UCLA UCLA Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title Making Designs on Fashion: Producing Contemporary Indian Aesthetics Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5jr2g7qj Author Varma, Meher Publication Date 2015 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Los Angeles Making Designs on Fashion: Producing Contemporary Indian Aesthetics A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Anthropology by Meher Varma 2015 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Making Designs on Fashion: Producing Contemporary Indian Aesthetics by Meher Varma Doctor of Philosophy in Anthropology University of California, Los Angeles, 2015 Professor Sherry B. Ortner, Chair This dissertation is about the making of the Indian fashion designer and highlights how the birth of the industry has fashioned new subjects and subjectivities. It traces constitutive shifts and tensions in the fashion industry over the last three decades, including the rise of bridal wear or couture, the appropriation of craft and resistances to it, and the return of ready-to-wear production via e-commerce. I argue that the professional identity of the fashion designer was crafted in opposition to the low-skilled darzi (tailor) and distinct from the ‘traditional’ craftsman with low cultural capital. However, while the designer’s identity was originally celebrated as modern, creative, and entrepreneurial, paradoxically, the most successful designers are those who appropriate and prioritize craft above his or her own skill. To make this argument, this dissertation engages with, and contributes to, scholarship on class and caste in India, anthropological literature on fashion and other creative industries, as well as work on kinship and family. Despite efforts to mark fashion as a distinct, new professional field with the creation of a national institute of fashion (NIFT), I argue that relations of inequality that marked the industry ii from the outset continue to persist in new ways. While Indian fashion presents itself as good for the new middle class, this project continues to serve historically and culturally elite designers. For many new, professionally trained, middle-class designers, this signals the failure of fashion as a liberatory project for the middle class. While historical structures of power continue to remain important, I explore the emergence of self-reflexive actors who can navigate the industry while critiquing it. I suggest that these subjectivities provide new ways to think about how middle-class Indians understand and maneuver the multiple effects of economic liberalization. The structure of the dissertation enacts the trajectory of producing a fashion collection. Each chapter highlights discrepancies between what is imagined and what ends up being produced. iii The dissertation of Meher Varma is approved. Akhil Gupta Saloni Mathur Sondra Hale Sherry B. Ortner, Committee Chair University of California, Los Angeles 2015 iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction………………………………………………………….……………………........1 PART ONE Great Expectations: Beginnings, Establishments and Values Chapter One The Mood Board: Producing Indian Designers at the National Institute of Fashion Technology, New Delhi………………………………………………….…….………..….................................. 37 Chapter Two Getting to Work: Producing Value in Indian Fashion………………………..…….…….…... ….. 82 PART TWO Resistances, Subversions and Alternatives Chapter Three Counter Sample Making Brothers out of Masters: Patriarchy and Kinship in A Family Run Indian Couture Firm……………………………………………………………….....………………..….……. ..121 Chapter Four The Finishing: The Designers Dilemma and the Logic of Madness………………….…..…... … 151 Chapter Five The Shoot Lags, Rushes, Walls and Delays: The “Problem” of Time in Indian Fashion………….…. …..… 174 Conclusion The Show…………………………………………………………………………………….… 201 Works Cited.....................................................................................................................................................214 v Acknowledgements My acknowledgments begin with recognitions to those in Los Angeles, where graduate school and graduate life “happened.” My first thanks are reserved for my advisor, Dr. Sherry Ortner. I consider myself very lucky to be your student. Thank you for all your time, patience and encouragement through these last seven years years. Akhil Gupta, you have been an important inspiration and teacher. I thank you and Purnima Mankekar for believing in this subject right from the outset. Your comments on this dissertation helped me view the subject in new and complex ways. Thank you for always raising the bar. Saloni Mathur – technically my “outside” member but really one of the