Design and dresses despite the downturn

The organiser of Delhi Fashion Week has designs on the UAE's fashion industry, with plans for a future event in Abu Dhabi, according to its founder Sumeet Nair. Speaking at 12, a midseason exhibition of the work of 12 regular exhibitors at the Indian fashion week held in Dubai's Bastakiya area last week, Nair said that he had enjoyed some interesting discussions with people involved in Abu Dhabi's nascent fashion industry during the event, though he would not be drawn into revealing details.

"I've had two conversations," he said. "One was talking to the group that's looking at doing [the fashion trade show] Fashion Arabia. I want to do something in Abu Dhabi that is substantial, a regional thing, not just Indian designers, that has to promote the region, and try and create the region as a hub for fashion." If 12 was anything to go by, any future venture would be a roaring success. Villa number 69 in Bastakiya was turned into a miniature fashion trade show for two days, as some of the best designers from Delhi Fashion Week tore into town to persuade the buyers of the Middle East that India is where it's at in fashion. Far from presenting a homogenous "Indian" style - something that is by no means new in the Emirates - the designs ranged from the exquisitely romantic pieces by the long-established Bollywood favourite Tarun Tahiliani to the almost conceptual western-style garments of the up-and-coming Gaurav Gupta, who trained at the star-factory that is Central Saint Martins College in London.

Nair explained that the purpose of bringing this very concise edit of designers to the region was to get beyond the usual perception of eastern clothes and explore new markets, as well as to create reciprocal relationships with the designers of the Middle East. "[Trade has] until now been focused on the stores that carry Indian clothes or more Middle Eastern clothes, not on stores like Harvey Nichols Riyadh, or Saks Fifth Avenue or Boutique 1 or S*uce. And those are the kind of stores we've aimed at, bringing in the younger designers who are doing extremely international clothing and showing in Paris and in Milan."

Gupta was showing his highly rated designs in Dubai for the first time. "Because it's the first show there's been a lot of response," he said. "With buyers coming in from Saudi, Kuwait, Dubai, from small boutiques and big department stores, showing a lot of interest and promising to come to Delhi Fashion Week to have a look at the follow-up collections. And there are some changes to the products, tweaking here and there for the markets. We've written a few orders and Harvey Nichols has shown a lot of interest to see our collections for autumn/winter."

But with the world's department stores cutting stock levels and staff in response to reduced consumer spending, this could be seen as a foolhardy time to launch a whole new trade show. Nair argues not: "This decision was made after the crash, and I think it will definitely help. I'm of the school of thought that times of downturn are times of opportunity. That's when, rather than reduce your marketing budget, you need to increase it. I think you really need to sell yourself harder during this time."

Certainly, the buyers were not holding back: Zayan Ghandour signed up new designers for her boutique chain S*uce. "I was in New Delhi a couple of seasons ago and I was impressed. I really saw potential in some of the collections, so this was very interesting. We wrote several orders with at least six designers, including Vineet Bahl, Preeti Chandra and Alecca Carrano, and they were really flexible and ready to adjust styles to suit our customers' taste."

It's a brave move, and it seems to be paying off - perhaps helped by fashion in the UAE being somewhat cushioned from the recession - at least in comparison to the markets of Europe and the US. "For me it's about promoting fashion, full stop," concludes Nair. "While we're talking to individual companies in Abu Dhabi and I would be very keen to talk to the people who give the sanction for doing a fashion week. We come with a lot of experience, so why not utilise that experience?" Could this be the beginning of a beautiful friendship?