‘Growing number of designers has made fashion market tough’

Designer Ridhi Mehra, who has completed five years in the fashion industry, feels that the growing number of designers everyday has made the fashion market tough not only for newcomers but for established ones too.

“With the ever growing number of designers, the market has become tough not only for newcomers but emerging & established designers as well. Rising costs, lower margins and keeping prices in the same bracket as younger designers has made the market a difficult one,” Mehra told IANS.

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The designer’s style has been adorned by Bollywood faces like Sonam Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Deepika Padukone, Sonakshi Sinha, Alia Bhatt, Priyanka Chopra, Anushka Sharma, Parineeti Chopra and Madhuri Dixit.

After graduating from NIFT and the School of Management at the University of Nottingham, this Delhi based designer started her eponymous label in December 2012 and has been actively participating in Lakme Fashion Week (LFW) in Mumbai.

Talking about her expansion plans, she said: “I am expanding my international market via luxury retail stores and the online stores. I am also looking forward to working on many more exciting social media campaigns.”

She says that her journey has been incredible so far with few ups and downs.

“It’s been an incredible past few years with a few downs like demonetisation and recession. Circumstances like these challenge us as both designers and businesses to find a way to beat the downs and make it to the top,” she said.

Mehra also feels that “there is a lot more competition” now.

“Young designers and small boutiques are blatantly ripping off designers which make cheap knock offs easily available…,” said the designer.