This story is from October 15, 2007

Shock value on show!

Raul Dias / TNN / Oct 15, 2007, 12:00 IST

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Haute couture is getting gimmicky and visually overwhelming

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RAMP-AGE: Arjun Khanna’s quirky show (TOI Photo)The common sentiment one hears echoed these days, is that fashion shows are increasingly getting gimmicky and visually overwhelming and exhausting, taking away the most important premise of the whole deal which is to showcase the designer’s vision that is translated into his/her clothes.
“Am I at a fashion show or a kitschy Moulin Rouge wannabe natak?” was a question a few invitees were overheard commenting at a recent fashion show that attempted to blend in a soulful thumri recital with, get this — a show with models sporting Victorian outfits, bonnets, kid gloves, ruffled collars et al.
The common sentiment one hears echoed these days, is that fashion shows are increasingly getting gimmicky and visually overwhelming and exhausting, taking away the most important premise of the whole deal which is to showcase the designer’s vision that is translated into his/her clothes.
Now, all this may be all very well at an haute couture show that warrants such ‘visual aids’, but at a trade event like a fashion week?

Although the clothes might have been a treat for all the senses, rich and well-structured in their high-end tailored look, the Arjun Khanna men’s wear show on Day 2 at the Lakme Fashion Week (LFW) Spring Summer 2008 was quite a spectacle.
The collection titled ‘People of the Golden Triangle’ had ample amounts of distractions in the form of ‘chopsuey hungry’ kitchen boys who proceeded to squat along the edges of the ramp with their (empty) bowls and chopsticks mimicking a noodle eating session.

But, this was just the start to the whole show hoopla.
No sooner had the models begun to strut their stuff on the ramp, out popped a deranged ‘photographer’ with wild hair and a wilder expression obstructing the models at any given opportunity.
One didn’t know where to look as this show had surprises galore. “You know something, I myself was overwhelmed by the show!” laughs Arjun, who says that the kind of clothes he was showcasing demanded the spectacle that his show turned out to be. “I intentionally wanted it to be breathtaking and hard to digest. Shock value always works and the standing ovation that I got from the audience proved it. There was a story my show was trying to tell.
A story of celebration that the People of the Golden Triangle tell as a way of expressing their elation. And my show was reason enough!”
But other designers think differently. “I agree that sometimes one does need to have a few visual treats that will hopefully complement the clothes and also be entertaining, but not at a fashion week where doing business is our main concern,” opines designer Arshiya Fakih Eappen, who prefers to keep her shows short and simple for fashion weeks.
Giving us another take on this issue is designer Gayatri Khanna, who feels that newer and upcoming designers should keep their shows as simple as possible and let their clothes speak for themselves while it is fine for established designers to get creative with their shows. “I would like to keep my shows minimal and basic as I feel that as a new designer, my clothes should stand out and get highlighted not the other peripheral aspects. But I’m not saying that five years down the line I won’t do something extravagant,” says Gayatri.

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