NOTES FROM 20 YEARS OF FASHION WEEKS

MAGINE Indian fashion without smartphones or social media. It was a time when fashion shows were nothing more than small-scale marketing channels to entice wealthy clients into buying a designer’s grand vision. “I look back and think it was more contained, complete…a better world,” remembers industry veteran Tarun Tahiliani.

India’s humble fashion beginnings can possibly be traced back to the 1980s when multi-designer boutiques, Ensemble and Glitterati, hosted group shows in-store. These private, informal showings were typically headlined by a few lissome models, casually walking the interiors, while hand-picked guests sipped on cocktails and nibbled on canapés. A golden age, so to speak, of Indian couture, particularly with the patronage of powerful, stylish clients including the late Parmeshwar Godrej, Minal Modi, Sangita Jindal, Simi Garewal, Priya Paul, and Maureen Wadia.

In these early days, before the advent of the catwalk, the emphasis was on the client instead of publicity, as Shahab Durazi shares with . Only a handful of journalists were invited. Insulated from the trappings of the controlled corporate environment, the clothes were shocking, imaginative,