Lakme’s Fresh Batch Of Gen Next Designers Talk Decade Defining Trends And Their Vision For Indian Fashion
As a fashion journalist, I enjoy the privilege of being at the forefront of all things exciting and trending on the scene. Much like any other job title, there are some things that are absolutely required of me that I wince at (like, proofreading is hell, guys!). And then there are the things that excite me beyond occupational curiosity, most of which have to do with people and their stories. As a young journalist whose fashion college education is not.a distant memory, I also hold a soft spot for young and upcoming talent making their presence known in the industry.
Every year, a few bright and talented designers are given the opportunity to debut their work on a national level with Lakme’s Gen Next fashion show. For someone who has been doing fashion weeks for many seasons now, this particular batch of presentations is always one of my most anticipated shows. The ramps are lit with what the next generation of fashion designers have envisioned for the year and it’s always fun to run into first years attending the shows in their street style best.
This year will be no different. With yet another set of designers geared up to showcase in the fashion week, we thought we’ll get ahead and have a quick tête-à-tête before they become busy worker bees. The 29th batch of designers was picked from over 300 applications and have weighed in on some decade-defining fashion trends from the Indian space…and more!
ALSO READ: Day 4 And 5 Of Lakme Fashion Week Winter/Festive 2019 Decoded
Chandrima Agnihotri
On Trends: The last decade saw many revolutionizing trends and the most influential out of those was the rise of Khadi and handloom. The customer started to give importance not only to comfort but, to the story of the manufacturing and content of the product as well, especially after the rising awareness of sustainability and the impact of the garment industry on the planet. The inclination towards comfort brought in a drastic shift towards relaxed clothing. For instance, the everlasting and skin-hugging churidars were slowly replaced by relaxed pants in Indian wear.
What is also noteworthy as the most influential shift in Indian fashion, is the trend of fusion wear. Fusion wear gained huge popularity in the Indian bridal as well as a ready-to-wear market with a blend of contemporary and vintage style of clothing. Today, every bride wants a twist to her traditional outfit, be it the Anarkali being replaced by gowns or the traditional saree getting a modern pre-draped twist.
Her Fashion Journey: A graduate of Fashion Design from the country’s most prestigious institution, National Institute of Fashion Technology Mumbai, I started my career by working under celebrated designers and pioneers of the Indian fashion industry like Rohit Bal and Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla. After working with Rohit Bal as a senior designer for 6 years, I decided to take the leap towards my ambition and launched my own label C HA N D R I M A in 2019 armed with hard-earned learning coupled with an innovative approach. The label C H A N D R I M A celebrates diversity in cultures and craft-forms by creating ready-to-wear womenswear that is for the urban women of today.
On Her Upcoming Collection: The essence of this ready-to-wear womenswear collection is Cross-Cultural Folk. The collection in its entirety celebrates folklore and diversity in craft-forms by blending together techniques and handloom fabrics prominent in nomadic communities in India along with international style. It is inspired by the distinctive style of embroidery done by the Jat community of Kutch that is based on cross-stitch and is combined with European lace hand cutwork to create a global appeal.
Ananya Modi Jain
On Trends: One of the biggest trends in the Indian fashion industry today is ethics and social consciousness. Brands today design for active customers who want to invest only in mindful products, and this is no longer about just being eco-friendly. Sustainable processes, designers with a vision and fashion that gives the wearer a voice is what I think has swept over the markets today.
This is where All2defy comes in. Stemming from an idea to challenge societal norms like; All2defy is all about bold, vibrant and super comfortable homegrown urban wear – and each piece has something to say. The idea is to create a niche brand inspired by youth culture where the products act as conversation starters that defy social taboos like gender equality and promote free speech.
On Her Fashion Journey: Playing dress-up growing up was the easiest way for me to express myself. I always knew my heart belonged in fashion. I have traveled and experienced international fashion trends and influences, both American and European, courtesy living and learning in New York and Milan. I graduated with a BFA in Womenswear from Parsons, New York and a Masters in Luxury Accessory Design and Management from Istituto Marangoni, Milan. Yet, my Indian roots, values, and aesthetics always emerged strongest. That’s why ‘Made in India’ products became my dream.
