How Manish Arora went from being 'god' of fashion to failed businessman

 

Manish Arora was the breakout fashion star of India. Today, his business is in tatters, with a trail of debts. What happened?

In September, Manish Arora, a fashion designer once described as the “John Galliano of India,” announced that he was creating a pop-up restaurant in Paris, his adopted hometown, for the Holi festival. An Instagram slide show, featuring the brightly colored maximalism that is the Indian designer’s signature, depicted Mr. Arora with assorted friends sampling traditional Indian snacks.

Days later, he introduced a high-profile fashion collaboration with Amazon India, alongside three more of India’s most celebrated designers: JJ Valaya, Ashish Soni and Suneet Varma. Mr. Arora is also currently a member of the advisory council for the International Woolmark Prize, one of the most prestigious fashion awards in the world.

At first blush, such ventures would seem like savvy lifestyle brand extensions for Mr. Arora, a former creative director of the French fashion house Paco Rabanne and the first Indian designer to make it big in Paris. His aesthetic defined Indian-fusion style for Westerners in the late aughts, with a riotous palette and Indian craft methods like embroidery and appliqué.

But Mr. Arora’s brand partnerships, it turns out, seem to be more like belated attempts to save a business beset by years of chaos and financial troubles than an indication of success.

And his messy downfall has also been particularly disappointing for those who had hoped he would help bring international attention to the quieter but vital layers of the Indian fashion industry — like the anonymous artisans (called karigars) who are responsible for much of the meticulous and beautiful handwork that goes into the garments.

“Fifteen years ago, Manish was almost seen like a god here for being the first Indian fashion designer to break into the global luxury market,” said Sunil Sethi, the president of the Fashion Design Council of India. European high fashion, after all, is famously white and set in its ways, and until recently known more for appropriating ideas from other cultures rather than embracing and celebrating ethnically diverse designers and artisans.