The fashion industry in India has undergone a sea of changes that demand designers and other subsidiaries of the industry to be more cognisant of the entrepreneurial aspects today than they were 20 years ago. A recent YFLO session that was aptly titled ‘The Business of Fashion’ — that saw chairperson Soni Jain in conversation with designer Payal Singhal and celebrity stylist Mohit Rai— touched upon this.

The discussion began with how Payal and Mohit started off their journey, and moved on to the evolution of fashion over time, the arrival of the styling industry, entrepreneurship within the apparel industry , to how fashion and styling became more about being comfortable than following trends blindly, all the thanks to the dos and don’ts of the style industry, and about collaborations within the apparel industry to grow big.

“We have tons of girls members running their own fashion labels, so we focused tons on getting insight into the business and entrepreneurial a part of fashion. That, including all the styling advice, made it an all-encompassing event. The shopping that followed was perfect to form it an entire fashion event,” said Soni Jain (below). Excerpts: