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Dubai: Fifth preferred city for Indian fashion

The emerging fashion capital has become a springboard for Indian couturiers for global expansion

In the last few months we have seen several Indian designers, namely Tarun Tahiliani, Rohit Bal, Varun Bahl, Payal Singhal, Pallavi Jaikishan and more, host flash retail events in the emirates. Last year Ritu Kumar launched her flagship store at the Dubai Festival City. And now, Manish Malhotra, Tahilani and Sabyasachi Mukherjee, too, have spoken of similar plans to reach out to the audience here. With well over two million Indians living in the UAE, there is an obvious market for the designers.
But what's interesting is that it is not just the Indians who follow these designers. The UAE has a large number of Pakistani nationals, and mostly importantly Emiratis, who too adore these designers and their labels.
Indian couturiers have made a mark with their craft the world over. Moreover, the country is a fertile ground for a lot of foreign designers to source handcrafted embroideries, or ornate silk fabrics. Be it Britain's Alexander McQueen, Italy's Fendi or America's Oscar de la Renta, India has been a global hub for textile and crafts for decades.
Just as India loves its ornamentation, so does the Middle East. There is a definite crossover when it comes to aesthetics between the two cultures. Both Indian and Middle Eastern dressing styles are respectful to tradition. Designers such as Manish Malhotra and Sabyasachi both have dressed the royal families from this region.
Dubai is Indian fashion's gateway to the world. The emirate has historically been an important trade route as it is located half way between the East and West on the silk route. And now when it comes to contemporary fashion, Dubai's role as the entry point to the West remains the same. Indian designers have always had a desire to be "international" - some have tried to open stores in London and New York, held runway shows at Milan and Paris Fashion Week - but very few have tasted success. Dubai is the perfect blend of East and West - it is accepting to the Indian aesthetic, but international in its outlook. It is a market that enjoys flash retail concepts, so you do not have to invest in costly retail spaces. In some ways it is a priming market for Indian designers to understand what markets outside the sub-continent expect. With one the healthiest retail markets in the world, Dubai has its own Harvey Nichols and Bloomingdale's. While these store adhere to international standards they also ensure their "buy" reflects the multicultural tastes of this region. Indian designers find it easier to get their foot into the door at Harvey Nichols Dubai than counterparts in luxury department stores in London or Hong Kong.
Plus there is the fact that Bollywood is huge here. Walk into a screening of Dangal and you will notice that Indian films truly attract a diverse audience - be it Arabs, Filipinos or even some expatriate Europeans. Dubai's love for Bollywood gives fashion an added advantage. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Sonam Kapoor and Deepika Padukone are considered fashion icons in the region and since they often wear Indian designers, many labels from India already have a strong media presence here.
So after opening flagships in the other Indian metros - be in Mumbai, Hyderabad, Kolkata or Delhi - the next city to be in is Dubai. Which is why many in the Indian fashion industry call Dubai the fifth city for Indian fashion.
Sujata Assomull is the Consulting Fashion Editor of Khaleej Times