Finally, it's time for catching a breath, now that the fashion we­ek is over.

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What a whirlwind it was! It sure was a larger and a more panoramic Wills India Fashion Week. Finally, we had one single fashion week with all designers participating under one roof. The week brou­ght with it more buyers and better prospects of happier times. With the monster of recession lifting its head a bit, letting through rays of hope, designers found better business, as buyers didn’t have to run between venues to catch their favourite designers. The media was happy, too, for not having to jostle wading through city traffic in peak hours.

As they say, all’s well that ends well. Not so much actually. Like every season, we from the fashion fraternity manage to stir up an interesting controversy or two.

This time was no exception. It all started with a certain designer member showcasing a collection on the ramp with an array of celebrities from the Hindi film industry. Most of us wondered if it was okay for someone to get together a weak collection and throw them on recognisable filmy faces to collect accolades -- not for the garments, but for who walked the ramp!

Are we not losing the whole point here? Is this not a fashion week where the focus must be on clothes and not on who wore them? Why do some designers like to confuse the viewers and the media? Why does one want to shift focus to something so irrelevant to the world of business of fashion?

I wonder! And wonder more, and ask myself how a designer can have the heart to take focus off the collection one has nurtured for months just so that some film star can walk away with all the attention, leaving all the hard work merely doubling up as a prop to showcase the pretty face one has paid through the nose to get. Isn’t that ironic?

Throughout the week, I was repeatedly asked who I was getting to walk for me, especially given the rambunctious “filmy” plot this season. It’s almost amazing to notice how everyone vies for filmy faces to boost a collection. Do we really need the crutches?

I feel it’s the time for a paradigm shift to take over our approach toward the business of fashion. While it is extremely important to conjure up drama around the collection, it is supremely necessary to not let focus shift from the garments.

As an artist, I always like to paint a picture on the ramp. Each and every element plays an important part in creating a visual story, a visual treat to remember.

It is a pleasure to watch a well-spun show with all its elements talking the same language. The garments, accessories, shoes, hair and make-up, music, décor, drama, lighting — everything must come together perfectly. The skills of the artiste shine through when the visualisation is perfect, bringing home all these elements almost as though the Pied Piper of Hamlin was singing a tune and the mice were marching along in synchrony!

How poetic can a simile get! Well, at the risk of sounding over the top, I would like to say, the designer is the Pied Piper singing a new tune each season, with such a large canvas to work upon. It is indeed a huge creative enterprise to put together a collection. So, I wonder why a designer would like to take away from all the hard work and scope for creativity by putting a few Bollywood stars on the runway!

The writer is a fashion designer and an artist