Mad props to Vriti Jadwani of W aur W for pulling off her Designers Fashion Popup! event on Thursday; to the many designers who participated in the event; and those trend-setting folks who turned up to support the designers themselves by buying fab things! (I for one made it away with a groovy pink shirt from UFF!) Popups are by no means new to India, yet such retail trends have trailed and not yet achieved the scale and appeal found in other international metros; yet I feel that the cusp of great potential is close! But as promoters and label owners we must push further than merely moving conventional retail experiences around a bit. Whilst as consumers we should be looking to support all these great independent creators in their efforts to bring us unique and worthy products, even if only by showing our faces and numbers! More than anything I believe that in order to promote and support the growth of emerging and smaller creative producers, (popup) retail alone is no answer, and that more experiential events hold so much potential to better engage and raise awareness of these products, whilst satisfying simultaneous needs for more diversity in entertainment and lifestyles. I first learned of the trend towards popups in 2004 (via the excellent trendwatching site), whilst my first awareness in India was Bombay Electrics Pocket Electric store in Delhi (2008); but popups have predominantly remained a sideshow for a few in the know, and indeed the related creative/artisanal market scene so accessible and popular in international capitals (be it Lisbon, or London) is effectively non-existent (withstanding a nod to places like Dillihaat, having a rather different demographic). There have been decidedly positive undertakings by bhane. and QREOH, the prior with single-brand experiential events; the latter with multi-brand popup. Little Black Book, Delhi are also lining up multi-brand popup retail events as well, ironically making the “one-of-a-kind” tag used by all a bit of a contradiction—yet simultaneously confirming the timely potential… Location and reach for these events is a clincher. Theres no such thing as an ideal space or location in Delhi, but Warp aur Wefts hookup with Monkey Bar Delhi was a breakaway example of a space and its existing network providing wider reach to the retail experience, with kickback effects played-out amongst its early adopters. (The ever-necessary compromise being that their space lacks in dimensions for events, and is located on the edge of the city.) Regardless of approaches and compromises, endeavours to fuse experiences, in whatever combination can only be applauded! I truly hope that all these independent efforts cohesively support the evolution of an ecosystem onward to its wider potential. Being first in anything is a tremendously risky undertaking for any single person or brand, but sharing in this through smaller efforts is beneficial to all in the longer term, providing it is not fragmented. Its too early to become competitive. Whilst it cannot be claimed that such endeavours are successful business ventures in their own right (although Warp aur Wefts event almost hit it, despite its unfortunately tight promotional phase) their instigators and supporters efforts are an essential part of building awareness of evolved lifestyles and opportunities. Participation in such events is no purely retail exercise, its awareness-building for consumers and producers alike. If theres anything Ive learnt from setting up Moonlighting Delhi its that breaking the mould and venturing forth with any novel model has no immediately measurable effects— yet where community-centricity is promoted—building upon a network in utilising ad-hoc cooperation between producers and consumers, its survival, growth and innovation is assured. [Note that my blog died a death in 2008, so this FB post is just a temporal anomaly, lest I should be inclined to resurrect it…]
Posted on: Sat, 16 Aug 2014 11:03:58 +0000
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