'Karmik' designer wear made affordable

Unveiling a new prêt brand of affordable luxury garments, 12 top designers took to the ramp on Monday.
When Sonakshi Sinha sashayed down the Lakmé Fashion Week Summer/Resort 2012 runway sporting a pretty churidaar kurta, she drove home the point that designer wear can be affordable and accessible. And leading the charge was the house of Kimaya, which brought together 12 leading designers — including Rohit Bal, Anamika Khanna, JJ Valaya, Rocky S, Falguni & Shane Peacock, Ranna Gill, Shantanu & Nikhil, Rina Dhaka, Neeta Lulla and Kavita Bhartia — to design exclusive collections for its new prêt store Karmik, showcased on the ramp on Monday.
Surprisingly, all the garments are priced at an average of ` 6,000 and have a designer stamp of approval. Says Pradeep Hirani of Kimaya, “The concept behind Karmik is to provide aspirational designer wear at affordable prices, making them accessible across the country. It capitalises on the gaping void that exists in the women’s ethnic wear segment in India.” Aptly putting the initiative in a few lines, JJ Valaya explains, “With Karmik, a person who is a notch lower will step up, a person who is a notch higher will be very comfortable buying several pieces instead of one. So you are going to attract two different segments of the market and put them on a similar sort of a platform.”