Waving his perfectly manicured fingers, his elaborate green tattoo peeping out of the fitted white shirt, Saks Fifth Avenue buyer Michael Fink said: "I'm not here to see pretty clothes. I am not here to see traditional stuff.

"I want to see clothes that speak about a greater vision, about the way we lead our lives in the 21st century, that speak about our spaces and times. I want to see tradition made contemporary. I am here to see real spark and that's not very common.

"Designers from abroad, come, take your fabrics and present extraordinary clothes. What are you guys doing?"

What, indeed?

Each year when the Indian fashion week comes, with its usual doses of rollicking and razzmatazz, there's the usual lamenting of lack of professionalism and three cheers for every Harrods or Selfridges deal.

What's missing in all this brouhaha is perhaps what Indian designers ought to be seriously thinking about if they seek a global platform and audience - what is their core message?

What does the name Rohit Bal stand for? What about Tarun Tahiliani? And Manish Arora? What about Ritu Kumar? Luxury, some would say, heritage, perhaps fun and frolic. The point is that the answers would depend who who's answering.

And that must change.

Indian fashion brands must distil their core messages into a word or a sentence. And then build media messages around that theme.

Recently, sitting at her lush farmhouse, Ritu Beri told me: "You know, if you put lehengas made by all Indian designers on one rack and remove the labels, you won't be able to tell one from the other."

That's the problem. If Indian fashion needs to acquire a global market for itself, it must define what makes it different. What are the core strengths of each designer and how best to refine that into a media message that can go on billboards to TV spots.

Of course things like Look Books for buyers at the fashion week are critical and their absence shows an immaturity and a lack of vision, but far more grave is the lack of definition in Indian fashion.

Indian designers must understand that in a world of bombarding media messages from all sides, they have to stand out not only to prosper, but even to survive.

After the fall of the textile quotas, there has been a lot of talk of whether foreign conglomerates would gobble up Indian designer labels. That, per se, is not a bad thing. An Indian brand might actually benefit using the strong financial and PR push of a giant international parent.

But Indian designers need to understand that Western multinationals would only invest in a brand that has a strong, focused idea and therefore dedicated core clientele. Otherwise, Indian labels would just be bought and used as ideas supplement for international labels.

And the process of gleaning out a core idea has to start today. It is only then that Indian designers can aspire to become international powerhouses and household names.

It is not enough to cater to ever-growing diaspora homesick for Indian attire. Indian fashion must spread its wings and grow a niche around the world.

In fact, even at home as choices pour in for the customer - with everyone from Mango and Zara to Chanel and Gucci entering the market - Indian designers need to send out a strong brand message in order to retain customer loyalty.

The question they need to ask is: what am I offering that no one else is? What is my unique look and feel?

The answers need to be oriented into series of media messages and campaigns that would finally see Indian fashion labels developing real clout and market hold.

Even in the wedding bazaar, I foresee a time when consumers would choose whose trousseau to wear depending on the type of wedding that they are having and the type of people that they are.

There can, and should, be diversity even in tradition.

These are exciting times for Indian fashion.

Indian designers today are working in a brilliantly dynamic age with a country of a billion people metamorphosing before them like never before. Surely, there are enough inspirations to be found in this to make clothes that push the envelope and point to the philosophies of our lives and times.

The path that we now take would determine how posterity would view us. Are we going to herd together or are we to take the path less trodden?

History, historically, is unkind to herds. That's something Indian fashion could do well to remember. And, that it is not enough just to make pretty clothes.

(Sengupta is the author of India Fashion, India's seminal book on the fashion industry. He can be reached at senguptahindol@rediffmail.com)

--Indo-Asian News Service