fashion forward_ vivacity 7

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40 vivacity magazine • october 2011 www.vivacitymagazines.com

arun Khannaorward!ashionF “It’s a new era in fashion - there are

no rules. It’s all about the individual and personal style, wearing high-end, low-end, classic labels, and up-and-

coming designers all together.”— Alexander McQueen, British fashion designer

“Fashion fades, only

style remains” — Coco Chanel, French

fashion designer

Fashion runs out of fashion and that perhaps makes it go forward. Change keeps it one-up. Lesser the rules the better it swings - statement to understatement, strength to fragility, provocative to subdued, and above all - individual. A la carte of choices in search of acceptance.

The speed, at which a product is made available, is the prerogative of a high tech market, and style makers want to be the first to flaunt it, riding the wave as it reaches its peak. Because a decline is sure to follow setting into an indefinite dormancy; the trend dies out or comes out of oblivion – a recurrence reinvented.

Determining a style’s acceptance is one of the keys to fashion. The larger the acceptance, the larger the market. It is like forecasting the mood, behavior, age and consumer habit in relation with a particular season & cause. It is cultural, geographic and is laid across media’s interconnectivity.

“Fashion - A popular or the latest style of clothing, hair, decoration, or

behavior”— Oxford Dictionary

Model: Sahana bajracharyaPhotographer: rajiv ShresthaMake up & Hair: SophieStylist: Subani b. magarCreative Director: arun KhannaWardrobe & Accessories: RD Chahat, Durbar Marg, 4225844

“Think differently, you should not

always follow the prescribed system. That’s the biggest

challenge for Nepali youths and society… utilizes technology

like facebook, twitter …to the

fullest.—Prabal Gurung, International

fashion designer from Nepal


The international fashion scene has seen dreams & styles in all shades and sizes from the times of Coco Chanel and Dior liberating women’s closet, opening it to fashion conscious femininity and grace, Ralph Loren’s affordable casuals, Armani with the streamlined tailoring, his designer skills reaching beyond clothing to furniture & console panels of the Mercedes Benz, Marc Jacobs’ minimalist aesthetic, and Gucci creating luxury accessories from handbags to sunglasses.

Design and fashion is created and catered to the “style tribes”; a term originally coined in the lexicon of fashion to describe the looks associated with socio-cultural sub groups such as goths, mods, punks, and rappers. An extension of this analogy addresses sub groups on the socio-economic market, epitomized by different fashion labels… Emporio Armani - a youth inspired line that markets to young adults, Armani Exchange - created in 1991, inexpensive and very popular with the masses, or Armani Collezioni - aimed at young high fliers and professionals.

Every culture has its sub-groups as targets, determined by the acceptance of the fashion.

FaShioning FaShionAt a glance, fashion began to pick up in the fifties with the shift in post-war, socio-economic movements, a core group of working-class youth got intimately concerned with issues of personal style. They were known as “mods” – the “modern”. Yves Saint Laurent entered the fashion scene with the “Beat Look, for Dior, in the sixties. Inspired by the beatniks, YSL drew on the rebellious youth styles, the biker’s leather jacket…

The rise of the hippies starting from America and moving wherever freedom was not questioned brought a wave of “anti-fashion sentiment” particularly among the young. The idea of consumers going for new buying sprees was abhorred, especially if “the old ones are not worn out”. As much as it was an economic criticism of consumer culture, it also perhaps implied fashion as a perpetual trap. Ironically this attitude gave rise to a new genre of fashion - The romantic pastoral look, strumming a guitar, cool and oblivious. Women adopted long skirts, while men went for fringed suede shirts. There was an inclination to adapt ethnic touches, from the places travel led to.

Nepal got its share of the hippie legacy in the 70s and Kathmandu got its first “style tribe”, far removed from the elitist style statements of the high end aristocracy.

Asia began to appear on the global fashion scene in the early 90s, with pop stars as Madonna, Janet

Jackson & Michael Jackson bringing Asian elements into their music videos; and Lady Diana wearing salwaar kameez, heralding Asian ethnic chic. That was also the time when the Dalai Lama became a celebrated iconic figure heralded at star-studded benefit gatherings. Throughout that decade, stylistic inspirations and cultural practices from Asia were so prevalent that they became mainstream. As one American fashion columnist described the trend, “Now everybody and his mom are ‘into’ acupuncture, organic vegetables and yoga”.

The dilemma of the time for Asians was - what clothes to make, sell, buy and wear. Wearing western dresses would bring them to a standard fare, but perhaps at a loss of ethnicity and individuality. Continuing with the Asian ones offered neutrality but made for an unmarked member of a modern international community. Somewhere in the middle of these two choices lay a number of options for combining, reinterpreting, and adapting clothing to make more particular statements about the wearer’s identity and position, with each possibility carrying both costs and benefits.

more iS Sure to come aS aSian modernity getS

expounded baSed on itS economic proSperity;

and thiS iS where nepal needS to Find itSelF, on

the open democratic croSS cultural

platForm oF FaShion exchange.

43november 2011 • vivacity magazine www.vivacitymagazines.com

More is sure to come as Asian modernity gets expounded based on its economic prosperity; And this is where Nepal needs to find itself, on the open democratic cross cultural platform of fashion exchange. When a poster shows hands folded as a welcome on a travel itinerary card or an airhostess at the door of a domestic aircraft - a fashion statement is underway, and holds potential for going global.

In a colloquial acceptance of its expression, fashion in a country like Nepal, or for that matter in many others, may not yet be ‘high fashion’, rather a newness in clothing & cosmetics that causes attention and acceptance dictated by a recurring dose of media-imaged celebrity cult, and glamour induced fashion model images on glossy magazine covers; a desirability which seems to have walked right out of the signal of a direct-to- home fashion broadcast.

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on her dress she wears a body. woman’s body is as bumpy as my skull glorious if you are made flesh with Spirit. couturiers have a foolish profession as foolish as phrenology my eyes are kilos weighing the sensuality of women. all things that swell advance in depth the stars hollow out the sky. colours disrobe by contrast. ‘on her dress she wears a body.’

when the waters swirl down the back over sea-green shoulder blades and the double conch of the breasts passes beneath the bridge of the rainbow…

44 vivacity magazine • october 2011 www.vivacitymagazines.com

Along with the budding professionalism, lurks a naivety and newness, exemplified by the aspiring models in Kathmandu. Most are yet to carry a portfolio (or the decision) of a dozen photos stuck for scrutinizing clients, few may tout a collection of high school and holiday photos taken from a point and shoot camera, and a select few, already on an established circuit, hardly carry tear sheets from published pages. But what is admirably obvious is the verve, the passion to get on and about with the dazzle of fashion.

For Sijan Bhattachan, a fashion model who started a decade ago, to reach the next level means, “Confidence and support. Models here get compared with the international ones. People must first learn to appreciate the ones here. There are quite a many capable models but they are not motivated to reach the next level as they often have to go through the organizers’ hassles”.

Says model Astha Pokhrel, “Fashion models are paid poorly in Nepal in general, apart from a few exceptions, because of no quality control... unemployment lags in media development and on top of that a judgmental society… Nepali models are generally not tall and may not have a persona that can sell in the global market, let’s accept it, but they are really pretty and if given proper grooming and the willingness to learn, they can go far”.

And yet the numbers interested are more than large, and free fashion photo websites on models rather than for models compensate for portfolios. The approach goes by the returns. Most of the aspirers first just want to see themselves on fashion pages; Young guns blazing & shooting style in sight. The ‘like’ on Facebook clocking mileage, sending signals of popularity in tens of thousands.

Front rowS & buSineSS Fashion is on a runway, “Avoid doing the unnecessary fashion shows” says budding model, Asmee Shrestha. “It really lowers the standard of the fashion industry since these things are happening all over K-town now… I fell in love with the designs of Nhuzat Qazi , and of Fashion Parade in TGIF … and then there were the designs from Oodhni Boutique …”.

IEC the proprietor of the TGIF Nepal Fashion Week, the country’s most prominent annual fashion platform, and this year in partnership with The Himalayan Times featured the work of 78 designers including creations by a leading Bangladeshi designer Emdad Hoque, and a collection from SAARC Business Association of Home Based Workers (SABAH).