most important intellectuals to guide this dissertation. Thank you for all your work and help. Sondra Hale, thank you for your teachings on postcolonial studies, and for being a wonderful support to many students including myself. Next, I would like to thank my colleagues and friends in Los Angeles: Hannah Reiss, Cassandra Markoe, Veena Hampapur, Ellen Sharp, Ronan McRory, Adam Fish, Rayed Kheder, Janell Rothberg, Jessa Farquhar, Konstantinos and Rezzan, Julia MM, Sanjay Grover, Gaurav Singh, Usha Dean– I consider you are all my American family. Thank you for sharing all my joys, troubles, sorrows, drinks and most of all – everyday experiences. Outside LA, I’d like to thank Anthony Acciavetti and Michael Ritter for your edits on this dissertation. Tereza Kuldova: fellow scholar of Indian fashion, you are a source of inspiration. This now brings me to the people in Delhi, where as I have said several times through this work, fashion is alive, kicking and shaping some of the lives I respect most. Vidyun Singh: your dedication to the industry was the first time I noticed the seriousness that was behind the scenes of Indian fashion. Thank you for always letting me do what I needed to in order to learn more about this world you helped build decades ago. Asha Kocchar: Thank you for your generosity and friendship. Both of you have taught me the value of experience. vi Designers are the stuff of this project and the people after my heart. Your work remains a source of fascination to me, and I thank you all for allowing me to explore your world. Gaurav Gupta – my intrigue does not fit in this book. I cannot thank you enough for agreeing to let me be your fly-on-the-wall (or try). I have learned so much from your methods, thoughts, “mistakes,” and constant self-questioning. Navkirat and Vijen – thank you for including me in your beautiful family and everyday theatre. Special thanks to Ruchika Sachdeva – I respect your sense of integrity immensely. I look forward to what you will accomplish. Aneeth Arora – I’ve thought about you as somewhat of a hero; thank you for teaching me that fashion can be about love and doing something good for people. Namrata Joshipura and Vivek Sood – thank you for believing in my work and your honesty. Sanjay Garg – thank you for always adding a dimension of complexity to everything! I look forward to what we can do together. Both casual and deep conversations with other “industry people” –a dreaded term for some- including Narresh Kuckreja, Sujata Assomull, Shefalee Vasudev, Bandana Tewari, Ritu and Amrish Kumar, Manish Arora, Jyotika Jhalani, Malika Verma, David Abraham, Kevin Negil, Sonam Dubal, Peter D’Ascoli, Anavila Misra, Arjun Saluja, Prateek Jain and Gautam Seth, Sumant Jayakrishnan, Asha Baxi, Maapu, Rahul Bhattacharya, Nonita Kalra, Pareina Thapar, Narendra Kumar, Shagun Khanna, Payal Pratap, Anu Malathy, Rathi Vinay Jha, Akshay Tyagi, Caroline Young, Sabine Heller, Priyal Bhartia, Gautam Sinha, Angelique Raina and so many others have added nuance to this work. Thank you for your introductions, help, advice and tips as you helped me navigate the world of Indian fashion. Aashti Bhartia and Mayank Mansingh Kaul – an extra thanks to you for always, always being there for me. vii Thank you to all the professors and students at NIFT. One professor in particular –Vandana Narang – provided crucial insight to this text. I am grateful to all of you for engaging with me and making room for my scholarship in your busy lives. My work in the factory was made possible by Kriti and Anushree: thank you “girls,” for stopping whatever it was you were doing to explain things to me. To all the Masterjis, craftsmen, finishing ladies, “runners,” and factory workers: you all who showed me what high fashion is all about; thank you for sharing whatever you had with me, even if it was a few sips of tea. Finally, just as this dissertation has been committed to exposing the behind-the-scenes life of fashion, there are multiple backstage actors who mark every page of this work. My final thanks are reserved for them. Friends and relatives not directly in the world of fashion – Diya Nanda, Shiv Singh (the original fashionista), Ashwin Jain, Pri Shewakramani, Niyaz Liaq, Sukhmani Bedi, Mansi Poddar, The Vadera Girls, Puja Setia, Sid Khanna, and long distance pal Elspeth Day—you supported me unconditionally. Karishma Jhalani – you are an amazing friend and writing companion. I look forward to your incredible films. Doctor Jassal: I thank you for the title of this work. Sahil Vasudeva, I sprung this project upon you unannounced, and your patience leaves me astounded. Thank you for your care, companionship and for teaching me that all good things take time. Dad – look I finished something!