Lakmé Fashion Week is back with a digital-first, season-fluid, virtual avatar. Launching the first-ever interactive fashion destination in India, LFW is all set to put forth a promising line-up of shows, designers, webinars, and ideas to be streamed online from October 21 to 25. Designers like Pankaj and Nidhi, Kunal Rawal, Amit Aggarwal, Sanjay Garg, Aneeth Arora, JADE, Anushree Reddy, Jayanti Reddy, Gaurang, Disha Patil, Hemang Agrawal among many others will present a combination of breathtaking collection shows and fashion films this season. Moreover, this season’s interactive virtual venue has been specially designed to host state of the art curated shows with top technology, e-commerce, engaging digital content and cyber networking.
This season, the platform will showcase innovations as it embarks on a digital journey with several new, disruptive formats of showcases using advanced technology. Here are some highlights from the first-ever digital and season-fluid fashion week:
VIRTUAL HUB
Audiences can expect to see a showcase area called the ‘runway’ for all designer showcases, fashion film and webinars; a library to access show content ranging from action behind-the-scenes to snippets of shows; a media conference area that exclusively will give Indian and international media direct access to interact with designers and celebrities; as well as an interactive lounge by Lakmé that will allow viewers to engage with its latest beauty collection. Audiences will also enjoy a ‘See Now, Buy Now’ feature that will allow viewers to directly connect with the designer and purchase an outfit immediately after the show.
VIRTUAL SHOWROOM
Lakmé Fashion Week will be launching the ‘Virtual Showroom’ – a first of its kind concept in India to support designers, artisans, and the business of fashion. The Virtual Showroom will be a marketplace platform for designers and artisans to showcase their past and current collections to consumers, enabling B2C sales for inventories that have been stuck due to the pandemic. It will also serve more importantly, as a B2B platform for designers to showcase their future collections and directly get orders from buyers of multi-designer stores across the world.
THE GEN NEXT SHOW
LFW takes forward its pursuit to recognize new and emerging talent through home-grown platforms like the GenNext programme that will give three new designers the chance to showcase their creations this season. For the first time, the programme will be showcasing a fully sustainable collection on day 1 of the soiree as ‘Sustainable Fashion Day’ is going to be celebrated on both day 1 & 2 this season. Not just this, LFW will extend aid to these budding designers in the form of free Virtual showroom stall space and digital support for the next six months to help them market their brands
SUSTAINABLE FASHION DAYS
Since 2012, Lakmé Fashion Week has spearheaded conversations on preserving and promoting Indian handlooms and textiles, championing sustainable fashion as the fashion of the future. Every season, the platform takes pride in reviving indigenous crafts and bringing artisans to the fore through strong and powerful initiatives and programmes. This season, Lakmé Fashion Week furthers its commitment to sustainable fashion by dedicating two days to the celebration of the craft.
Speaking about the upcoming season, Ashwath Swaminathan, Head of Innovations, Lakmé said, “With the first-ever digital edition, Lakmé Fashion Week will continue to create new experiences for audiences and put the spotlight back on the future of fashion. This year the grand finale too will focus on the future of fashion and the details will be shared soon."
Sharing his views, Jaspreet Chandok, Head - Lifestyle Businesses, IMG Reliance Ltd said, “Every year at Lakmé Fashion Week, we strive to make it a platform that encourages and elevates talent and creativity. With a digital platform, we will bridge gaps between national and international audiences while continuing to support and nurture the design community. We are glad to present to fashion enthusiasts the first-ever digital edition of the platform with the best of talent gracing the virtual runway.”
