After Life in New York, Banker Returns to India for Turn at Fashion

AS an investment banker in New York City, Poornima Vardhan had all the right clothes: power suits, cocktail dresses and jeans. Then she returned to and realized that her wardrobe was as bland as an American breakfast.

For women like Ms. Vardhan who move easily between Asia and the West, India's vast and vibrant array of traditional clothing styles presents an unusual sartorial challenge. “My wardrobe had to expand by at least 50 percent when I came back,” said Ms. Vardhan, 28. “There's a lot more diversity to the clothing needed in India.”

Ms. Vardhan is one of tens of thousands of recent “repats” - Indians who left for educational or work opportunities abroad but then returned as India's economy began to boom. Such repats often face daunting challenges readjusting to India's chaos and corruption, and many end up leaving India again in frustration.

But women confront an additional challenge that their male counterparts do not: remaking their wardrobes. For Ms. Vardhan, the style adjustment is central to her return. She came back in part because she was convinced that India's rapidly growing retail clothing industry was a perfect business opportunity. She is now the general manager for brand strategy and retail planning for Genesis Colors, a leading Indian fashion house. As part of the job, she has taken charge of the handbag business for Satya Paul, one of the fashion brands managed by Genesis.

“I miss New York, the buzz of the city, the drive and excitement that only New York can offer,” she said. “But Delhi will always be home for me. It's where my family and most of my friends are, and it's amazing being near them again.”

Professionally, going from finance to fashion has been more challenging than she expected. “Now I have to think creatively and have an entrepreneurial mind-set, unlike in investment banking,” she said.

The opportunity in India results not just from the nation's growing economy and rising middle class but because India, unlike most other emerging countries, has managed to retain its clothing traditions even among the upper classes. Although bluejeans are now popular here, their sales are still dwarfed by those of saris.

WHY India's distinctive clothing styles have managed to survive the cultural onslaught from the West is something of a mystery. Untangling that mystery could make some businesses very successful. So, too, could predicting which of India's remarkable styles will not only survive over the long term here, but also win adoption in the rest of the world. Ms. Vardhan is hoping that one of those businesses will be Genesis Colors.

And so Ms. Vardhan is expanding her own wardrobe, trying to fully embrace some of the bright colors and elegant silhouettes of India's traditional clothing. Having a foot in two worlds also means owning a lot of shoes.

While some returnees complain about needing more closet space, that has not been a problem for Ms. Vardhan. She recently moved out of her parents' house and into a two-bedroom apartment of her own, somewhat unusual for a single woman in India. Her father owns an aviation consulting business and her mother is a teacher. Her sister lives in London and works as a business strategy consultant.

Standing in her nearly empty apartment in Gurgaon, a rapidly growing neighborhood south of New Delhi, she described one of her first purchases after arriving home in April. It was a bright yellow sleeveless cotton kurta with white churidar pajamas. “I bought several of these outfits right after I moved back,” Ms. Vardhan said. “And it's what I wear on a regular basis to work.”

Kurtas are long shirts with split front and back panels that usually extend to mid-thigh; they are worn by both men and women. Churidar pajamas are light cotton pants with wide drawstring waists and narrow leggings that bunch at the ankles.

Together, the pieces make an outfit, churidar-kurta. Like the similar shalwar kameez, it is both modest and cool, essential in a place where summertime temperatures routinely reach 120 degrees. Ms. Vardhan's pajamas are so lightweight they are see-through, but the long kurta ensures modesty.

“This is one of my favorite outfits,” she said.

Modesty is a crucial part of the adjustment to India. While the country has none of the strict clothing laws of some avowedly Muslim nations, a woman's knees are rarely displayed. A group of Muslim clerics in Kashmir recently demanded that female tourists refrain from wearing shorts. In Delhi, few weeks pass without some report of a woman being gang-raped, and even some prominent Indian women blame the victims if they happen to have been wearing clothing deemed immodest.

“A complete no-no in Indian modesty is to show legs,” said Mukulika Banerjee, a professor of anthropology at the London School of Economics and Political Science and co-author of “The Sari.” “Cleavage is fine but not legs.”