Dinam Lamichhane of TGIF, The Himalayan Times, had this to say on their belief and commitment to the budding fashion scene “This year we gave out tickets to the event completely by invitation, out of concern that the quality of the event could be watched. It is an event that focuses around the event itself, which is, showcasing the fashion market of

‘…eyes are kilos weighing the sensuality of women’, they are more than kilos now, by the explosion of media images that frame the trend, and global fashion’s ubiquitous symbol, its entrepreneurial face appears in the model, the supermodel. In his book The Ugly Business of Beautiful Women, Michael Gross claimed the term “supermodel” was first used by Dessner a scouting agent doing the rounds in 1943, refuted by others, who claim, a writer for Chicago Tribune, Judith Cass, used the term headlining a 1942 article “Super Models are Signed for Fashion Show”.

So what is fashion forward in Nepal as far as ‘a popular or the latest style of clothing, hair, decoration, or behavior’ is concerned? Definitely trends & aspirations, a flamboyance and publicity that is not given to any other public favorite on the urban ‘good life’ list within the country.

Top notch fashion choreographer Prashant Tamrakar sees a promising future for Nepal’s fashion industry, beyond its flamboyance, “I would surely like the fashion industry to get the name that it deserves, which currently it still lacks to a fair amount, although I see the field now growing with professional models, designers, make-up artists and hair stylists and of course event managers and organizers too. Our professionals are becoming smart and are learning and growing by the day so I am sure we will only get better… I feel proud to be associated with this industry and will surely work towards its betterment in the future days to come”.

‘…eyes are kilos weighing the sensuality of women’, they are more than kilos now, by the explosion

of media images that frame the trend, and global fashion’s ubiquitous symbol, its entrepreneurial face

appears in the model, the supermodel.

model model on the walK, who iS the FaireSt oF them all?A fashion system consists of acceptable codes and conventions, demarks clothing behavior, prescribes acceptable and proscribes unacceptable modes of clothing the body, and constantly revises the rules of the fashion game. From this point of view ‘fashioning the body’ is a feature of all cultures, though the modes and techniques differ.

High fashion’s affair with clothing was being expressed almost a century ago. The poet Blaise Cendars in his poem The Simultaneous Dress, written in 1914, had this to say for artist and designer Sonia Delaunay

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through a brief research in Kathmandu,

talking to young people, most college

girls talked to on fashion perceptions

might not have said much, but enough

made a regular use of an eye-liner

and many applied an eye shadow at

some point of the day. while most of

the younger working professionals

made use of three to four cosmetic

items - lip color, eye-lining, mascara

and eye shadows. when seen at a

regional level, an average youngster in

Kathmandu is more fashion savvy about

beauty cosmetics as compared to most

in even regular indian cities. this might

have to do with a more comfortable

level of gender liberality in urban nepal

and recent cultural shifts.

wearing makeup increases people’s

perceptions of a woman’s likability, her

competence and (provided she does

not overdo it) her trustworthiness

according to recent studies done by

boston university. it was paid for by

procter & gamble, which sells cover girl

and dolce & gabbana makeup.

professor hamermesh, the author of

the book “beauty pays” which talks

about the benefits that come the

way of the beautiful, said he wished

that good-looking people were not

treated differently, but felt reality

was otherwise. “like any other thing

that society rewards, people will take

advantage of it,” he said of makeup’s

benefits. “i’m an economist, so i say,

why not? but i wish society didn’t

reward this. i think we’d be a fairer

world if beauties were not rewarded,

but it is.”

despite the social debate of

acceptability, the distinction between

the western and non-western use

of cosmetics has generally excluded

consideration as simply different kinds

of body techniques. generally speaking,

body decorations in non-western

cultures are interpreted in terms of

group identification, while western

cosmetics are explained in terms of

the assertion of individuality, and

Kathmandu is getting to know it.

maKe up, perception and liKability

This is what fashion designer Rajesh Dhakuwa of RD Chaahat had to say “ I design clothes targeted at the local fashion oriented crowd since the past 14-15 years, and am glad to see the fashion market evolving in Nepal. The price levels for the order-made designer dresses are significantly high. And then there are ready made dresses which are quite reasonable and have a reachable target. Recently, I had been to Tokyo to showcase the Nepali designs and the defect that I found out which Nepali fabrics faces is - not enough skilled manpower, political instability, hindrance

a label or sticker of the dress, worn by the runway model which a smart-phone with the right application can read on a click of a shot. Once the URL is read by the cell phone, it will give information about the business, prices, the clothing and photos on the item of interest.

