Nitin Bal Chauhan

Nitin Bal Chauhan

DoB: 30.3.79.

Design degree: NIFT (Delhi) in 2002.

Debut collection: Autumn-winter 2004.

5 things you should know about Nitin

He is an “eccentric” painter.

He is also a filmmaker and is currently writing two scripts.

He loves to shoot music videos.

He is from the hills and “that is where it all began”.

He is a schoolboy at heart.

Kallol Datta

Kallol Datta

DoB: 23.12. 83.

Design degrees: Fashion design from NIFT (Calcutta) in 2004. Womenswear degree from Central Saint Martins (London) in 2006.

Debut collection: Spring-summer 2008.

5 things you should know about Kallol

He has a stalker in the city.

He can’t do without his Japanese fan, because “irrespective of the temperature, it is still hot!”

He suffers from mood swings and is on his way to becoming a “bipolar human being”.

However intimidating (read “bitchy”) he might look, he is quite an approachable, friendly guy.

He cuts all his patterns himself and ends up stitching them too, most of the time.

Anuj Sharma

Anuj Sharma

DoB: 20.11.74.

Design degrees: Completed a PG from NID (Ahmedabad) in 2000. Masters in high performance sportswear from UK in 2003.

Debut collection: Autumn-winter 2007.

5 things you should know about Anuj

He is a professor. Catch him teaching at NID, NIFT, Pearl…

He is a national level badminton champ from university.

He made his spring-summer 2009 collection in less than a week.

He doesn’t use patterns, drawings, pictures, photographs or scissors. Every garment is draped.

He never alters his silhouette for anyone, any market.

Nachiket Barve

Nachiket Barve

DoB: 7.1. 81.

Design degrees: Graduated from NID (Ahmedabad) in 2006. Did a semester in ENSAD, Paris.

Debut collection: Autumn-winter 2007.

5 things you should know about Nachiket

His internship at Celine with Michael Kors influenced him greatly. It is in Europe that he realised how Indian he really is.

He believes in slow and steady growth. “Each collection is an evolution, not revolution.”

Nature inspires him most, right from his childhood.

If not a fashion designer, Nachiket would be a wildlife photographer.

When stressed, he cleans cupboards, deletes text messages and junk emails. De-cluttering clears his mind.

Are you happy with the way your career is shaping up?

Nitin: Yes. I am lucky to be able to express myself in so many ways. I work with the craftsmen of the hills and am happy to be contributing to society. I also try and expand different markets. When I go to Tokyo Fashion Week, I also go as a messenger of Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI) and try and bring back some buyers.

Anuj: What I am doing is not a career. Treating what you love to do as a career is wrong. If I had to make money, I would sell eggs outside a college. So I honestly don’t see this as a career, whatever comes in is fine. Today people know me — tomorrow they might not. But I will be somewhere else. But then I have to say so far so good.

Kallol: I am not a 9-to-5 person. I work two days a week. I have no clue how it’s shaping up but I do know that it’s a great place to be.

Nachiket: Yes. I am grateful for the way it is looking at the moment. I can’t say about tomorrow. But I feel I am on the right path. So yes, so far so good.

What is your final goal?

Nitin: Happiness.

Anuj: I want to do something more meaningful for society. I want to make people happy. I want to be like the man in Big Fish. He inspires me. Basically, I want to do good to whoever comes my way.

Kallol: I want to have two kids. I want to leave what I am doing and get into something else that will give me more time with my kids.

Nachiket: Goals keep evolving but my final goal is to be able to look at myself in the mirror everyday straight in the eye. I also want happiness. So these are my goals but I guess the means to the end keep changing.

Nachiket, Anuj, Kallol and Nitin in conversation at the Taj Bengal lobby Pictures of designers by Pabitra Das

Do you think India overrates itself on the global catwalk?

Nitin: No, India is just beginning. There is so much talent. We will reach the global catwalk and beat them at their own game!

Anuj: Fashion for them is very different from fashion for us. The culture is completely different. So we can’t compare ourselves to them because we are not in the same league.

