The fashionable fabric this year is cotton. Except for bridal-wear, it has outstrip silks, velvets, georgette, chiffon and satin. It is the choice material used by designers for everyday and party outfits. It is estimated this year the sale of textiles and readymade clothes in cotton will yield twelve billion rupees in the period from February to June only. Wow!
Since the trend targets women, it is mind boggling to think so much money will leach out of the family budget in just five months. Fashion pundits say this is just the spring spending. They expect another boom sale-season between August and November. August has Ramazan and Eidul Fitr, both dress-up occasions, and the next Eid falls in the warm fist week of November. All this is good for cotton, and plans are afoot to introduce newer textile designs and designer outfits for the summer.
Some designers are already toying with the idea of breaking into the last frontier for cotton, that is, bridal-wear. They point out that the peak wedding season always falls between the two Eids, which this year will be the hottest months - September and October. Last year leading cotton textile manufacturers had introduced cottons with silver and gold embroidery and this year they may also introduce heavy cotton lace fabric which is gorgeous enough for bridal outfits.
Some years ago a leading textile manufacturer asked designer icons to design prints and thus branded cotton become a must-buy trend, prompting other textile makers to do likewise. This lead to a competitive growth in cotton textiles also increased the business of a number of fashion icons. Finally, the fashion designers also launched their own exclusive lines for made-up goods and held sales.
This year textile manufacturers have taken a page out of the book of fashion houses to increase the volume of sales of fabric. They held exhibition and sale of exclusive designs and, like the sales of outfits by fashion designers, the textile sales too were sell-outs. The same mad rush to be seen in designer outfit sales was to be witnessed at designer (or branded) textile sales. Most had sold their stock on the first day and even then they had not catered to the demand. Women came away complaining they were unable to buy more than one suit piece.
The interesting thing about these spot sales when compared to shop sales is that they have successfully bottled the heinous plagiarism of designs by small time manufacturers and tailors who copy the prints and outfit styles to sell at cheaper prices than the textile mills and designer goods. Previously, with just shop and boutique sales this plagiarism proved costly for the original business. It led to the closing down of a number of small boutiques also. Design theft continues but it is no longer such a menace to genuine businesses.
It is boom time for textile houses and designer icons. Their goods are not affordable and yet the demand is high. One cotton or lawn for a complete suite including shirt, shalwar and dupatta material used to cost Rs 500. Today that is the price of just the shirt material, and that, too, in the lower range. It can be much higher I am told, but I do not know as I do not have the money or the courage to buy cloth this year.
There are may be a handful of people who despite having the money will resist purchasing these expensive textiles and clothes in cotton. They may complain about the high price but beyond the oral expression of shock at the high price it does not practically discourage them. My neighbour, who is just a bit better off then me, says it is a sin not to buy at least one designer outfit and one designer branded suit material. She does not see this as an extravagance.
Her justification is that she loves to wear new clothes, they make her happy. She enjoys going to sales but as she is overweight and gentle by nature she often come home empty-handed. This year, she rope in a pushy friend to go with her. The friend managed to get her one suit. Her face was glowing with joy as she recounted this. She suggested even if I could not afford to buy I should go to a sale just for the experience. I would have, as she really fired my enthusiasm, but unfortunately, besides having pockets to let, I suffer from agoraphobia (fear of crowds).
Nevertheless, there is wisdom in what she said. One ought to spend money on a thing that makes one happy. Actually everyone does it. If there is a book I want, I buy it even if it means spending my last rupee for the month. What joy it is and I have never regretted spending the money. I know some people are like that about jewellery, about shoes or chocolates. If you have a yen for something you do not count the cost, and the joy is delicious.
Cynical persons, however, view the cotton craze to be mindless spending, a waste of limited wealth, an extravagance, unrealistic and so forth. The cotton craze has mostly infected the middle class, they say, and it is highly irresponsible of women to indulge a whim when the money is needed for essentials. Their most serious argument is that "We are a poor country".
Consumerism is essentially a middle-class trait and it is spending that deeps the economy rolling. For proof ask the textile mills and designers. One might even ask the working class women who earn from sewing readymade clothes. One could also ask the men who embroider fashionable goods. The cotton craze has done a lot of good and provided many jobs. Why don't cynics look at that? Why don't they say at least their is one sector of industry and business that is prospering?
We are, indeed, a poor country, but this is not because women spend money on clothes. It is because there is no attempt to create jobs, only lip-service to alleviate poverty. No education, no development projects that will provide more jobs. It is the rulers, the government, bureaucracy and feudals who indulge in mindless spending and extravagance. Cynics do not notice them, or are they afraid to criticise the powerful?
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