, lighter fabrics and untried silhouettes. They are mostly fit for the red carpet than travel needs. But with designers ever-ready to experiment with resort fashion designs in comfortable silhouettes and flowing fabrics, which could also be worn to semi-formal events like brunches and cocktails, the resort fashion fever is surely catching up.