THE CURTAIN RAISER OF LAKME FASHON WEEK (LFW) 2019

MUMBAI, 16th August 2019, (GNI): The year 2000, the start of a new century was also a landmark year for Indian fashion. It marked the start of Lakmé Fashion Week with the aim to put India on the global fashion map. Lakmé Fashion Week (LFW) has since grown from strength to strength with every season. From 33 designers in 2000, to now being a mega year-long platform featuring over 200 labels, Lakmé Fashion Week is also the most digitally followed fashion platform in the world. 

The premier fashion platform kickstarted its 20th anniversary with a grand celebration that was attended by stars, designers, stylists, fashion influencers and many of the faces that have been the pillars of brand over the 20 years.

Continuing the tradition of putting forward the best in fashion and innovation, the premier fashion platform is set to showcase a promising line-up of designers and creative presentations with its Winter/Festive 2019 edition from 21st August to 25th August, at St. Regis in Mumbai starting with an opening show on 20th August.

Since its inception, Lakmé Fashion Week has strived to nurture and promote young talent, taken the lead on the digital front, been at the helm of initiating conversations on beauty and inclusivity and continues to excel by innovation as a global fashion platform. This season too, Lakmé Fashion Week takes forward its pursuit to recognize new and emerging talent through home-grown platforms like the Gen Next programme and smartwater presents ‘The Platform’ that will give new and upcoming designers the chance to showcase their creations. After a successful first-time association, Diamond Producers Association will return with ‘The Real Cut – Season 2’, a program that enables Diamond jewellery designers to collaborate with emerging fashion designers. aLL-The Plus Size Store, will host a plus size showcase in collaboration with designer Rina Dhaka.  

Taking forward the legacy of giving fresh faces a chance to walk the ramp, LFW took its model hunt to Bangalore, Jaipur, Guwahati, giving six models the chance to make their runway debut this season. For the first time ever, the participating models competed for the opportunity to feature in Lakmé’s digital content. The aspirants also competed for the chance to bag a contract with IMG Models, international leader in talent discovery and model management. aLL-The Plus Size Store hosted auditions in Delhi, giving 21 plus sized individuals the opportunity to walk the ramp for the aLL plus size show

Namrata Soni & Daniel Bauer will make their presence with their magical strokes as hair and makeup artists at the upcoming season of Lakmé Fashion Week.

LOOKING THROUGH THE LENS | HIGHLIGHTS OF LAKMÉ FASHION WEEK WINTER/FESTIVE 2019:

The star line up of the season includes Abraham & Thakore, Rohit Gandhi & Rahul Khanna, Amit Aggarwal, Narendra Kumar, Payal Singhal, Nachiket Barve, Sonam and Paras Modi.

v  GAURI AND NAINIKA AS THE LAKMÉ ABSOLUTE GRAND FINALE DESIGNERS

Lakmé Fashion Week Winter/Festive 2019 will witness the return of Gauri and Nainika, this time as the Lakmé Absolute Grand Finale Designers. This season, the pair is all set to bring alive Lakmé, the country’s most iconic beauty brand’s beauty theme, ‘Free Your Lips’. Glamorous, elegant and chic define designer duo, Gauri & Nainika’s style of fashion. Their elegant work is inspired by European fashion, history, art and even old Hollywood. Their fiercely feminine Finale collection will draw inspiration from the power dressing of the 80s to the golden era, reflecting styles which are fun, free and bold. Outfits will reflect sharp detailing, dramatic silhouettes, vintage botanical illustrations and intricate hand embroideries with hints of shimmer in strikingly bold colors, promise to make the Finale larger than life.

v  OPENING SHOW BY MANISH MALHOTRA

Iconic designer Manish Malhotra returns to Lakmé Fashion Week, with an opening show at Famous Studio, Mumbai in partnership with Love & Care on 20th August, 2019.

v  DESIGNERS ENHANCING THE GLAMOUR QUOTIENT

The Winter/Festive 2019 edition also makes way for the country’s most glamorous designers such as Sonam and Paras Modi, Riddhi Mehra, Kunal Rawal, Ritu Kumar to name a few.

Rohit Gandhi and Rahul Khanna return to Lakmé Fashion Week after a decade in association with NEXA to present a collection that is a perfect balance of dreaminess and luxury with geometric patterns, metallic hues and luxurious fabrics.

v  INIFD PRESENTS GEN NEXT SHOW

INIFD will once again be the official knowledge partner for Lakmé Fashion Week and will present the prestigious Gen Next program at Lakmé Fashion Week Winter/Festive 2019. The five labels making their debut are Amaare, Anatomy, Little Things Studio, Noié Noéi, Ura Maku and Zilzom.

v  SUSTAINABLE FASHION DAY

Sustainable Fashion Day is a property that celebrates the rich heritage of Indian handloom and indigenous craft season after season. With a special focus on the environment, artisans and weavers, Sustainable Fashion Day (SFD) on 22rd August, will bring to life the magic of Indian heritage crafts.

