You don't need a fancy fashion show invite. You need a broadband connection. The average style-conscious Internet surfer will be privy to the hottest style trends just as fast as socialites are. We are not too far away from the online-only fashion show format, finds Shweta Shiware
You don't need a fancy fashion show invite. You need a broadband connection. The average style-conscious Internet surfer will be privy to the hottest style trends just as fast as socialites are. We are not too far away from the online-only fashion show format, finds Shweta Shiware
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| Actress Deepika Padukone walks the ramp for designers Shantanu & Nikhil at Lakme Fashion Week 2010. |
Suddenly, the bored-to-death corporate receptionist attained the status of front row guest by simply logging on to the Viktor & Rolf website to watch their Spring 2009 collection. Fashion's fiefdom had fallen.u00a0u00a0u00a0
Filmed in the Grand Salon of the designer duo's virtual home, French windows lining the Ariel-white ramp on one end, rows of empty chairs fencing another, the video takes you to a setting no less theatrical than a Broadway show. 'Viktor & Rolf Presents Spring/Summer 2009 starring the wonderful Shalom Harlow' read the credits. Drama unfolds through duplicity, as Shalom, the supermodel walks in wearing creation-after-creation, the quick march sometimes lapsing into an unhurried swagger; slow motion, fade in and quick cuts making it far more enigmatic than a one-dimensional fashion show. Close-ups of the scarlet native American Indian-inspired eye make-up, quirky wedge heels and concentric pleats in the snail-inspired showstopper dress allow for a view far clearer than from front row at a live show.u00a0
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| Viktor Horsting (left) and Rolf Snoeren, the pioneers of the online-only show format, at their Autumn/Winter 2010-2011 ready-to-wear show. Pic/AFP photo |
The Oh-my-God moment? A final curtain call with a dozen clones of Shalom lining the ramp, blowing air kisses, clapping, applauding, while Viktor & Rolf appear above her like master puppeteers.
The Laugh-out-loud moment? Shalom throwing a quick, sexy glance at the empty chairs on front row, as if paying an imaginary tribute to Vogue's Anna Wintour and International Herald Tribune's Suzy Menkes, both permanent front-row fixtures. "It is a take on what a fashion show might be in the future," the designers said about their presentation aptly titled, Funny Face.
Real fashion shows redundant
This atypical showcase spurred speculations from New York Times blogger Cathy Horyn who said "real, live fashion shows might be obsolete in the age of Internet". Isn't a high fashion runway show exalted thanks to limited access? Doesn't the meant-for-a-select-few define its identity? "The objective of a fashion show is to generate business, to sell clothes. If people other than insiders see what's on the runway, and create a demand for it, sales will follow, and buyers will have to react and satisfy their customers. The runway is not a museum or an art auction house, where there is only 'one' of each design to sell," says Fern Mallis, senior VP, IMG Fashion. The force behind organising the US fashion industry's first fashion week, Mallis believes the fashion industry, like any other, will have to embrace technology -- the good and the bad.
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| The Abraham & Thakore show at Wills Lifestyle Fashion Week held in Delhi last month. Pic/Subhash Barolia |
Everyone is equal
What this means for the average Internet user and the style conscious for whom by-invite-only star-studded shows were out of bounds, is all-access freedom. Maithili Yadav, 26, executive with an engineering design firm is fed up of newspaper and magazines taking a call on heru00a0 personal choice. "Writers and stylists take their jobs too seriously. They celebrate designers they like. I want to see the clothes, the entire range, and be in a position to decide whether I think the collection works or not. How does it matter which Bollywood star dazzled at what show?" asks Pune-based Yadav. Don't let her satellite city address delude you. A passionate net crawler, she spends hours surfing fashion sites and blogs every day, and harbours a dream of owning a Hever Leger bandage dress some day. "I'd be the first to log on if Indian designers opt for the online format."
Seniors give it thumbs up
The online-only format has its perks: slimmer budgets and the absence of who-to-seat-on-front-row anxiety.
