Middle class values behind upper class style

There is a reason why the East is the opposite of the West In his new book Apollorsquos Arrow The Profound and Enduring Impact of Coronavirus on the Way We Live social epidemiologist Dr Nicholas Christakis predicts that post the Coronavirus pandemic society will revert to indulgence Not very different from what it was like in the 1920s following the 1918 Spanish Flu epidemicBut in the East especially India 2021rsquos dream looks a lot like it did during the launch of Mahatma Gandhirsquos Swadeshi movement It was about burning of foreign textiles and buying local it was about the growing network of handspun khadi weavers to give a visible face to the Civil Disobedience Movement and defining the Indian garbThese were new clothes free from colonial oppression and worn by Indiarsquos elite and the bourgeoisie alike They had a strong sentiment if not sentimentality attached to them ldquoI donrsquot think we realise that the Swadeshi movement by itself which led to Indiarsquos independence is one of our biggest fashion statementsrdquo says Kurush Dalal archaeologist and culinary anthropologistThe pandemic made the Indian customer change dramatically Or at least thatrsquos what designers stylists visual artists and streaming channels want us to believe This customer will revisit the shopping cart not once not twice but three times before making a purchase The new customer will ask Do I need it Is it affordable Is this the best deal I can get Who is it helping The result is a focus on a smaller wardrobe of old and new which allows you to mix and match ldquoTimes are tight the GDP is down people have lost their surplus incomerdquo Dalal reasonsItrsquos not a surprise then that the portrayal of the icons who prod us to consume inform and entertain us has also obviously shifted to the reallife mosaic of cultures ldquoThere was a time when exotic royal India was the ideal Now itrsquos the real India that everyone is aspiring to connect with Campaigns built around size and gender diversity and indigenous values are purposely asserting this moment The stories that are emerging donrsquot belong to someone else They are about yourdquo designer Arjun Saluja saysBollywood is also suddenly not about the unbelievable and unattainable but authentic and within reach Itrsquos exciting and interesting when Family Man Manoj Bajpayee breeds conversation and some controversy A big Bollywood star is replaced by the internetfamous South Delhi girl Dolly Singh who shares the cover of Elle Indiarsquos digital issue with Supreme Court lawyer Karuna Nundy and breakaway actor Shweta Tripathi this monthIt wasnrsquot always like this ldquoBack in the day those who designed clothes were considered elitist so naturally fashion largely favoured poshnessrdquo says Dalal He shares the example of Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi one of Indiarsquos most popular soaps launched in 2000 It introduced Indian homemakers to the upperclass lifestyle through the story of a priestrsquos daughter who marries into an industrialistrsquos family ldquoWe watched ladies in the show go to bed in silk sarees and wake up with a face full of makeup The upperclass traditions and attire managed to shape and distort the cultural sensibilities of the vast middleclass in effect homogenising even the sindoorrdquo explains DalalBut with everything else changing it couldnrsquot have been long before fashion warmed up to realism too As the wheels turned in 2020 designers shunned the seasonal cupboard of occasion wear for offthesocial media Made in India ensembles imagined for lsquoregularrsquo buyers As if to say we have options now Whether this turnaround speaks of a momentary blip of consciousness or refashions into a lasting market reality with mega investors like Reliance Brands and Aditya Birla Fashion directing the informal tactics and style is for us to see The makers however seem to have certainly chosen sides ldquoI have an uncomfortable relationship with fashion because I grew up with middleclass values of consumption which included not throwing away anythingrdquo Sabyasachi Mukherjee told midday in an interview preceding the launch of Sabyasachi x HampM precirct collection last fortnight It is for the first time a young fashion savvy Indian professional can perhaps afford a Sabyasachi label without having to break the bank or wonder how shethey will overcome the fear of entering the gilded doors of his deluxe storesMukherjee believes that the onus of fashion being sustainable is equally on the consumer ldquoBut the middleclass in India is already invested in a circular economy Sarees are repurposed into quilts Bata chappals repairedrdquo And just like that you realise something has changed when a couturier proudly speaks of middleclass valuesDavid Abraham creative director at Abraham amp Thakore says that they tapped into the readytowear market long before it made postpandemic business sense Their au fait garments are positively defined by familiar Indian shapes through a line of kurtas dresses jackets churidars and sarees and locally sourced embellishments and fabrics ldquoThe readytowear segment will soon become the real substance of Indian fashion Itrsquos what we call affordable luxuryrdquo Abraham addsSaluja reckons that change begins slowly inside the psychological space ldquoItrsquos the constant hustle between the parochial past and an openminded present that interests me I hope it shapes into a new idea of homegrown clothing identityrdquo Essentials his readytowear label of seasonless genderfluid clothes is clearly inspired by everyday Indian costumes reimagined in hybrid concoctions ldquoWhatrsquos aspirational for merdquo is a question hovering on everybodyrsquos mind regardless of their social standing ldquoI attended college at a time when girls wore baggy salwars with kurtas and anyone who turned up in a kneelenghth skirt was perceived as powerful since it signalled that she belonged to an affluent family Today everyone wears a skirt Renting a Louis Vuitton bag for a week and Fendi the next is not novel Who would have thunkrdquo laughs Dalal