Documenting India’s contemporary fashion history
Page 1 of 2 By Shweta Thakur New Delhi, Feb 27 (IANS) What are the clothes and styles that Indian youngsters embrace at different points of time? An institute here is documenting it all to give the country a sense of its contemporary fashion history. We don t have a history as yet. Our design industry is not very old and more so we don t find any fashion historians in our country, said Nien Siao, head of department, Fashion Design, at the Pearl Academy of Fashion.
To fill this gap, we have started photo documentation of youngsters, mainly students. This will help us access the fashion trends of the current generation, she told IANS. After collecting the photo records, the institute would carry out a survey to find out what kind of fashion trends were prominent during which period among the country s youth, Siao said. It is premature to talk about what kind of fashion trends would come up because this is just the first phase of the project.
It is less than a year since we started the initiative, she added. Sumeet Nair, executive director of the Fashion Design Council Of India (FDCI), said: We need a historical chronicle. I am sure the initiative would help the industry enormously. FDCI is the apex body of the Indian fashion industry and organises the Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week (WIFW) twice a year. History gives us a perspective of the past.
The present effort of the institute will help us understand and learn more about the evolution pattern and growth trajectory of our country s fashion industry, Nair added. Siao said she was upbeat that the findings of the study would prove extremely beneficial for the designer industry. The study will take into account diverse subjects ranging from customer needs to contemporary fashion. The record would benefit designers in understanding customer needs better.