For global India designer, home is where the money
is
Sabyasachi Mukherjee, one of India's best-known fashion designers at home and abroad, has a few words of advice for others seeking to make their name internationally: forget global, stay local.
Mukherjee, who has shown collections at several fashion events in Europe and the United States, dresses top Bollywood actors and the elite of Indian society.
He is due to display his latest fall/winter collection
on Friday, the opening day of one of Mumbai's biggest fashion event, the
Lakme Fashion Week, which features 73 designers
and over a hundred buyers.
Fashion experts and buyers peg Mukherjee as one of the few Indian designers who can make it big abroad, but he told Reuters he's happier sticking to expanding his business at home.
Q: How
important is the international market for you?
A: "With
the way the world economy is going right now,
this is not the time for Indian designers to step out. It is more the time to
step it up within their country. International brands are going to swoop down on
slightly secure economies and because they are suffering to a large extent in
the West.
Somewhere down the line there will be a lot of internal thinking and people will
realize they are better off at home. India is
internalizing, and I think people are going to start upholding the
Indian tradition very strongly. That's why my
plan for the next few years is to concentrate and extend my business within this
country."
Q: If that
is the case what kind of importance would you give any international business
that came your way?
A: "For
me, international business is not about getting a good store. If you are serious
about it, you need to have serious commitment as well. Right now, rather than
doing a little bit of India and a little bit of international, I'd rather do a
whole lot in India. Start very strong in this country and build a brand that
becomes so irresistible to Westerners that they come and take a bite out of it."
