Yesterday, hearing me call designer clothes, most of them at least, overhyped and overpriced in a story, a furious Ravi Bajaj, who I have sort of known for years and who is also in my book, supposedly raged: That reporter knows nothing. How dare he call the clothes overpriced. It must be overpriced for him!
The dear designer is right. They are overpriced for me. By far, far. TV journalists earn nothing like most people assume. That apart, here's a quick bullet point on why I think most designer stuff is overhyped and overpriced:
1. Only like about 0.0001 percent of people can afford it, maybe even less
2. In most cases, you are paying more for the brand than the clothes
3. In most cases, you are essentially paying for the advertising that entices you to buy the brand in the first place
4. In most cases, were you to know a good tailor and got some decent material, you could get it made, to better fit, for a tenth of the price
5. Especially in India, the word designer has been devalued to such an extent that every Lajpat Nagar bahu is claiming to be one
6. The really important designers, the really creative ones -- their retail is so tiny (in India, there's hardly any available retail space) and geographically limited that most people anyway don't have access to them
7. So, following 6, what most people land up buying as designer wear is nonsense
8. Most people never undertstand that a custom fitted garment from a good tailor beats a random 'designer' garment any day
9. I will never see the point of paying 6,000 rupees for a white shirt
10. Even the biggest names are no match for true individual style
11. There are, at the end of the day, just clothes. It's a fashion conspiracy to treat them like life-altering experiences
We are at the beginning of a new fashion season. All my old friends will be there. Some of them will show glorious new lines, truly inspirational style, but the retail problem means they will still cater to a tiny fraction of the people who could love their clothes.
There will be many others who will showcases utter rubbish and they should now leave the fashionweek. In fact, this time, I will chart the names of atleast five designers who should quit the fashionweek and just stick to dressing their third cousins.
The Delhi fashionweek begins in barely five days. I will be in my normal clothes - call it poor pret.first published:March 16, 2007, 22:30 ISTlast updated:March 16, 2007, 22:30 IST
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After years of being bashed by my journalist colleagues for hanging out with the rich, the famous, and especially 'those designer types', I have finally entered the world of the masses.
Yesterday, hearing me call designer clothes, most of them at least, overhyped and overpriced in a story, a furious Ravi Bajaj, who I have sort of known for years and who is also in my book, supposedly raged: That reporter knows nothing. How dare he call the clothes overpriced. It must be overpriced for him!
The dear designer is right. They are overpriced for me. By far, far. TV journalists earn nothing like most people assume. That apart, here's a quick bullet point on why I think most designer stuff is overhyped and overpriced:
1. Only like about 0.0001 percent of people can afford it, maybe even less
2. In most cases, you are paying more for the brand than the clothes
3. In most cases, you are essentially paying for the advertising that entices you to buy the brand in the first place
4. In most cases, were you to know a good tailor and got some decent material, you could get it made, to better fit, for a tenth of the price
5. Especially in India, the word designer has been devalued to such an extent that every Lajpat Nagar bahu is claiming to be one
6. The really important designers, the really creative ones -- their retail is so tiny (in India, there's hardly any available retail space) and geographically limited that most people anyway don't have access to them
7. So, following 6, what most people land up buying as designer wear is nonsense
8. Most people never undertstand that a custom fitted garment from a good tailor beats a random 'designer' garment any day
9. I will never see the point of paying 6,000 rupees for a white shirt
10. Even the biggest names are no match for true individual style
11. There are, at the end of the day, just clothes. It's a fashion conspiracy to treat them like life-altering experiences
We are at the beginning of a new fashion season. All my old friends will be there. Some of them will show glorious new lines, truly inspirational style, but the retail problem means they will still cater to a tiny fraction of the people who could love their clothes.
There will be many others who will showcases utter rubbish and they should now leave the fashionweek. In fact, this time, I will chart the names of atleast five designers who should quit the fashionweek and just stick to dressing their third cousins.
The Delhi fashionweek begins in barely five days. I will be in my normal clothes - call it poor pret.
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