But being fashion forward needs its timing correct. Says Prabal Gurung, as reported on the website Entrepreneurs for Nepal, “My sweaters and knitted wear are done in Nepal. I have tried to do fabrication in Nepal but the efficiency here is very poor. Time is a major factor in fashion business; I have had unpleasant experiences when the order was not delivered on time and I had to cancel the collection in all the stores”

“got to get in-depth”Media has given a boost to fashion consciousness like never before in Nepal. Comments Prashant Tamrakar “The hard work of the entire industry is being showcased to the public through the media. I would highly suggest developing fashion journalism in Nepal, with trainings, awareness, and interest,

in the exports, and then common problems like load shedding, lack of manpower …having said that, not only at the South Asian level, Nepali designs and creations have the potential to reach a further international market with just about a little polishing here and there”.

Despite production hassles international designers like British Laura Queening’s brand “Aura Que” has been creating a range of stylish and contemporary accessories for the past three years right here in Nepal.

Kgarira, an event management company which this September brought the Kathmandu Fashion Parade to town and included Queening’s collection along with local designers Kushboo Dangol, Swarnim Rai and Bangladeshi Nuzhat Qazi, are one of the first to add QR codes - short for Quick Response codes – a code on

to contribute one hundred percent to this industry. It is critical to create this area and maintain it since we will need it in the coming days to take Nepal to a higher level and not let that milestone be diminished, but written about”.

Authentic research is the key to appreciating or being a critic and carrying it back to the creators and the market. An international repartee that caught much attention recently, hits the point - the unconventional fashion icon, Lady Gaga , who got this stinging comment from New York fashion writer Cathy Horyn “ an ugly duckling with great spook appeal” responded with “It’s so easy to say something is bad…It’s so easy to write, ‘One star, hated it, worst show of the season.’ It’s much more challenging to reckon with and analyze a work. It requires research, but maybe no one does their research anymore… Got to get in-depth”

i design clothes targeted at the local fashion oriented crowd since the past 14-15 years, and am glad to see the fashion market evolving in nepal.

Nepal. It is centered on promoting Nepal as an international destination for fashion shows.

Shows have come a long way since the early nineties, when Kathmandu saw the opening of its first modeling agency in 1994, Jayan Subba recalls, “There weren’t any finishing schools, there was a lack of proper training, and mainstream beauty pageants like Miss Nepal had not yet started. Modeling wasn’t viewed positively by audience either… RAMP got established as an institute in 1994”

In the past ten years IEC has organised over 73 shows, which include associations with big names as LUX and Sunsilk. Says Shailaja Adhikari of IEC, “Fashion shows in Nepal are extremely helpful for designers as they can directly showcase their creativity to their target market…Till now Nepali designers have not participated in India due to the cost factor. But I feel, might be our established designers will participate soon in the India Fashion Week”.

IEC claims, IECian’s design sixty percent of dresses for Nepali Films, MNC, Banks, Airlines, Hotels and Casinos of Nepal. “We have garment houses exporting clothing items to every part of the world including India and China, most of which are designed in Nepal. Job prospects for designers are unlimited. They can pursue their careers as costume designers, fashion consultants, fashion designers, fashion illustrators, fashion merchandisers, fashion photography coordinators, fashion show coordinators...”

Nepal’s fashion market is still nascent though it is making an international presence felt , continues Prahsant Tamrakar “ The recent win of Ms. Princess World is a great milestone at an international level, I take great pride in mentioning the names of Prabal Gurung, Sanyukta Shrestha, our local designers who are now making a name in the international arena”.

The contemporary urge for fashion is insatiable, and yet the practical realities of the business are little known but to those who work within it.

PRAbAl GuRuNG, the Singapore born nepali and new york based designer, with an interest in luxury and designer wear has indeed put nepal on the international fashion map, having attired leading ladies which include michelle obama, demi moore, and zoe Saldana; comments “i want to be known as an international designer from nepal not as a nepali designer. it’s a very small market”. globally it is perhaps far off when a nepali haute couture would be referred to in a ‘couturish’ sense, in the fashion capitals, along with the price tags attached - 50,000 to a 100.000 dollars for top designer names! but to begin with recent and upcoming fashion shows such as tgiF nepal Fashion week & Kathmandu Fashion parade are giving entry levels to local, regional and a few international designers a place in the sales order- as French fashion would describe it - prêt-à- porter or ready to wear designer labels , priced lower than the couture dresses but still costly enough.

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fashion forward_ vivacity 7

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