Generation Next

There can be no better example than Amrish Kumar,the 30-something son of fashion doyen Ritu Kumar,who’s been designing trousseaus for Indian brides and wardrobes for beauty queens way before fashion in India really took off. Amrish dabbled in music,even launched a record label (ironically titled Mummy-Daddy records),but has decided to forgo a career in music,for fashion. “To be honest,my foray into fashion was accidental. I was happy with music till I started helping out with the business. Then I slowly got drawn into it,” says Amrish, now the creative director of the Ritu Kumar Label.

Similarly,Ankur Modi,son of designer Anju Modi was set on a career in agricultural engineering after completing his education in Australia. “As a kid he said he’d never join my business,” smiles Anju Modi,“But I needed the help and he started showing interest after handling some administrative work.” Ankur says fashion was the last thing on his mind when he was thinking of a career. “But on hindsight,joining the same profession has been a boon. I have the infrastructure at my disposal and a veteran to go to for advise,” says the 32-year-old,who now runs a separate label,AM:PM under Modi’s flagship label,with wife Priyanka,a trained fashion designer from the London School of Fashion.

Life in fashion certainly becomes easier if you’re a big designer’s kid; it means fashion week slots are easier to come by and buyers are ready to give you a chance based on the family history in the industry. “It’s a head-start,and it will see them through a couple of seasons,but eventually it’s up to them to develop the brand further and ensure the products sell,” says Sunil Sethi of the Fashion Design Council of India.

If the infrastructure and the contacts are ready reckoners,there’s also the scope of hands-on training.

Nishka Lulla,daughter of Bollywood’s favourite designer Neeta Lulla has been handling the operations of her mother’s flagship store in Santa Cruz,even before she entered and won the Barbie All Doll’d Up contest at the recently concluded Lakme Fashion Week. “We used to have a studio near home and I was cutting clothes for my dolls from the time I was a child,” she says. Now the 24-year-old is gearing up for the launch of her own label,Nisshk,under her mother’s banner that will cater to consumers between 16 and 30.

But most of these youngsters say living up to their famous surname is not always easy.”Because our brand is such an establishment,people tend to judge you on a very large scale,” says Amrish. And then of course,there are the parent-child conflicts. Ritu Kumar admits that they also went through teething issues. “Initially,we would have a lot of arguments. Most kids tend to think of their parents as old-fashioned,but over time,we’ve understood each other’s temperaments better and now it’s an enriching experience for both of us,” she says.

It’s probably also the reason why,the second generation of designers works harder at creating a completely different look from their parents’.

The junior Modis concentrate on a young and funky pret line rather than following the more ornate sensibility of their mother. Nikhita,26,daughter of designer Reynu Tandon,debuted at the Wills Fashion Week last season,after two degrees in business management and fashion retail marketing,the latter from the prestigious University of California,Berkeley. Her focus is on European silhouettes rather than the heavily embroidered,flowing drapes that characterise her mother’s ensembles. “It was a conscious choice because I want to create my own identity,” says Nikhita.