The stage for “Summer Resort 2016” at India’s fashion extravaganza Lakmé Fashion Week is all set with 90 participating designers and nine sponsors showcasing their collection from 30 March to 3 April at Mumbai’s St. Regis. Now in its 16th year, Lakmé Fashion Week, known for transforming the fashion industry in the country, will witness the best names from the fraternity with the perfect blend of upcoming trends for the season fused with high energy and creativity to set new fashion benchmarks. A curator of Indian fashion, Lakmé Fashion Week or LFW was conceived to take forward the platform’s vision to a larger audience.
Mirroring the global trend of fashion coming together with technology, ElektroCouture, a label based in Berlin that pioneers modified electronic wearable technology will make its Indian debut. The show will open with celebrity fashion and costume designer Manish Malhotra. Malhotra will be showcasing his recent collection which is based on the “Elements of nature – Air, Earth, Fire and Water”. Speaking about the collection, Malhotra said, “As my label turns a new decade, I am excited to unveil my Summer Resort 2016 Collection at LFW. Over the years each of my shows at LFW have grown to be landmark events in their own right. I am excited to be doing the LFW show this season. My collection “Elements” is inspired by nature and brings out the dichotomy of beauty and power present in the four elements – earth, water, air and fire, much like the play of confidence and demureness; tradition and glamour that we see in a contemporary bride.”
Eleven fresh faces have been selected to walk the ramp this season. International talent will also be seen gracing the ramp, including supermodels Azura Skye and Smita Lasrado.
The finale will have ace designer and craftsman Rohit Bal. Renowned globally for his sartorial masterpieces made with meticulous detailing, sophisticated cuts and embellishments, Rohit will showcase his collection based on Lakmé’s beauty trend statement for 2016.
“My collection is inspired by nature and brings out the dichotomy of beauty and power present in the four elements — earth, water, air and fire, much like the play of confidence and demureness; tradition and glamour that we see in a contemporary bride.”
This season at the Lakmé Fashion Week will uphold eco-fashion in India by celebrating the key values of sustainability holistically along with the rich heritage of hand-woven luxury and contemporary aesthetic work of Indian handloom and textile industries. Established designers such as Wendell Rodricks, Swati Kalsi, Paromita Banerjee, Mrinalini, Amrich, Nor Black Nor White, Gaurav Jai Gupta and many others are going to be part of this initiative.
To enhance the fashion experience for its key stakeholders and patrons alike, LFW will have offsite shows at undisclosed locations which will be highly experiential.
Stage One, an experimental space, will infuse concepts of art, technology, sustainability and theatre in fashion. Nineteen emerging designers who are the best of the Gen Next alumni such as Kanika Goyal, Doodlage, Siddharth Bansal, and others from the industry will be showcasing their Summer Resort 2016 collections. Cerebral designers such as ElektroCouture from Germany, 11.11, Prashant Verma, Arjun Saluja and Suket Dhir will be participating in this space with their individual artistic initiatives.
Speaking at the press conference, Purnima Lamba, Head of Innovation at Lakmé said, “For Lakmé’s fashion forecast in summer 2016, avant-garde designer Rohit Bal will craft stunning runway interpretations of “The Illuminate Look” at the LFW Grand Finale. This year marks one of the biggest launches for us at the LFW, as we are not only introducing an illuminating make-up range but also bringing forth the revamped classic Lakmé Perfect Radiance. The high performance products from both these ranges will help you acquire the much desired luminescence of a precious crystal.”
Sharing his views, Saket Dhankar, Vice President and Head of fashion at IMG Reliance said, “Now in its 16th year, LFW is looking outwards, outside of India, at what’s happening in global fashion and at international fashion weeks. We see two key trends emerging – convergence of fashion and technology and focus on sustainable fashion. At LFW, we are continuously trying to reinvent ourselves and have made a conscious decision to promote sustainability in Indian fashion in a big way. Since the “The Indian Handloom and Textile Day” has now been rechristened as “Sustainable and Indian Textile Day,” here at LFW we will promote both sustainability as well as usage of Indian crafts and textiles.”