Sporting designer style

The Fish Fry collection, the stunning new range of women’s party wear shoes by Reebok India Company created by maverick designer Manish Arora, has come to Calcutta, adding rare razzmatazz to the city’s retail racks.

The collection, showcased as part of Arora’s Spring/Summer 2006 collection at London Fashion Week in September 2005, is now available at the RBK store on Camac Street.

Arora has collaborated with Reebok to design the range of shoes to be sold at “very select” Reebok outlets and Manish Arora Fish Fry stores under the brand name Fish Fry for Reebok. This is the first time an Indian fashion designer has partnered a multinational sports brand.

“The Camac Street outlet, the largest Reebok store in eastern India, has been chosen as one of the privileged platforms to showcase this super-premium line,” says Nikhil M. Upadhye, regional sales manager, east, Reebok India Company. The range is priced between Rs 6,000 and Rs 20,000.

A study in ethno-fluorescence, all the 12 designs in the line have been stylised in leather, suede and specialised fabric cloth to fit in with designer clothes for special occasions. “Reebok is among the leaders in athletic shoes and apparel. I am thrilled to work with them; this helps me reach out to an international audience,” says Arora.

The designer has drawn inspiration from life around him in the teeming urban spaces of India. The bazaar, the architecture, the smells and sensibilities of India find a voice in the palettes and designs that embellish this range of shoes for women. The collection contains ranges depicting names of Bollywood blockbusters like Dil Chahta Hai, Sholay and Swades to woo the trendy GenY.

“We know Bipasha Basu has picked up a pair of Monsoon Wedding (made with worn-out Taiwanese leather and embellished with Swarovski crystals) in Mumbai. In our store, too, the response to Fish Fry has been fabulous and the Jungle Low design is already sold out,” says Dinesh Dugar, Reebok franchisee and owner of the Camac Street store.

Dugar feels Arora’s range, featured in Time magazine, has blended fashion with sport ? Reebok’s core competence ? and added to the lifestyle value on the racks. “In India, Reebok is the largest retailer of sports shoes and apparel, with a market share of 53 per cent, and we are proud to showcase the label’s entire gamut of sportswear in our showroom, which is the largest in eastern India,” Dugar stresses.

From the G-Unit music line to DJ shoes with fronts that glow in the dark, the whole Pump range to the MOA (multiple outdoor activity) shoes to the award-winning Ultra III, decorated by Runners’ Choice magazine, the Camac Street RBK store offers the works.

“This store also showcases the entire NBA collection, including the Answer 9 Pump worn by Philadelphia 76ers star Allen Iverson and other merchandise bearing his name like tees, caps and socks, besides replica jerseys of icons like Yao Ming, Shaq ’Neal and Stojakovic,” confirms Upadhye.

The Camac Street outlet even stocks NFL stuff and the Greg Norman collection of apparel ? T-shirts, golfing shorts, caps and straw hats.

Reebok has launched its line of fitness equipment at the same store, including high-end treadmills, rebounders, speed ropes, medicine balls, dumb-bells and resistance tubes.