Its the land of the loud and lavish and for ages has supplied the colour and music that north Indian weddings so heavily depend on. Punjab maybe largely known for its bhangra and phulkari but soon enough itll also be known as the market Indian designers are making a beeline for.
Designer Ritu Kumar, with her fine understanding of Indian cuts, textiles and embroideries, was probably the first designer to recognise the potential that Punjab offers. One of Indias most moneyed states, Ritu Kumar stores in Punjab have been around since early 2000s. Most revenues come from the couture line that is offered in stores. The heavier bridal pieces, detailed embroideries and bright colours sell the most in our Punjab stores. Slowly now we are also seeing a rise in demand for western and fusion wear but this market still largely demands occasion wear, says the veteran designer.
While few designers have the capacity to open flagship stores across the country, boutique designer stores are filling in the gap. As awareness about fashion rises and aspirations to have the best build up, Punjab is seeing an increasing number of multi-designer stores opening shop. And buyers from these stand-alone stores are at WIFW to explore whats on offer for Autumn-Winter 2012.
Ashita Jain opened Ruaab in the holy city of Amritsar less than a year ago. Its her second season shopping at WIFW and shes looking for occasion wear on this trip. Amritsar is a small city and in my experience ready-to-wear designer clothes dont sell too much in smaller cities. We largely stock semi-formal, occasion and bridal wear. The focus is mainly on Indian silhouettes but we do stock tunics because they sell well, says Ashita.
Ask Ashita if there is awareness about designer names (besides the obvious big guns) in Amritsar and she says, The big designer names of Indian fashion do matter when a customer spends over Rs 30,000 on a single piece. They feel the need to justify the purchase. However, newer designers do well for us specially when it comes to lighter pieces and tunics.
Infact its not just stand alone store owners, one of the bigger (read big budget/volumes) domestic buyers at WIFW, also has its eyes set on Punjab.
Next month Kimaya will open its first store in the city of Ludhiana. In the next 6-8 months, there will be another Kimaya store in Ludhiana and one each in Chandigarh and Amritsar. This focus on Punjab by Kimaya fashions is a result of a KPMG study that pegged Punjab as one of the highest spending states in areas like designer clothing, luxury home accessories and spas. The maximum money may be being made in Bangalore but its being spent in Ludhiana, says Kimayas Pradeep Hirani who is busy shopping at WIFW for the many new stores that the company plans to launch in the next 3 years.
So whether it is single-store owners, multi designer store chains or designers themselves Punjab is top of the list where their business priorities are concerned. The biggest winner in this lucrative business I think, is the customer itself. Instead of them running to the big cities to find what they like, they will now be presented with diverse options close to home. And thats of course only one reason its time for Balle Balle as far as the business of fashion is concerned!