The democratic side of fashion turns diverse with showstoppers but is the industry happy?

For the longest time, Bollywood dominated the runway of leading fashion weeks when designers used to invite them to showcase their designs as a showstopper but the recently concluded first physical edition of the FDCI x Lakmé Fashion Week after the deadly Coronavirus paved the way for diversity and inclusivity in the most impactful way possible. Though one witnessed stars like  Ananya Panday, Jhanvi Kapoor, Kriti Sanon, and Sanjana Sanghi sashaying down the runway in different designer’s creations, what made the biggest noise was when AAP leader Raghav Chadha, art curator Shalini Passi, singer Manasi Scott, influencer Masoom Minawala and even ace designer Rohit Bal walked the runway as showstoppers for their designer friends. Also, the recent joint fashion week gave fashion a newer space with a few plus-size models on the runway. However, this was not the first time for such an initiative as one saw how designers like Anamika Khanna and Gaurav Gupta showcased their masterpieces with the theme #DefinetoRedfine with at least one pulse size model on their runway in the year 2021. Fashion choreographer Aparna Bahl-Bedi of Preferred Professionals says that she likes the democratic side of fashion and “that’s the way it is always meant to be and should be. Certain Bollywood actors increase brand value and vice versa for the brand for example Sabyasachi Mukherjee does it very well and even Rohit Bal did it very well, for example, Arjun Rampal has been his muse for the longest time so those fits are perfect where they are organically fitting the brand but the problem arises when you push it. If you are getting an actor for the sake of getting an actor because you need to get those numbers then ultimately it is causing disturbance and damage to the brand,”  she told Firstpost. For her, It’s not about Bollywood vs normal celebrities vs normal people, it’s about how you can drive the message across and what you want out of it. “It’s about knowing your brand and what you want out of it. If you have the right fit, you can actually make a bigger impact in long run and become an iconic image that will never go on,” she added by giving an example of how one of the finale shows of designer JJ Valaya with a white theme and Kabir Bedi and Dimple Kapadia as a showstopper is still fresh in people’s mind. Similarly, she recalled how popular designer Rajesh Pratap Singh paid tributes to the rock bands in the city with his `Rock-n-Roll` inspired collection in the year 2010. The designer had members from bands like Parikrama, Half Step Down, 360 Degrees and Medieval Punditz walk the ramp alongside regular models. When it comes to designers, these popular faces help them reach out to new clients. “I think the idea of the show is to reach out to more and more people and if somebody thinks that a politician can help get their client then it’s fair enough because that’s the whole idea of the show.  If I do activewear, I will probably go for sports personalities and people who follow these celebrities will buy my products. If I am doing a khadi line then a politician could be the right client for me. At the end of the day reaching out to the right client is our purpose,” designer Samant Chauhan told Firstpost. Designer Pawan Sachdeva for whom the AAP leader walked the runway, believes that whosoever is doing something for the country is a celebrity. “ Raghav Chadha is a charming youth leader, good looking and he knows about fashion also.  In fashion, people follow celebrities. They just look at these people and they follow the trend so we need someone who has that quality and people just follow them. It’s good for your branding, pr, and selling your product,” he told Firstpost. In International fashion scenes too, Inclusivity is becoming the defining word in the world of fashion, and models of different body sizes and colours are being used to set an example for the public as well as for building the brand’s image. Even for the recent Paris show, Valentino backed diversity with Voluptuous beauties, over-60s, as well as male and female models from diverse racial backgrounds stepping out into the flashes of the camera. Alesia Raut , a former supermodel and now choreographer and a pageant coach, is happy to see different walks of life walking as the showstopper in the Indian fashion scene. “ This is our way of celebrating what they have achieved and giving them that platform through the runway. In fact, I am hoping to see some Army officers-, men and women- also walk the runway – the ones who serve and protect the country.” While some in the fashion industry consider this diversity in showstoppers as a good change, some have concerns too. “Models are meant to give a personality to the clothes in the sense that we make the garment the hero and our personality does not come in the way of a designer’s vision, it enhances it. The showstoppers dilute the idea of the collection being primary and I strongly believe that Bollywood stars should not be the showstoppers in a fashion show. Fashion as a concept has to be devoid of all this drama for page three,” said Supermodel, actor, and producer Amit Ranjan. Even Tinu Verghis, who worked as a fashion model for 15 years and got the status of supermodel before saying goodbye to the world of glamour in the year 2012 to pursue her interest in performing arts, thinks that the new tilt towards non-normative could only hopefully mean that the sponsors have grown up or the usual celebrities were all struck with COVID and they will be back next season. She told Firstpost, “For me, can we please keep models on the ramp and take away the eyeball grabbers, politicians, and other characters off the ramp? Turning a ramp into a spectacle is such an instant-gratification ideal of the past. Fashion used to be cool. Can they please be cool again?” Show director Liza Varma, who was recently at the Los Angeles Fashion Week, too feels that in most international shows, they have a normal model walk. “In India, frankly speaking, they do all this for the media because they love Bollywood. Another thing is Indians follow Bollywood for example if Anushka Sharma is wearing a Sabyasachi Mukherjee, they like to wear the same so that’s why they (designers) feel it’s a good idea to put one of those brand ambassadors as a showstopper so when the public watches the show, they feel very nice. In my opinion that’s not required because this is not really fashion, she said. Nivedita Sharma’s work experience includes covering fashion weeks in Milan, Pakistan, Vancouver, Hong Kong, Dubai, and award functions like IIFA, and TOIFA.  Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News ,  India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.