Pushing away saree for jeans, worries me

Fashion editor Suzy Menkes tells Shweta Shiware three Fashion Weeks in India are a mess, why she doesn't care if she's banned by brands she critiques, and favours wrapped in gift paper deserve a return note

Only extraordinary Suzy Menkes can assure you, she is nothing more than ordinary. "On this trip, I hopped into a shiny subway train to get to Old Delhi," smiles one of the most dreaded and watched-out-for fashion critics, who was in New Delhi for the International Herald Tribune (IHT) Luxury Conference. Humility comes easy to Ms Menkes. Her words and time, however, come measured.

The Fashion Editor of IHT quietly breezed in seven minutes late for a 12 noon appointment. She allowed herself to be timed for the interview, lest she gets swept away by conversation. She let her British politeness spill into proper sentences strung together with clarity and quality, and then suddenly let it all go when she smiled, "You can hug me anytime you want."

Roberto Cavalli was here

Since its inception in 2001, IHT's annual luxury business conference has turned into an "IT" forum for discussing and exchanging ideas (and calling cards) among members of the fashion and luxury industry. Hosted by Menkes, it attracts the finest names in the business from commercial and creative industries, with an annual international audience of over 450 delegates from over 35 countries.

Chairman & CEO PPR Francois-Henri Pinault, Executive Vice President Hermu00e8s International Christian Blanckaert, Creative Director Balenciaga Nicolas Ghesquiere, Image Director Ermenegildo Zegna Group Anna Zegna, Executive Director De Beers Stephen Lussier and iconic Italian fashion designer Roberto Cavalli were among the international heavyweights who shared their experience with a select audience this year.

Discover slow fashion

"The current financial situation has made us all think about true worth and lasting values. It's time to re-access. It's time to rediscover 'slow' fashion," she says about this year's theme, Sustainable Luxury. "I love India. It's a country whose history and culture has never been broken. Sustainability works on different levels here. The sight of the Taj Mahal, for instance, is intense and stays with you for years to come. It's a universal emotion felt by anyone who has visited the monument. I wasn't cherry picking the title. I could have called it Techno Trend since technology is big here, but sustainable luxury suited India more," she explains.

Must be honest to herself

IHT's nifty publisher Stephan Dunbar-Johnson's admission, "I have been given the redundant task of introducing Suzy Menkes", spelt an audacious tribute to an editor whose two decade-long work with the British newspaper was celebrated with a retrospective titled, Suzy at 20, in Paris last year.

The newspaper's appreciation is fit for someone whose sharp honesty stays untouched by commercial pressures, inspiring the title Samurai Suzy. After Menkes wrote, "Isn't there enough aggression in the world without models snarling at the audience?" in a review of John Galliano's ready-to-wear women's collection for Dior in 2001, she was banned by French luxury giant LVMH (Mou00ebt-Hennessy Louis Vuitton) from all their shows. The ban was lifted within a week, of course.

Suzy was excluded from Versace shows too. "I never made a big issue of it. Designers work on their collections for three months; if they feel hurt with criticism and don't feel like inviting me, I am okay with it." Menkes knows she's fortunate to work with a publication whose editorial policy allows her freedom to write the truth. "I don't write mean things deliberately. In the long run, designers like Karl Lagerfeld have appreciated my honesty. I am happy and pleased to know them. But I am not their friend. You have to be honest to yourself," she says, her deep-set grey eyes staring into the distance.

Gifts aren't allowed

Someone with her might must have piles of designerwear shipped to her by brands falling over themselves to please.u00a0 Not a fan of freebies, Menkes is famously known to return favours-wrapped-in-gift-paper with a note saying, "I was brought up to believe a girl should never accept anything but flowers and chocolates."

"Why must a fashion journalist flaunt clothes from a designer's latest collection?u00a0 Magazine editors the world over are offered clothes, just like Bollywood stars are. I buy my own clothes. I like to mix influences to create a total look. That's more fun, don't you think?" she quizzes, adjusting a rani pink Bandhini stole in silk she picked up from a nondescript stall in Hrishikesh a few years ago.

Don't shun the saree
On India's fashion industry
Build slowly. Brands like Valentino have been around for 45 years, Ellie Saab for 50 years, and Chanel for more than a hundred years. Build on your strength. Why don't Indian designers have more confidence in their colour and craft? Don't follow international trends; take a Western silhouette, and cut and paste it with embroidery and cutwork techniques of your own. The idea of colour doesn't have to be restricted to the Rajasthan palette.
Play on shadow patterns, explore shades of beige. Pushing away the heritage of a saree for a pair of designer jeans, worries me. A kurta worn with leggings is a far more telling global Indian fashion statement.

It's a mess!
On India's three fashion week fracas
The only other country that comes close is Moscow. Life will be easier for buyers and the press, if they can consolidate the event. It's impossible to get from one venue to the other. I did not plan to attend India Fashion Week in Delhi this year. It was a happy coincidence that I was free that Sunday and dropped in.

I don't pre-judge a designer
On deciding which Indian designer's show to attend I don't judge a designer before the show. There have been times when known names have disappointed me, and unfamiliar ones have surprised me. I have seen Ashish N Soni's work in New York; his design sensibility complements Manish Arora well.

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