Highlights below:

CIRCULAR CHANGEMAKERS: Circular Design Challenge (CDC), India’s largest Sustainable Fashion Award launched by Lakmé Fashion Week in association with R|ElanTM “Fashion For Earth”, UN Environment with support from Circular Apparel Innovation Factory (CAIF), an initiative by Intellecap, have come together to launch ‘Circular Changemakers’ – India’s first investment readiness program for circular & sustainable fashion start-ups. Out of 76 applications received, 6 changemakers have been selected to participate in a 3-day intensive boot camp on capital raising, financial & business modelling and investor pitch training. Changemakers will present their pitch to a jury of investors and industry experts with the aim of enabling strategic investments and partnerships and help businesses overcome challenges to scaling & partnering with industry actors.

KHADI AND VILLAGE INDUSTRIES COMMISSION (KVIC) X ANUJ BHUTANI, KHANIJO & THREE BY PALLAVI DHYANI:

This season Lakmé Fashion Week celebrates 150 years of Mahatma Gandhi with a special collaboration between KVIC and three designer labels Anuj Bhutani, Khanijo & Three by Pallavi Dhyani who will create a special collection with hand-spun and hand-woven Khadi fabrics. As a part of this collaboration, all 3 designers will create a special capsule collection of 6 retail pieces that will be available at KVIC stores across the country. The designers will also engage in design intervention and mentor one cluster each in rural areas under KVIC.

LENZING™ ECOVERO™ PRESENTS ABRAHAM AND THAKORE: Lenzing™ collaborates with prominent designer duo Abraham and Thakore at Lakmé Fashion Week. This season, the designers leverage one of the world’s most eco-friendly fibres, EcoVero™. Derived from certified renewable wood sources using an eco-responsible production process by meeting high environmental standards, LENZING™ EcoVero™ fibres tailor to a sustainable lifestyle, contributing to a cleaner environment.

For this collection, A&T investigate and celebrate the ‘kurta’, an iconic Indian garment. A&T combines state of art manufacturing technology of sustainable EcoVero™ fabric with timeless wooden hand block, bringing together a futuristic technology with an ancient textile tradition first documented in India in the Harappan period.

Studio at Lakmé Fashion Week is an experimental space for conceptual presentations in formats that promote thought provoking collections by fashion & textile designers and artists. The Studio is a space fashion, art, music, technology, theatre and various creative disciplines converge and inspires designers & artists. Some of the designers this season include Fashion meets performance art featuring the Pot Plant and Poochki, Corozo – Vegan Ivory X Ka-Sha Supported By Proecuador, Tahweave, Hamleys Ramp Camp, Simba X Kanika Goyal, Narendra Kumar.

Every season Lakmé Fashion Week is known to set an unparalleled benchmark of inclusivity. Keeping up the momentum, this season makes way for industry stories on the evolution of fashion, upcycling and sustainability initiatives in the country. Initiatives such as the aLL – the plus size store present aLL Primero by Rina Dhaka will once again push the envelope while embracing and endorsing inclusivity in fashion.

Speaking about the upcoming season, Ashwath Swaminathan, Head of Innovations, Lakmé said, “We are excited about this Finale because this season our theme of #FreeYourLips is much more than a beauty trend. It’s the philosophy of brand Lakmé which we are bringing to life via the idea that nothing should weigh you down. Looking forward to Gauri & Nainika’s show that will bring alive lightness with energy in a way never seen before.”

Sharing his views, Jaspreet Chandok, Vice President and Head of Fashion at IMG Reliance said, “It is our endeavour to make each season of Lakmé Fashion Week stand apart in setting new trends in fashion. With our 20th anniversary this year, the event continues to innovate with an exciting mix of new talent, inclusivity in fashion, focus on sustainability and showcases from some of the premier designers in the country.”

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For Live updates and more on upcoming season, follow Lakmé Fashion Week on social media platforms:

Twitter: @LakméfashionwkInstagram: Lakméfashionwk Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LakméFashionWk?fref=ts

YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/user/LakméFashionWk

About Lakmé Fashion Week is jointly organized by Lakmé, the No.1 cosmetics and beauty services brand in India and IMG Reliance Pvt. Ltd., leaders in sports, fashion and entertainment marketing and management.

Lakmé Fashion Week has been conceived and created with a vision to “Redefine the future of fashion and Integrate India into the global fashion world.” Lakmé Fashion Week is organized twice every year. For further information log on to http://www.Lakméfashionweek.co.in

About Lakmé, is India’s no.1 colour cosmetics and leading premium skincare brand from Hindustan Unilever Ltd. Lakmé has been the pioneer of the make-up and colour cosmetics in India since 1952 by launching numerous trends leading and high-performance products. Combining international cosmetic technology with an in-depth understanding of the Indian woman’s needs, Lakmé offers women a comprehensive beauty experience through its extensive product portfolio as well as contemporary services at Lakmé Salons, India’s no.1 salon chain

For Further Information log on to www.Lakméindia.com

About IMG Reliance Pvt Ltd. is an equal joint venture between Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), India’s largest and most recognized private sector company, and IMG Worldwide (IMG), global leaders in sports, events, media and fashion.

The joint venture company develops, markets and manages sports, fashion and entertainment in India. Its current assets include India’s premier fashion event, Lakmé Fashion Week, Indian Super League and the Maharashtra Open. IMGR, having recently ventured into Talent Management, represents Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya for worldwide management and marketing representation.ends