Lakme Fashion Week x FDCI: Day 2 Was A Celebration of Fashion Woven Into Sustainable Stories

A runway of stories was unveiled in the most beautiful tapestry called Sustainable Fashion Day. Day 2 of Lakme Fashion Week x FDCI went beyond the fashion narrative and created a melange of memorable memories through innovative storytelling.

Contemporary silhouettes embraced culturally rooted craftsmanship in a colour story of emotions. Every collection that graced the runway created a collage of sustainable stories crafted with love.

Beginning the day on a sustainable note, labels Inca, Til and Yavi showcased their respective collections – Love is a Verb, RAY and Recondite Freedom. With each one of the designers showcasing their craft through an array of textiles, colours and patterns, each collection represented what they stood for as designers. The vibrant two-tone hues of Inca, the art meets fashion combination of Til and the print glory of Yavi, every silhouette blended majestically with the designer’s commitment to sustainability.

Another highlight of Yavi’s showcase was when designer Yadvi Agarwal’s father opened the show. According to Yadvi, his father has been a great support in his journey and it only felt right to have him by his side on this big day.

Gaurang Shah, a visionary in the world of textiles, coloured the canvas of crafts with Gulaal. An enchanting soiree of music and dance, the world of Gaurang came alive through 43 ensembles featuring captivating sarees and lehengas. In beautiful shades of pink enhanced with intricate embroideries, each craft chosen by Gaurang was celebrated and highlighted through his muses including Nayanika Chatterjee, Alesia Raut, and Carol Gracias, among others. The cinematic experience of Gaurang’s collection came to life with a soul-stirring performance by singer Hardik Chauhan, who performed live at the showcase.

Fashion is an emotion that makes memories as it moves forward. After the traditionally rich and mystical Gaurang showcase, it was time to play and have some fun with Chola by Sohaya Misra x Tea Culture of the World’s creative collaboration. From timeless black and whites to dynamic shades of matcha, mustard, orange and blues, the collection was one big tea party we didn’t know we needed.

The voice of fashion was loud and clear on Sustainable Fashion Day, when 15 years of Urvashi Kaur was celebrated through a spectacular showcase titled Voices of Urvashi Kaur. As impactful as her muses, which included Ratna Pathak Shah, Tillotama Shome, Rasika Dugal, Mallika Dua, Faraz Ansani, Shweta Tripathi, Santanu Hazarika and her mother, Anupama Singh, Urvashi’s showcase featured an amalgamation of silhouettes that celebrated the mastery of Urvashi’s sustainable design. Archival textiles met Urvashi’s latest collection Pra na, an extension of an ongoing Renew project.

Like they say, with great power comes great responsibility. It is about time we celebrate Sustainable Fashion Day each and every day. Burdened by the weight of our waste, we suffocate under the debris of our own creation. A thought-provoking message displayed at the creative presentation of Without, the winner of the R|Elan presents the Circular Design Challenge in partnership with the United Nations in India.

A vision of Anish Malpani, Without redefines the essence of transformation, where the brand recycles plastic waste like packets of chips into high-end fashion accessories such as sunglasses and earrings. The unique presentation was attended by the crucial members of his team. The ‘Optimisers at Team Without’ were former waste-pickers, who now know how to use injection moulding machines, extruders and lens cutters and work right alongside engineers and scientists.

Be Kind, Rewind, perfectly describes JJV Kapurthala by JJ Valaya’s x R|Elan, and Akaaro’s showcases.

Akaaro by Gaurav Jai Gupta featured unused and scrap yarns which he revisited to create his innovative and versatile collection Moonrise.

The magic of R|Elan fabrics which are made from recycled PET bottles, turned showstoppers in JJV Kapurthala’s collection titled Char. The bridge to luxury line explored sustainable fabric and transformed them into contemporary silhouettes with JJ Valaya’s signature ‘shifting leaves chevron’ prints.

Known for his creative showcases where styling and music take the front-row seat, the fashion show was enhanced with an enthralling performance by singer Bhuwin.

Sustainable collections combined with entertaining showcases, Day 2 of Lakme Fashion Week x FDCI was all about making a difference one stitch at a time.