Fashion: When designer duos 'divorce', what of the label?

Sometime last week the flavour of the indiecrowd designers Armaan Randhawa and Aiman Agha who designed under the label Armaan Aiman split It was a short association The duo first showed at GenNext at Lakmeacute Fashion Week WinterFestive in 2013 and soon gained entry into the cool and quirky crowd Neha Dhupia Kalki Koechlin Athiya Shetty and Anushka Manchanda wore and swore by their designs Their clothes were modern mdash cleanlined dresses bomber jackets with embroidery inspired by psychedelia and wild animalsArmaan Randhawa and Aiman Agha take a bow at the end of their Lakmeacute Fashion Week 2014 show in Mumbai Their March 1 2016 Facebook post announced the label was now simply called Aiman Then on March 1 their Facebook page had an update mdash a model in a longline pastel kurta and churidar announcing the label was now simply called Aiman Agha refused to comment on the split Randhawa says the reasons are personal and they remain good friends I have some family problem to attend tohellip a family business that needs my attention he saysA few weeks earlier Delhibased designer Leena Singh and Ashima Singh ended their 24yearlong association AshimaLeena as the label is still called is a luxury and pret brand specialising in ethnic and luxury resort wear Both keep a dignified silence on the reason behind the termination of the collaboration You cannot be together for 25 years without mutual respect and solidarity says Leena and we still maintain that integrityOlder splitsThough rare the breaking up of design partners is not uncommon In 2005 when Stefano Gabbana and Domenico Dolce ended their romantic relationship they kept their professional one alive for the sake of a icircu00c2u0082u00c2u0080600 million turnover On the Indian scene Rahul Mishra and Samar Firdaus both students of the National Institute of Design debuted as partners in 2007 at Lakmeacute Fashion Week A year later they were designing independently The official reason Firdaus needed time off to pay attention to the family businessRahul Mishra the Indian toast of the international circuit since he won the International Woolmark Prize 2014 split from partner Samar Firdaus a year after they debuted in 2007Aneeth Arora and Chinar Farooqi both from Udaipur also debuted as GABA in 2008 but in June 2009 Arora was designing independently as peacutero Farooqi launched Injiri in the same year Neither talk about the reason behind their separation but it was seemingly because they wanted independent control of their visionBoth labels still carry the same DNA Clothes crafted from handloom fabric in the traditional way mdash cut such to have very little wastage of fabric characterized by edges banners and surface detailing Farooqui first trained in Fine Arts before she moved to Textile Design at NID In this domain she found her niche and while a bulk of her sales can be attributed to Dubai Europe Korea and Japan the Home line thats close to her heart As an artist the Home line gives me a canvas to make compositions she saysThe confusionAny partnership is a balance of Yin and Yang says event producer and brand consultant Ramesh Menon Design and the marketing process blend to find a singular voice Disagreements usually occur when one partner thinks she is putting in more work and receiving less appreciation visibility or share in profitsAshima Singh and Leena Singh maintain a dignified silence on ending their 24yearlong association While Leena will retain the original brand Ashima soft launched her new independent label in Delhi recentlyWhen partners split sometimes only one of them survives and thrives Usually its harder for the breakaway brand to establish itself as something more that a metoo brandThis in part is because the seed of the partnership is a common shared aesthetic language that cant be divorced from either designer So there is confusion among clients a resistance from retailers in stocking similar looking pieces In India designers mostly still take care of the endtoend process of the business mdash client and retailer relationship marketing production and design says Menon There is no corporatisation of any part of the process So to come back into the same arena they rely on the same relationships and that can be difficultChinar Farooqi and Aneeth Arora debuted as GABA in 2008 but in June 2009 Arora was designing independently as peacutero Farooqi launched her independent label Injiri Observers say their clothes carry the same DNAThere always has to be a balance for a partnership to work says fashion mentor Sabina Chopra Sometimes the partners grow in different directions and there is no synergy left One person feels that only one of them is able to do a better job Or perhaps one of them is more ambitious or creative than the otherHowever Menon points out these difficulties are also faced when a junior designer assists a better known designer for a while and then starts his or her own label The clothes may look like a copy because the assistant used to do most of the work for the parent label It is also the case when a designer becomes the creative director of another brand Sometimes the less successful of them is accused of copying the other brand but they are doing what they have always done says Chopra The way to stand apart is to do what you do with authenticityMenon is optimistic that the labels can carve a different clientele or market for themselves instead of diluting the original brands identity like in the case of Raakesh Agarwal who used to assist Tarun TahilianiNext blueprintIn the case of AshimaLeena Leena will retain the brand It will be the same brand doing the same design and serving the same clientele that we have for 23 years she says Ashima is carving out a new identity and has already launched her collection under Ashima Singh at Delhis Visaya hotel A more formal launch is scheduled during the wedding season and then a presence in Mumbai she says But I have no fashion weeks planned as yet however going with the flow I may just surprise myselfAsked how she will combat brand confusion she says It will be a little different but I have always designed from the heart Along with couture which will remain my first love there will also be more easy pret and semicasual pieces with digital printing There will be seasonspecific handlooms too mdash I am working on ivory Chanderis and Maheshwaris for the summerShe admits it will be a challenge to define a new brand but hopes that she can develop an edgy niche for herself in the market Farooqui likes to keep away from the fashion week circuit supplying to select retailers such as Bungalow 8 in Mumbai Amethyst in Bangalore and Jaipur Modern in Jaipur directlyThe aestheticsdesign philosophy is similar she says However I am more textile oriented I believe in slow fashion and dont relate to the fashion week scene I like to be quiet and am happy in the way the brand has grown I know what I have been able to achieve with my own work Most importantly it helps me achieve my dream of combining textile design with art Industry insiders say she has made a conscious decision of never looking at what peacutero was doing so there would be no overlap confusion or influenceRandhawa is focusing on the AutumnWinter season that comes up in August when his designs will be available at Ensemble and Ogaan Instead of the Indian fashion week scene he has set his eyes on New York Since they have no investors mdash the business is clientbased mdash they didnt have to think about staying together for the brandAnd for fashion buyers maybe two is better than one