Remember the plagiarism war between two designers over a costume worn by Rani Mukherjee in ‘Bunty aur Babli’? While the Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI) could only offer counselling then and court proceedings delayed as usual, here is a new body that will solve problems relating to retail business faster.

Called Indiluxe Retail Council of India, the NGO has been set up to safeguard the interests of fashion houses and luxury retail stores. While the FDCI is a committee formed for individual designers, Indiluxe aims to be the voice of specialist retail houses in India. And Bangalore’s fashion pitstop ffolio has already joined them.

The council aims to be a forum for the industry to address some of its critical concerns—protection of creative rights of designers represented by fashion retail stores, steps to prevent plagiarism, guidelines and policies on markdowns of all designer goods, prevention of unethical practices towards infringement of trained staff, among others.

Headquartered in Mumbai, Indiluxe is the brainchild of Pradeep Hirani, chairman of Kimaya boutique. Explaining the need for such a council, Pradeep told Metrolife, “There are 200 qualified designers in the country and only eight to 10 fashion houses. If the industry needs to grow, the number of fashion houses must multiply. But they are loose cannons with no direction. There is great glam but where’s the business?”

Pradeep had commissioned a study to create Indiluxe. “I personally studied councils like Ultra Gama in Italy and Luxury Retail Council of Canada. Indiluxe is based on these business models. Indiluxe is one voice, providing uniform policies, liaisons with government, trade and art and craft bodies in India,” he explains.

But how rampant is plagiarism in India and how will Indiluxe intervene? “Plagiarism is the biggest concern today and we are the only organisation to cure it. Indian copyright laws are archaic. Design bodies only counsel and have no actual powers. If Indiluxe members find malpractices, we will boycott the designer and disallow him from our stores,” asserts Pradeep.

Plagiarism is not the only concern that Indiluxe will deal with. Sanjay Shroff of ffolio, member and treasurer, reveals that the subject to be addressed first will be the rising prices of real estate. He says, “We will study whether the costs are real, whether to look at pricing or talk to developers. Retail problems are different. Retailers Association of India is too large a body to deal with our minor issues. With Indiluxe, the industry will become transparent and organised.”

Pradeep adds that lack of a high street in India is another issue to be addressed. He says, “We don’t have a single fashion street like the 5th Avenue or Rodeo Drive. India has the creativity, talent and infrastructure. But no single voice. Now we will address it.”

Membership details
Membership is on invitation only and categories include specialist fashion houses, fashion designers with stand-alone stores, lifestyle and furniture stores, luxury leather goods and international luxury brands. At present, it only caters to fashion houses with members like Ogaan, Mogra, Ensemble, Fuel, Samsaara and ffolio. Designers with their own stores like Rohit Bal and Tarun Tahiliani will join them soon. Pradeep explains, “We will study the background and the ethical standards of the candidate. All interested can apply online at www.indiluxe.org.”

Priya Vasudevan of Collage boutique says she would love to join Indiluxe but believes that designers must a be a part of it too. “Both designers and fashion houses must be members because it takes two to tango. Sometimes designers alter the mark-ups or the store. I have faced problems with designers fixing different prices for different stores in the same city. Indiluxe could help in ensuring uniform prices.”

The agenda for the members this year includes seminars, workshops, events for design schools and more. “At micro level, there will be healthy competition between members. At the macro level, we will be one — a steroid to propel this industry in the right direction, increasing the business of fashion,” ends Pradeep on an ambitious note.