Mind-engaging panelists host 'Pop Up Friday Funda' at LFW

The session was moderated expertly by Parmesh Shahani, Head of Godrej India Culture Lab, who drove the intense discussion on how fashion translates from runaway to wardrobe and street.

Panel comprised, Bandana Tewari - Fashion Features Director, Vogue India, Tina Tahiliani Parikh - Executive Director, Ensemble, Malika V Kashyap - Founder online fashion site Border and Fall, Anirban Mukherjee - Thinker and Researcher at Futurebrands and Edward Lalrempuia – Creative Director, Pernia’s Pop-Up Shop.

Parmesh Shahani enlightened the audience that they made history by being part of the first ever Friday Funda at Lakmé Fashion Week Winter/Festive 2013.

Artist Amrita Bagchi’s work of art ‘Fashion Factory’ as the back drop, emphasized that the industry was creative, while people always churned out like a factory. Parmesh stated that there were many processes involved in creating a product and people often didn’t understand how everything was made.

When Bandana Tewari was asked how a magazine like Vogue could be compared to today’s twitter based world, she answered that she regretted not starting a blog in her initial years and now it was useless since one lived in today’s blogosphere. She mentioned that she had immense respect for bloggers and that Vogue had become an online activity, just like any other magazine. It was a challenging world for a blogger, since often their content was not original whereas magazines had proved themselves.

Tina Tahiliani was questioned about how the 20-year-old ‘Ensemble’ had changed in the recent years. She recollected how Ensemble’s first show touched her dynamically even though the creations were rather amateur; but they were a labour of love.

“Customers were tentative during that time, they weren’t bothered about style details, which made it a long education process, but everything has changed enormously today. Bridal is more productive because it always sells and never remains in stock,” she mentioned. She also remarked that she was blown away with the talent at Lakmé Fashion Week.

Parmesh Shahani asked Malika Kashyap about online fashion websites and what she saw out of a closet? She responded how she had worked on the site for the last two years and that individuals had a distinctive style. “India has a lot of diversity and customers have a comfort zone and they also get emotionally attached to their wardrobe, which is a personal cycle. People change dramatically and they are creatures of adaptations, they simply identify pieces within their realm of style.”

Anirban Mukherjee was asked about how middle class people make sartorial choices and live in the fashion world. He said, “Clothes are never frivolity, they are a fundamental expression of economic times.” He mentioned that fashion was related to economy one way or the other. “Fashion is always a response, everywhere and everytime and that fashion expresses one’s self.”

Edward Lalrempuia was asked about the atmosphere in a busy personal online store such as Pernia’s Pop-Up Shop. He stated that he regulated everything on the site and was a fashion editor in the initial days. He also added that an online store is instant fashion and from experience; the Indian market is challenging. 

Lakmé Fashion Week