Posted by Hi folks! It has been an age since I was here. Truth be told, I have been incredibly busy. There have been major career developments including being named one of India’s Top 40 under 40 English Journalists by the exchange4media group. Even this post is being written in a rush, between writing an article on the India Art Fair 2022, and getting ready to leave for a friend’s wedding celebration. However, I want to get this out before it gets old and stale. The subject of this blog post is the fact that I was asked to cover my very first FDCI x Lakme Fashion Week.
To the more serious writers among us, this may not seem like an exciting or noteworthy assignment but read on to know why I’m giving it such high billing. First up, a clarification – I wasn’t asked to cover it by the newspapers. I was instead invited by a few designers to see their shows and write about them. However, I saw an opportunity and pitched the idea of covering the entire Fashion Week to two of my regular editors – New Indian Express and YourStory. Both said yes and so began a mad scramble for a last-minute media accreditation. One of my editors – Ravi Shankar Etetth – who is very supportive and encouraging made some calls in high places and arrangements for my entry were made just a day before the event.
What followed was a few supremely hectic days of attending shows, noticing trends, dressing up, interacting with and interviewing celebrities, meeting old friends, and making new ones. This was followed by more hectic days of writing about Fashion Week.
What was truly remarkable about the event was that I felt my creative juices flowing – I got so many ideas for articles on the Fashion Week that varied in subject and held their own weight. Most importantly, these ideas were so different from my usual work, that I felt encouraged to pitch them to many publications that I hadn’t yet written for. Perhaps it was the ingenuity of the subjects, or the tips on making great pitches that I had picked up from a fabulous Facebook group I recently joined called Writing in India, where a bunch of talented freelance writers help their fellow community members out; but I was amazed that all of my pitches were selected by one publication or another!!!
So, without further ado, here are the six widely different articles I wrote from attending just one Fashion Week. Listed in the order of their appearance:
- YourStory wanted a simple round-up post with quotes from designers:
https://yourstory.com/weekender/fdci-lakme-fashion-week-manish-malhotra-jj-valaya-satya-paul/amp
- The Patriot, which is a niche lifestyle publication based in Delhi, accepted my idea on how sustainability shined on the ramp at Fashion Week
- New Indian Express was keen to highlight the top five trends noticed on the runways this season
https://www.newindianexpress.com/lifestyle/fashion/2022/apr/10/whats-haute-whats-nought-2439258.html
- Firstpost published my wry observations on the changing nature of Fashion Week, where fashion journalists got second-class treatment by the organisers and designers in comparison to self-styled fashion influencers
- Blogchatter liked my thoughts on plus-size representation on the ramp
https://www.theblogchatter.com/fashion-week-plus-size-fashion
- The sixth post, dear friends, is this one, because tooting one’s own horn is also important at times (especially if one has worked so hard for it!)
I’m currently in the midst of writing my fifth article on the India Art Fair, but this time it was all for Firstpost. Changing the tonality and subject matter as per publication is tough at first, but as with everything in life, becomes easier with practice. This is why I’m highlighting Fashion Week, even as I plunge in to bigger and better events and lots more coverage of them.
Wish me luck folks and I wish you the same!
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