That would make it a thrilling proposal for the younger, strapped-for-cash talented lot. Ironically, India's sparkling trio -- Arjun Saluja, Anand Kabra and Kallol Datta -- are caught in the custody of old-school values.
"For me, a fashion show is 'mobile visual art'. Just like I wouldn't watch an art show on the Internet, so also with a fashion show," shrugs Saluja. It's the absence of emotion in the virtual world that deters him. "Emotions are stunted in an online, 3D show," insists Kolkata-based Datta, whileu00a0 Kabra is adamant to delight your senses through a live show experience.
But industry veterans David Abraham (of Abraham & Thakore label) and Mumbai-based James Ferreira see it as the democratisation of fashion. "In principle, I'm not against the idea. But our broadband speed leaves a lot to be desired," laughs Abraham over the telephone from Delhi. For Ferreira and others like him who don't show at fashion weeks, the online format works. "Look at the quality of people who attend fashion weeks, anyway," he scoffs.
What it takes to pull off an online show
An official website is a prerequisite. "Internet isn't one of the strongest virtues of Indian designers. How many of us have a fully functional website?" asks Datta. And then you have master-cutter Saluja unapologetic about declaring, "I hate the Internet!"
Fortunately, serious players like David Abraham have an active website, an ethereally hip one at that. "Fashion shows will always be inclusive, meant for a chosen few. Streaming shows online opens us to a whole new audience. The hierarchy is crumbling quickly," believes Abraham.
Here's the pathetic paradox -- most Indian designers lack the infrastructure to support orders that a typical fashion week brings in, let alone the demand that going on the net can spur. "Before we become professional, we need to learn to deliver," says a candid Ferreira.
Will glamour goddesses weep?
Bollywood stars, we reckon, will be disappointed at the thought of such a prospect. We get a first taste of displeasure with style-crazy actress Neha Dhupia, who admits to enjoying the experience of sitting on front row and wearing the showstopper garment on ramp, every now and then. "Fashion shows are nothing but a medium of entertainment; sheer glamorous visual pleasure. Imagine watching it on your laptop in your bedroom!" she says.
Designer to A-list stars John Abraham, Bipasha Basu and Katrina Kaif, Rocky S analyses the trend in peculiar free-spirited verse: We are Indians. Sure, we can have an online show. But we can still put up seats that will be reserved for celebs. A Bollywood star can even walk the ramp in the showstopper outfit, while it's all being filmed. What's stopping us?" he asks, straightfaced. If Bollywood helps you reach the classes and masses, why would you opt for an online show, is what he's baffled by.
We'll have to agree with Rocky. There's something charming about dolled-up models, tempestuous designers and air-kissing editors teetering on high heels. "Nothing can replace watching a live show; watching a beautiful model walk down in a gorgeous ensemble, wearing great hair and make-up, navigating the ramp to the cue of perfect music. The energy in the room at some shows is irreplaceable. It cannot be replicated sitting at a desk, watching a feed," feels Mallis.
Lady Gaga crashed McQueen's computerised theatrics
In October 2009, late British designer Alexander McQueen live-streamed his Plato's Atlantis show on Nick Knight's SHOWstudio.com to millions of fashion followers across the globe. A hologram catwalk at the Palais Omnisport in Paris involved a complex web of computerised theatrics never seen before in fashion: six video cameras plus two robot installations that operated on motion-control technology, each equipped with a tentacle-like camera that swayed around a model's every move.
When international pop star Lady Gaga tweeted before the Paris Fashion Week show that McQueen had decided to premiere her new single in, her massive fan following surged onto the feed, causing SHOWstudio to crash.
The video of McQueen's show received 63,000 hits on youtube. Watch it below:
Do India's top and promising design names have a website?
>>Rajesh Pratap Singh YES
>>Tarun Tahiliani YES
>>Narendra Kumar NO
>>Sabyasachi Mukherjee YES
>>Rimzim Dadu NOu00a0
>>Gaurav Gupta YES
>>Ashish N Soni NO
>>Anamika Khanna YES
The forecast
Will digi fashion steal a few jobs?