Back home, I realised the vacuum of a home-grown premium urban wear brand that was young, vibrant, comfortable, and most importantly, empowered people that wore it. This inspired me to address a socially conscious generation, through a range of eclectic products that remind consumers of their greater responsibility and role in the world.
On Her Upcoming Collection: All2defy’s new drop ‘Woke Up Like This’ redefines youth culture with a dose of sass. The bold and vibrant prints combined with witty graphics are a fresh twist on the classic stripe and plaid. This form and function-driven all-weather collection feature reversible outerwear. The relaxed silhouettes and crafted details make them a wardrobe staple and perfect conversation starters – addressing what is most important today.
Akhil Nagpal
On Trends: The last 10 years in Indian fashion have been about innovation, reinvention, breaking the rules with regards to Indian craftsmanship and textiles and learning what we can achieve with them. The nineties were all about bringing Indian craftsmanship and textiles to the fore again, shaking off our colonial baggage and reintroducing our crafts to the world and us as Indians being proud of our tremendous textile heritage.
The era we’re in now, though, is about being self-confident enough to not be afraid to use our tremendous hand-crafting skills to make truly contemporary and cutting-edge products. Products that are Indian at its core but are very global in its outlook and that can compete with international brands in aesthetics, style and finish and are yet one-of-a-kind in its fabrication and textile work.
I, as creative director of AKHL want to be a part of the movement to bring our hand-crafting techniques to the 21st century. Create garments from textiles that are evocative and modern and yet in sync with 21st-century values of hand-crafted luxury and environmental/social responsibility.
On His Fashion Journey: My earliest memories and exposure to fashion were watching shows by Alexander Mcqueen, John Galliano, and Gianni Versace and just being absolutely spellbound by what I saw and going to bed with those magical images in my head. Somewhere along the way I lost touch with that kid and went on to study business but I realised in business school that I definitely wanted to be an entrepreneur but it had to be creating in my own unique way and voice, like I had seen growing up.
I was working 24X7 after that, studying business during the day and putting together a portfolio to apply to Central Saint Martins in the evening. It was the school some of my greatest heroes like Mcqueen, Kane, Galliano went to and I wouldn’t want to go anywhere else. To my surprise, I got in, and it was there I learned what contemporary fashion and textiles really are and what it takes to create them. I came to Delhi after, to work with masters like Amit Aggarwal and Manish Arora and they taught me the power of Indian craftsmanship and ingenuity.
Lakme Gen Next is a new beginning for me of course, but it’s also a sum of all these amazing experiences I have had.
On His Upcoming Collection:
Our collection for spring/resort 2020 that we’ll be showcasing at Lakme Fashion Week is inspired from two crucial elements.
The first is our concept. We were highly inspired by tensile structures this season, both in art and architecture. We’ve dug out some stunning archival imagery of ground-breaking work of tensile designers and artists like Frei Otto and Barbara Hepworth. Our silhouettes and even the fabrication, orientation and style of our textiles is derived from the imagery we’ve researched.
The second important element of our collection is that we’re trying to redefine what can be created using Indian hand-crafting techniques.
We’ve used zardozi and ari embroidering techniques but with upcycled monofilament and glass yarns, we’re not using any kind of traditional material with these techniques.
We’re also trying to redefine the way in which these techniques are used wherein we do them 3 dimensionally and have the embroideries be more tactile, as opposed to flat, which is what we have traditionally seen.
This collection is also about looking at woven fabrics in an entirely new way, wherein fabrics are woven both on and off the loom, they’re hand inter-laced and treated in different ways so as to completely transform their look and feel.
Ikat and gradient dyeing techniques are seen throughout the collection, but we’ve used them to dye industrial upcycled yarns as opposed to cotton and silk yarns and then completely changed the way we ultimately use these yarns in a fabric or garment.
ALSO READ: All The Looks That Caught Our Eye on Day 3 Of Lakme Fashion Week Winter/Festive 2019
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