Fresh bagels, Starbucks coffee, foot massages ??? Turbanhead mustve had the all-access pass to the North Dakota headquarters. All I see are grey socks and an ant farm. And all I got were a gaddawful hangover and some suspicious bruising.
I am truly honored by the invite to blog. Its my first time, so please be gentle.
Since fashion-lovers responded so warmly to my sartorially-obsessed MIA review, I thought Id start things off with the news that Ashish Soni is presenting a collection at New York Fashion Week next month. The first Indian to be invited to do so.
Soni, like all designers, needs money to buy fabric, stitch up samples and hire those lissome young things to stalk a runway. Our man in Delhi, however, seems a bit more enterprising than most when it comes to getting his show on the road:
At an informal press briefing today, Soni announced that his show in New York would be jointly sponsored by the Ministry of Textiles, the Ministry of Tourism and Air-India. And whats more, all this, as part of the Incredible India campaign. The total sponsorship package would amount to around $200,000, informed the designer.
We havent tapped the huge potential that we hold in the field of textiles, explained Tourism Minister Renuka Chowdhury at the press briefing. So when Ashish approached us with his blueprint which would help showcase Indian textiles abroad, we decided to make him an ambassador for the Incredible India campaign, she said.
Exactly how would this help tourism? Well, the huge international media presence will ensure that the world gets to see a younger, contemporary and more vibrant side to India, she reasoned. [link]
I understand involving the Ministry of Textiles, but this Incredible India campaign seems to distract the Soni from his design duties -
Soni is currently designing a number of products like yoga kits, mats, towels and T-shirts with the logo of Incredible India…The Chatwals, Sant and Vikram, are handling Soni’s after-show party at their Dream Hotel in New York.[link]
On one hand, being invited to show at NYFW is quite an honor. Almost as much as being asked to blog by Sepia Mutiny.
But it looks like Brand India is gonna overshadow his design skills, doesn’t it? And the fact that his afterparty will be in the carefully manicured hands of Vikram Chatwal isn’t doing much to squelch my fear that this will be another Anand Jon, the 2002 Fashion Week of America’s “International New Star,” and a man given to pronouncements like, “”I meditate every night and when I wake up, I check my e-mail.” See his Hilton-sisters lovin’ bio here.
In his bio, Soni states,
“for the Indian designers to make it abroad, it is essential to realise that you cannot sell a salwar kurta abroad. So the challenge is to design something where you do not loose that essential Indian sensibility and yet are able to cater to the Western asthetics”.
Soni has a much lauded career in India, and is apparently the youngest designer to launch his own line there. His past collections aren’t available for viewing online, (if someone has a paid subscription to Bharattextile.com, please send pics!) but this image from the 2004 India Fashion Week looks like his hair and makeup team was inspired by the Coneheads. Here’s hoping that he doesn’t lose that Indian sensibility while feted by Western aesthetes.
