Lakmé Fashion Week features sustainability, menswear and celebrities
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On Sunday, 3rd February 2019, Lakmé Fashion Week Summer/Resort 2019, held at Jio Gardens in sunny yet unseasonably pleasant Mumbai, drew to a close, after five days of runway shows, cooperations, awards and celebrities becoming models for a day. Unlike fashion week formats in New York, London, Milan and Paris, Lakmé Fashion Week has always showcased menswear alongside womenswear; a concept, that NYFW is going to try for the first time come Thursday. Apart from dedicated womenswear and co-ed shows, the number of dedicated menswear shows was up slightly this year.
Menswear and womenswear side by side
More than 40 Indian and international designers and labels showcased their latest collections, among them Varun Bahl and Rohit Bal on Day 1, sustainable brands like Rossbelle, Doodlage and Door of Maai on Day 2, upcoming labels like Caste No Bar, Sukriti & Aakriti and SVA by Sonam & Paras Modi on Day 3, established labels like Narendra Kumar and Raghavendra Kumar on Day 4 and Kunal Rawal and Shantanu & Nikhil closing the show on Day 5. A majority of the brands and labels was dedicated to womenswear; about one fourth to womens- and menswear as well as accessoires and less than ten percent exclusively to menswear. Those who missed the runway shows had a chance to see the designs up close in the designers’ showrooms on site.
The finale on the last day was taken over by designer duo Shantanu & Nikhil, right after Bollywood’s favourite designer Kunal Rawal who showed the diversity of his menswear creations also through the ages and ethnicity of this models. “It is almost like being reborn in the world of fashion. We still feel like - ‘Is this really happening to us?’ It is like the ultimate fashion show for us. The feeling is one of as if it is our first and last fashion show. This is the ultimate exam in the fashion world,” enthused designer Shantanu Mehra about the finale position in an interview with Hindustan Times earlier.
Celebrities galore at Lakmé Fashion Week Summer/Resort 2019
Starstruck Indian audiences certainly got their fill of celebrities at this edition of Lakmé Fashion Week as well, with producer/director Karan Johar, actors Bhumi Pednekar and Isabelle Kaif and walking the ramp for Shehla Khan and Bollywood divas Kareena Kapoor Khan, Janhvi Kapoor, Malaika Arora and Soha Ali Khan - among others - walking for Shantanu & Nikhil, Raghavendra Rathore, Manoj Agarwal and Neha Agarwal, respectively. Sports personalities like shuttler PV Sindhu and wrestler Geeta Phogat walked the ramp for Misfit Panda and Rina Singh’s label Eka, respectively.
As in previous years, the second day of the show was the dedicated “Sustainable Fashion Day”, with the Circular Design Challenge Award, India’s first award for sustainable fashion, being awarded to I Was A Sari, Stefano Funari’s label that turns saris into lifestyle clothing. The Weaving Partnership for Change by the UN in India and IMG Reliance, with an Anita Dongre grassroots initiative and fabric and fashion retailer Raymond looked at ‘Sustainable Development for Northeast India’, while Fashion Revolution in collaboration with Lakmé Fashion Week unveiled the “Fash-up” initiative with three brands presenting their upcycled creations.
Sustainable Fashion Day showcases collaborations and awards
In the evening, The Woolmark Company presented its collaboration with high-end fashion label Péro and Kullu-based wool weavers’ co-operative Bhuttico, which culminated in a collection that was a special showcase of ‘Grown in Australia, Made in India’ handmade Merino wool textiles and fashion.
The next edition of Lakmé Fashion Week, which is jointly organised by cosmetics and beauty services brand Lakmé and IMG Reliance Ltd., will take place in August 2019 at the same venue.