Indian designers on fast fashion

When you do six shows a year, there's not enough time for creative enterprise, an industry expert had once said. The Indian fashion industry is undergoing the same concern as the growing demand has boosted fast fashion resulting, as many designers say, in mindless consumerism and environmental hazards. The fashion industry was estimated to be worth over Rs 720 crore ($110,000) in 2015.

It is said to be growing rapidly, with two major fashion weeks happening bi-annually, and several other city-specific, smaller but significant extravaganzas, giving a chance to hundreds of designers catering to couture, pret, kids wear, resort wear, mens wear, lingerie and the accessories sector. With the arrival of international brands like H&M, Forever 21 and Zara in India, a new generation of shoppers is on the rise. And to cater to that, industrial involvement leading to pollution is becoming rampant.

In every market, anything that sells in the economy, is either for a service or for consumption. From a needle to an airplane, everything we make, we use natural resources and it's the same in fashion. It's unavoidable, but it's about balancing the approach. Fast fashion, with their fast production, not only hurts our resources but also employs less people, as these processes are usually highly mechanised.

By adopting slower processes of creation, such as hand weaving and hand embroidery, it slows down the process of creating clothes and, in turn, empowers talented artisans who are in need of jobs. It also provides work and employment to the economy. -Rahul Mishra

I feel the time is ripe when people in India should start taking individual pieces and styling the same thing differently for different occasions as opposed to buying a new thing every time for every occasion. - Aparna Chandra, Head Designer -Clothing of Nicobar

"In places where the need to replenish is required, the change of fashion is a boon. But where it is triggered out of a need to feed the multinational interests only, it is a bane.

There is always the question of scale to consider in these circumstances. In India, traditionally, seasonal changes brought about a need for newer clothes as the old ones became worn out, soiled or faded. This is especially true for stitched garments.

In some cultures, like ours, the Odhni sari would not wear out. Hence, it stood the test of time, but there was always a need to revive the choli, salwar or kurta.

The fast fashion, mindless consumerism, was initiated in those cultures to ensure that wardrobes had to be replenished and hence the need to make people feel that their clothes were obsolete." - Ritu Kumar

By Nivedita