As Deepak Perwani stated himself at the School of Tomorrow conference organized by the Beaconhouse School System, he’s never really needed an introduction.
To be a fashion journalist these days
is easy. You start writing for a paper, have your
byline published in print and are given front row
access to fashion weeks, a coveted spot that not
many sitting there have earned. It’s easy for anyone
to break into the circle, just buy a new fashion
publication and you’re guaranteed a spot. It’s not a
meritorious system any longer.
The newly appointed Chairperson of Fashion Pakistan Council gives his take on critics, fashion weeks and the future of the industry in Pakistan.
As Deepak Perwani stated himself at the School of Tomorrow conference organized by the Beaconhouse School System, he’s never really needed an introduction. A veteran of the fashion industry, Perwani has been designing for over two decades and has seen the evolution of the industry from a platform that was considered frivolous to a respected business. The Karachi based designer was participating in a session titled Future of Fashion and treated the audience to his infamously acerbic wit and uncensored thoughts.
We caught up with the couturier post his talk for his unadulterated opinion on the current fashion scene in the country.
At the session, Perwani spoke about role of social media and technology in shaping the current fashion scene, particularly in relation to Pakistan. Perwani’s contention was that greater accessibility has led to a decline in creativity when it comes to design. He stated that it has become easier, if not unavoidable, with the profusion of social media, for designers or their team to be “inspired” by whatever is happening on a global scale and then reproduce work that falls in line with international trends.
While we agree that it has become easier to lay your hands on the latest designs as soon as they’re out on the runway, hence leading to more “inspired” rather than original collections, we do also feel that the same platform has led to more accountability as well. Major design-houses have been called out by bloggers and traditional media for replicating designs and it even led to an acclaimed high street label issuing an apology last year for having plagiarized prints.
Another critique that Perwani put forth had to do with fashion journalists and their role within the industry. “To be a fashion journalist these days is easy. You start writing for a paper, have your byline published in print and are given front row access to fashion weeks, a coveted spot that not many sitting there have earned. It’s easy for anyone to break into the circle, just buy a new fashion publication and you’re guaranteed a spot. It’s not a meritorious system any longer.
If you look at fashion journalists internationally they report on fashion weeks and the collections presented, not critique them. To be able to critique a collection means knowing the technicalities of design and also the fashion landscape like the back of your hand,” he states.
Perwani is also rather disparaging towards bloggers, who he feels tend to promote paid content as opposed to presenting an unbiased review of the fraternity. “Look, we all know that if you advertise with a blog you’re bound to get good promotional pieces from them. The whole system has become so monetized now that you even have to pay for an Instagram post or a Snapchat story and the charges vary depending on how much virality you want for your post.
Obviously with such a system in place you can’t expect honest reviews. It’s become very easy to identify which blogger or journalist belongs to which designer clique because you’ll never read them give the designer a bad review, even if they’ve copied outfits stitch by stitch. This is where the media needs to step in and play their role,” claims the designer.
Talking about plagiarisation, Perwani was quick to point out a Karachi based couturier who recently showed at fashion week (and received wide spread acclaim for her work) for how “inspired” her collection was by India’s most imitated designer, Sabyasachi. He said that the media was so quick to critique various aspects of FPW but were strangely mum when it came to this issue. When asked why the council, which he heads, did not edit the plagiarized pieces or call out the designer before her collection took to the floor, he explained that since she was a senior couturier it was council policy to not vet her collection before it took to the ramp.
“We never assess collections by established designers. I mean how can we ask Bunto Kazmi or Maheen Khan to send their clothes in for approval before fashion week? It would be insulting to someone of their caliber to send in their collection for vetting. Similarly, the designer in question here has her craft down pat. The collection was beautifully finished and technically faultless but the designs and even colour combinations were replicated,” Perwani divulges.
While we mostly agree with Perwani’s astute critique of the fashion circuit we would like to add that there is a general culture, promoted by designers, where those pandering to big names will find greater access to the sought-after inner circle while a journalist willing to put their name and reputation on the line with genuine critique will be written off as vitriolic or paid for by competition. In order for a healthy fraternity to thrive there has to be a dialogue between both sides, those who showcase and the ones who view the presentations.