When you have slick software replacing an army of behind-the-scenes production crews that carry the mountain of logistics on their shoulders, the question that demands a discussion is whether the tribe of make-up and hair artists, models, show directors and sound engineers, all of whom survive on live shows, will bear the brunt. Backstage bosses Sushma Puri, Alison Kanuga and Clint Fernandes are unfazed.
"I don't think models will go out of work, simply because our agency's meatiest chunk of business comes from commercials. Countries like Paris, Milan and New York are affected more since models get commercial projects after making a splash on runway shows. This doesn't happen in India where models can always bank on Bollywood," says Sushma Puri, CEO Elite Model Management India. After Katrina Kaif and Deepika Padukone's success in the Hindi film industry, Elite has seen a huge demand for fresh faces. "Most newcomers join us with the intention of moving to Bollywood, anyway," Puri says.
Make-up artist Clint Fernandes, who is a key cog in the Lakme Fashion Week make-up and hair wheel, says he does runway shows for creative satisfaction only. "It's a myth that hair and make-up artists make money at fashion weeks. The money is in advertising projects and editorial shoots. My hairdresser Madhuri makes far more money styling Bipasha Basu's hair than she does through runway shows," he shares.
Show director Alison Kanuga hopes the online concept will whip frivolity out of fashion. "The focus will automatically shift to serious business and trade rather than entertainment engineered by surrogate advertisers.
As a creative director, I am open to any change," says the woman behind Luna Piena, organisers of Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week, Lakme Fashion Week, Chivas and IPLu00a0 fashion shows.
Live streaming is 'the new black'
While Viktor & Rolf are leap years ahead of the rest of the pack, live-streaming that's being called 'fashion's new black' (as with all next big trends) has already seduced topnotch brands Dolce & Gabbana, Burberry, Alexander McQueen, Calvin Klein, Emporio Armani, Michael Kors and Prada. They've all showcased their collections at conventional venues while simultaneously streaming them online. "If you are sitting outside during lunch and you want to watch fashion ufffd it's very democratic," Stefano Gabbana of Dolce & Gabbana told a website.
Apart from official designer websites, eager mediums like iPhone and Facebook are often employed to transform by-invite-only fashion shows into an open-to-all global web experience. "I doubt online shows will replace live shows, but yes, they can co-exist since the Internet is the tool of the future. An active online presence is imperative for all designers; it helps them reach fashion lovers from Nagpur to Nagaland. They might not necessarily end up buying what designers show but they become patrons of the brand," explains Bandana Tewari, Fashion/Features Director with Vogue India.
"No matter what a designer is putting up on the Internet, he has to create a show to generate content.
Otherwise, it's akin to plastering a look book on a site, with no shelf life. Designers who opt for the 'presentation-only' format instead of a traditional runway show lose out on media coverage that a live show garners," Mallis points out.
The hand book
How to be a know-all on the digital fashion era
Austrian-born design genius Helmut Lang skipped one runway show. In 1998, he videotaped his collection in-house, and posted it on his website, leaving some non-tech savvy editors in a state of shock. A decade later, Italian design house Gucci streamed their La Dolce Vita cruise collection in Rome via a webcast show.
In May 2009, French luxury brand Louis Vuitton launched an official Twitter account and,u00a0in less than 24 hours,
gathered more than 5,000 followers. The number of members to date: 86,000.
Italian brand Dolce & Gabbana's YouTube Channel project titled, The Pre-Show Diaries, generated 16 million
contacts in October 2009. The live stream, a first for the popular label, was a mixed bag of backstage footage and the Spring/Summer 2010 catwalk collection.
In cyberspace, models are referred as supernovas.
IMG Fashion is a pioneer in broadcasting fashion shows.
Coquette, fashion and digital style website lists the Mercedes Benz NY Fashion Week live-stream schedule.
London Fashion Week's Digital Diary is an initiative started in February this year, and carries a detailed timetable of live streamed shows.
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