Bollywood celebs don’t detract from creations: Fashion designers

MUMBAI - Most fashion weeks in India see a heavy dose of Bollywood celebrities either as showstoppers or as guests. Does their presence take the focus away from the designs? No, the fashion fraternity firmly says.

The recently concluded Lakme Fashion Week (LFW), like many other fashion events in the country, saw an inflow of B-town celebs. However, designer Nachiket Barve, whose show saw megastar Amitabh Bachchan and his wife Jaya in the first row, feels it ultimately boils down to the collections.

“I feel it doesn’t matter if celebrities are part of your show in any way or not. The clothes have to be good and no one can save you if they are bad. If they are bad, the focus will definitely shift from the collection, but if your work is good, nothing else will matter more,” Barve told IANS.

“Also, I feel it’s a personal call to make celebrities your showstoppers. Ultimately your work should be able to speak volumes, celebrity or no celebrity,” he added.

In the international circuit, Hollywood celebrities are hardly seen thronging fashion shows. There, supermodels are the stars at the fashion events, but in India both go hand-in-hand.

Although celebrities have been walking the ramp for a long time now, the trend has aggressively caught up in the last couple of years.

For designer Troy Costa, who had roped in singer Shaan and his wife Radhika to walk the ramp for his LFW show, clothes are always the main priority and the effect doesn’t get diluted if a celebrity flaunts it.

“The focus doesn’t shift from clothes at all if you have a showstopper for the show. If the celebrity you have roped in for your show is walking for other designers too then the effect might get diluted, but if the person is loyal to you, then it adds to your collection.

“Shaan has been sporting my clothes for seven years. He comes for all my shows; so obviously he was the right choice for me to flaunt my creations,” said Costa.

Even a model echoed a similar stance and told IANS on condition of anonymity: “People come for shows to see the collection, to see the cuts, the designs.

“If the show has celebrities, it’s a bonus and more entertainment for them but the focus still stays on the garments. People still talk about the fact as to whether the garment is good or bad. So it really doesn’t matter.”

Some designers have a different view on this. They feel that if one believes in one’s designs, he or she wouldn’t need a celebrity to enhance it.

“Speaking as a designer, I would never use anyone as a showstopper because you need to believe in your designs. You don’t need anyone else who belongs to the fancy world to bring that much of glamour. I think design should speak for itself,” said Sailex.

The fashion industry organises many fashion shows round the year with LFW, HDIL India Couture Week, Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week, Kolkata Fashion Week and Bangalore Fashion Week being the more popular ones.