Kallol: This generation will not be overrated. Some designers from the previous generations have claimed to make different things but ended up as a laughing stock because it is all the same stuff, so in a way overrated. But this generation is so trained and exposed and better equipped. The future looks bright and definitely not overrated.

Nachiket: It depends on your point of view. From an Indian perspective being on the global catwalk is a huge achievement. From someone else’s point of view it might not be a great feat, so it’s very contextual.

Do you ever bend your style sensibility to meet market demands?

Nitin: No. I wouldn’t do that. Instead, I will make them think differently.

Anuj: Never. I will stop the day I have to succumb to the market. My silhouette is sacrosanct.

Kallol: No. The only way I can think is the way I think right now.

Nachiket: There are many markets and I feel it’s all about the right product and client mix. Ultimately it is all about symbiosis. So if it is a new market, I am willing to accommodate feedback because in a new market, the designer learns from the clients — it works backwards.

Do you think young designers are suffering because of ego issues of fashion week bosses?

Nitin: Yes. The recent split in FDCI wouldn’t have happened if they could sort out their ego issues. What Sabyasachi Mukherjee said at the Marie Claire Awards was right, “if the industry can get together for an award show, why not for a single fashion week?”

Anuj: No one is suffering. We can choose not to suffer and do what we want to do.

Kallol: As much as they say they are all promoting fashion, it all boils down to a money-making business proposition. Out of the 120 designers who show at three fashion weeks, how many of them are even talented? Just multiply each runway show with anything between Rs 1 lakh and Rs 3 lakh to know how much they earn. And all the crap gets to the stores and also gets publicity.

Nachiket: Personally, I haven’t been affected. I have been with Lakme Fashion Week. If not for that platform, I wouldn’t be part of this t2 round table discussion today!

Do you think the senior designers are messing up?

Nitin: At times, like everyone else! Let’s take the fashion week split. They could have taken a mature decision and not split.

Anuj: I wouldn’t say they are messing up but some senior designers have stopped experimenting. As it goes, it is risky to take a risk but even riskier not to take one… they need to loosen up.

Kallol: I feel we have more of a thirst and the senior designers who get complacent can afford to. They can also afford to gift each other fashion week finales!

Nachiket: From where I am standing, it’s easy to judge that X, Y or Z is messing up, showing repetitive collections etc but the truth is that there are many factors that go into each decision, like labour or market demands. I can’t say whether they are messing up. The view from the top of the mountain is different from the bottom.

Who do you feel dictates trends in India?

Nitin: I don’t think anyone dictates trends here. Everyone does their own thing. For trends to be strong, the wearer needs awareness and conviction. Everyone wears bling because everyone is supplying bling. Designers should create demand rather than just supply.

Anuj: The wearers. They will choose what they want to wear. If a designer is not giving it, they will find a fabric store, a tailor and an embroidery kaarigar.

Kallol: Prada. What she sets, India follows albeit two or three years later!

Nachiket: Films. In India, that’s the sole trend-setter. If 1,000 people get moved with a fashion show, with a film it’s 1,00,000.

If you had to change one thing in fashion, what would that be?

Nitin: I can’t think of anything to change.

Anuj: I will change the idea that fashion is useless. Just because we are photographed in magazines doesn’t mean we can’t do more.

Kallol: I would be PM and abolish entertainment tax from fashion. Excuse me, but fashion is not entertainment. All of us wear clothes and most of us enjoy wearing clothes, fashion is an important part of our lives.

Nachiket: I would like to see more quality as opposed to quantity.

Do you need a celebrity showstopper?

Nitin: A designer does not need a celeb showstopper, a label could. For example, if you are doing glamwear, then a celeb makes sense. When Anna Kournikova endorses sportswear, it makes sense. It all depends on the crowd you are catering to.

Anuj: Only if a designer feels the need to stop the show and they have run out of everything will they need a celeb showstopper.

Kallol: I am a celebrity! I don’t need another one. But seriously, I would use a celeb showstopper if I run out of ideas and need something gimmicky. Otherwise I don’t need Priyanka Chopra or Kangana Ranaut.

Nachiket: If the point of fashion week is getting your label noticed then celeb showstoppers work wonders. It works like a magnet but personally, I feel models do much more for the clothes.