The premier fashion platform furthers its commitment towards sustainability by dedicating two days to the celebration of the craft
For almost a decade now, Lakmé Fashion Week has been driving conversations on preserving and promoting Indian handlooms and textiles, adapting to eco-friendly designs, and championing sustainability as the future of the fashion industry. Every season, the platform takes pride in honouring indigenous crafts and bringing artisans to the fore through strong and powerful initiatives and programmes. This season, as Lakmé Fashion Week embraces its first ever season-fluid, virtual edition, the platform has dedicated the first two days of the event to sustainability – the need of the hour for the fashion industry. The platform promises to hold thought-provoking conversations, highlight the rich heritage of Indian textiles, intriguing showcases and never seen before collaborations.
THE SHOWCASES SCHEDULED ON DAY ONE & TWO (21st October – 22nd October) AT LAKMÉ FASHION WEEK ARE:
21ST OCTOBER
4PM | iNIFD presents GENNEXT
Kickstarting the five-day virtual fashion extravaganza, the three winning labels Dhātu Design Studio by Anmol Sharma, MISHÉ by Bhumika & Minakshi Ahluwalia and THE LOOM ART by Aarushi Kilawat will make their debut at Lakmé Fashion Week presented by INIFD on Day 1 of Sustainable Fashion Day. All three designers have sustainability at the core of their design principles, where they work with natural fabrics, make conscious patterns to reduce waste and supports crafts, respectively.
5PM | CIRCULAR DESIGN CHALLENGE presents MALAI
Circular Design Challenge (CDC) is India’s largest sustainable fashion award presented by Reliance’s R | ElanTM “Fashion For Earth,” Lakmé Fashion & United Nations Environment Programme. The winner of CDC 2020 – Malai, has developed a bio composite material made from entirely organic and sustainable bacterial cellulose, grown on agricultural waste sourced from the coconut industry in Southern India. Malai will be showcasing a collection of accessories in an exclusive show at Lakmé Fashion Week.
6PM | GAURANG
National Award-Winning Textile and Fashion Designer Gaurang Shah will be presenting “Taramati” a recreation for the exquisite heritage line of handwoven saree ensembles from the Golconda era, as an artisanal ode to the legendary courtesan of the Seventh Sultan of Golconda Abdulla Qutub Shah – The Ravishing Taramati. Gaurang expresses the vocabulary of these timeless finely woven luxurious Sarees with his unique dramatic signature aesthetics – from the renewal of Exquisite Ikat, Grand Kanchi, Splendid Patan weaves, to the rediscovery of Graceful Kota, Dexterous Kani, Delicate Uppada, Distinctive Benarasi, Elegant Venkatgiri, Preeminent Paithani in the laborious and complex Jamdani weaving.
7PM | IMG RELIANCE presents ALL ABOUT INDIA
As a response to the impact of COVID-19 on marginalised textile clusters, IMG Reliance is facilitating a project called
‘All About India’, to bring about designer & cluster collaborations to revive crafts and thereby livelihoods. A curated showcase of 6 designers will mark the commencement of this project. Established designers namely, Abraham & Thakore, Rajesh Pratap Singh for Satya Paul, Anavila, Suket Dhir, Payal Khandwala & Urvashi Kaur will be presenting key pieces from their collections to spotlight crafts like, Block prints, Ikkat, Katwa & Linen weaving, Brocade, Jamdani, & Shibori respectively, while also talking about the artisans and the clusters they work with as a tribute to their constant support and dedication to their work.
8PM | RAW MANGO
Home to Raw Mango’s Sanjay Garg, a collection drawing from Rajasthan has evolved over the years and perhaps owing to the month’s past, has beckoned with its fond memory and solace. Drawing from the past yet imagined for the future, the traditional aesthetics of folk meet with Marwari garments as a newfound harmony within textiles, silhouettes and colors. Newly introduced techniques include bandhej and the region’s metallic gota. Bold in both color and combination, Rajasthan’s multiplicity of layers lives across textiles and motifs, explored on poshaks, gathered lehengas, jackets and cholis.
22nd OCTOBER
3PM | CIRCULAR CHANGEMAKERS
Circular Changemakers is India’s first investment readiness program for circular & sustainable fashion startups. It is a collaborative initiative between Intellecap’s Circular Apparel Innovation Factory (CAIF), and Circular Design Challenge (CDC), India’s largest sustainable fashion award presented by Reliance’s R | ElanTM “Fashion For Earth”, Lakmé Fashion United Nations Environment Programme. 6 start-ups have been chosen from over 45 entries across India, to make pitches to an esteemed panel after having gone through a rigorous online enterprise bootcamp. The finalists include Infinichains, BigThinx, Phabio, Twirl Store, Desi Hangover & Paiwand Studio, each of them working at different stages in the textile & apparel value chain.
4PM | AW | AMIT WADHWA // KAVERI
Amit Wadhwa is presenting its first ever women’s wear collection by introducing hand spun handwoven sarees in addition to their signature well crafted & constructed silhouettes for men. The festive collection spreads across blacks, browns & blues alongside hues of green, grey & pink.
Kaveri’s festive collection is inspired by the textiles that kept her warm throughout the uncertainties of the lockdown. Her signature linens are wrapped protectively in silk organza that elegantly cocoons the body in addition to drapes, layering, embroideries, and extended hemlines.
5PM | LAKMÉ FASHION WEEK & FASHION OPEN STUDIO present 11.11/Eleven Eleven
Fashion Open Studio is Fashion Revolution’s showcasing initiative of presentations, talks, and workshops with designers, to celebrate the people and processes behind the process of making our clothes. Lakmé Fashion Week joins hands with Fashion Open Studio to spotlight stories from the studios of designer label – 11.11/eleven. Designers Shani Himanshu & Mia Morikawa have curated an equitable supply chain network of climate beneficial indigenous plant and animal based – nonviolent desi yarn for knitters and weavers – energizing the maker’s movement. The film traces the journey of fibre from soil to garment – launching an NFC button offering the potential of radical transparency.
6PM | BEMBERG™ presents TATTVA BY HEMANG AGRAWAL
Hemang Agrawal collaborates with Japanese high technology fibre Bemberg™ to create the exquisite sustainable collection – Tattva, that represents the harmony between 12 elements of the universe. The collection showcases rich brocades and Jacquards using Bemberg™ yarns with signature Hemang Agrawal metallic yarns, depicting the versatility of the yarns through different textiles and apparel silhouettes. Bemberg™ is a pure regenerated cellulose fibre, contributing to sustainability from numerous aspects by establishing production systems that control its impact on the environment and the people involved.
7PM | R|ELAN presents PANKAJ & NIDHI
Pankaj & Nidhi have developed this collection with a special vision in mind and a hope for a brighter future and to fulfil a need for clothing that is comfortable to wear at home or to work, and to holidays and intimate happy times. This is an extended collaboration with R | ELAN ™ , where the designer duo used sustainable fabrics such as GreenGold, made 100% out of recycled plastic PET bottles which have a hand-feel as luxurious as silk.
8PM | PÉRO
Péro’s Spring-Summer 2021 is a subtle take on Japanese street style culture of Harajuku Fashion. It’s for a wearer who loves to have fun with clothing, and keeps their inner child alive, go crazy and play dress up. The color palette for the season is predominantly pastels, with hand painted floral surfaces, with printed and embroidered wreaths and trellises. To compliment the delicate printed and woven motifs, the designer has used a variety of striped hand-woven fabrics from different regions of India including ‘mashru’ a traditional textile from Gujarat, gabardine and taffeta silks from the south of India and transparent and lightweight stripes woven in Banaras.
