Mumbai / New Delhi
March 2021
The fashion business in India is in top gear as the two major fashion bodies – Lakmé Fashion Week (LFW) jointly organised by Lakmé & RISE Worldwide (formerly IMG Reliance); and Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI) have joined hands to start the phygital fashion week today on 16 March 2021. Designers from Mumbai and Delhi will both be participating in the event. The opening show is scheduled for 8pm today, where designer Anamika Khanna is set to present her latest collection ‘Timeless the World’.
The six day event scheduled from 16-21 March, 2021, will culminate with the Lakmé Absolute Grand Finale on 21st March. The event will also feature the prestigious talent discovery programme GenNext for designers as well as promote modelling talent through FDCI’s #GetNoticed Model Hunt besides other innovations. Both FDCI and LFW will continue their buyer programmes launched last season as well.
The leather-free Sustainable Fashion Day showcases (SFD at FDCI x LFW) are scheduled on the third day of the fashion week, on Thursday, 18 March. The shows are as follows.
4pm – R|ElanTM presents Circular Design Challenge (CDC) in partnership with United Nations Environment Programme. Six shortlisted fashion entrepreneurs are competing for the award through a pitch presentation that will be judged by a panel including Atul Bagai – Head Country Office India UNEP, Giulio Bonazzi – CEO Aquafil, Dia Mirza – Actor, Producer, Advocate – United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Goodwill Ambassador – United Nations Environment Programme, Orsola De Castro – Cofounder Fashion Revolution; Amit Aggarwal – Creative Director Amit Aggarwal. The winner will be felicitated with a 20-lakh cash prize, presented by R|ElanTM to build their sustainable fashion brand and get to showcase at the next edition of the fashion event. This edition will also see an additional recognition, R|ElanTM Award for Excellence in Circularity, to one of the finalists for outstanding innovation in circular fashion.
5pm – PETA India Presents Killer Looks Without Killing Animals. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India will showcase a lookbook of a conscious, leather-free wardrobe by curating multiple brands. The lookbook features a day in the life of two of PETA India’s ambassadors, in a variety of vegan outfits, for date night, office wear, leisure, and athleisure. Some of the brands featured here will include Urvashi Kaur, Outhouse, Papa Don’t Preach, Kunal Anil Tanna, Jenjum Gadi, No Nasties, etc.
6pm – Cocccon A Circular Story Of Peace Silk. Indo-German designer duo Prakash and Georg for the label Cocccon will present their collection Purn Vritt made of organically produced peace silk, where silkworm completes their full life cycle and become beautiful butterflies. Sericulture is performed under strict organic procedures, including zero carbon measures. Patterns of this collection are made using zero waste techniques. This collection is plastic free (crude oil free) in terms of auxiliaries. Materials such as Silicon/ plastic boning, polyester mesh can-can, chemical adhesive-based fusing, pasting etc. are avoided, and instead alternative materials are used from natural resources like bamboo or cane. Project Cocccon is GOTS, WFTO, OCS certified and won German Sustainability Award Design 2021.
7pm – Rise Worldwide Presents All About India Featuring – Chola | Huemn | Khanijo. The second edition of ‘All About India’ is a project that not only brings about designer & cluster collaborations to revive crafts but also curates designer showcases . Three designers, Chola, Heumn, Khanijo through this showcase will attempt to break stereotypes assigned to sustainable fashion.
8pm – Payal Pratap and at 9pm – Ritu Kumar
The last day, Sunday 21 March, is dedicated to Pearl Academy of Fashion’s students. Scheduled at 4pm, the FDCI x Pearl Academy First Cut show titled ‘Gender Me Good’, revolves around gender fluidity as expression of self.
All shows are freely available for viewing online on the website and social media links of the FDCI and LFW.
