You don’t have to be a fashion insider or journalist to know about Suzy Menkes; her 2,93,000 followers on Instagram will attest to that. Not one to mince words, the high-priestess of fashion reporting has had her say about the impact of demonetisation on the Indian wedding business. Her report on fashion’s polarisation being a precursor to Donald Trump’s surprise victory in the presidential race is still trending on social media.
During a visit to Mumbai a little over a week ago, Menkes was welcomed by the country’s leading designers. Between making a video with Sabyasachi Mukherjee in two minutes (it had 12,000 hits within hours) and visiting her favourite Indian designer Rahul Mishra, she found time to go window shopping. “From London to Vietnam, I see exactly the same shop window as you would in Paris, and it leaves me with a heavy heart. It doesn’t fit in with today’s market, where the focus is on meeting local needs,” she begins. She says it pays to be relevant to your market. “Why winter coats when you can do shawls, for instance?”
Formerly the fashion editor for the International Herald Tribune , and now International Editor at Vogue , the British fashion critic was here to talk about the Conde Nast International Luxury Conference in Muscat on April 5 and 6. Luxury didn’t have a very good year, she agrees, with the global market for high-end personal goods at its weakest since 2009.
With the turbulent currency exchange rates and caution exercised over spending, where is luxury really headed, we ask. “Post-luxury society values mindful luxury. You need to stop and think of luxury that gives you real pleasure,” she says.
In this, Menkes is also referring to herself. She has been known to carry a well-loved Prada bag for over seven seasons, hardly worrying about being judged. “The move away from buying and towards experiencing is also about keeping the mind and body at ease. That said, the beauty and luxury business is where the attention is going next,” she says. The luxury conference in Oman will, therefore, see famed perfumer Frederic Malle and Israeli designer Alber Elbaz in conversation, as well as other icons such as Elie Saab and Giambattista Valli.
Excerpts from an interview:
What is the new normal for the luxury market?
Luxury companies are fluttering around, not knowing what to do. But, the way the Internet has brought beauty down to earth is amazing. You see more friendly advertising. Leading manufacturers like Estee Lauder are no longer remote.
How has digital disruption benefited the fashion and luxury industry?
Bloggers in fashion are snapped up as digital influencers, and I am a little unsure about all this. A lot of them are serious about it, but I wonder how they get paid. I trained as a fashion journalist, who brought to the woman sitting on the bus everything that was happening at the fashion weeks in Paris. But now, that lady on the bus sees the collection immediately on her phone. That said, I don’t understand why people are afraid of leaving behind print. Substance is important, whichever the medium.
What do you find distinctive about Indian fashion?
Colour, colour, colour. And texture. I don’t think people abroad realise that there are so many home-generated fabrics. Indian designers are bolder when they show abroad. But I hope they retain the Indian identity. It’s this spirit of India that I keep coming back for. Gaurav Gupta designs in 3D, with pleats that whirl and move around, yet almost like sculpture. I follow Manish Arora closely because he shows at Paris Fashion Week and I think he is amazingly confident and forward-looking. And, Manish Malhotra is a Bollywood star himself.
A fashion maverick in today’s world, according to you?
I believe that Demna (Gvasalia) from Vetements is the greatest fashion maverick today — especially as design director of Balenciaga.
You have curated 17 luxury conferences. How has the model evolved?
The greatest change is the belief that instead of only thinking about luxury, an important role is now played by experiences. For example: spa and beauty treatments and even cosmetic surgery. All those things compete for the same consumer money. Also, people have become more thoughtful about how they spend their money. The luxury world has expanded physically and demographically. I think now about a new ‘Silk Route’ that can take Amrapali jewellery from Jaipur to West Asia and Asia. It’s no longer just about Paris as the centrifugal force.
Could you recall some of the most striking fashion personalities you’ve met, who would have enjoyed the medium of cinema?
Three designers who missed out on being potential Bollywood stars through the fashion films they might have made — Jean-Paul Gaultier, Thierry Mugler (who left fashion to become a performance artiste) and Vivienne Westwood. Never too late to do a groovy movie!
Given the focus on experiences and the ‘memory bank’ in the luxury world today, what is your most distinct fashion experience?
Every journalist says the same thing: Yves Saint Laurent’s Russian collection in the 1970s; Azzedine Alaia and Comme des Garcons in the 1980s; Gianni Versace in the 1990s; Tom Ford at Gucci; lots of Karl (Lagerfeld) at Chanel. Too many memorable shows to make a complete list.
You have easily transitioned from newsprint and video to social media. What are the challenges of the digital world?
I am always in search of the new, and interested in the future. I deal with words. And whether people read them on a smart phone or in a newspaper or magazine — for me, it is the same. I like the speed of the digital world.
