Riding high on the achievements of the previous season, the Advisory Board members of Lakmé Fashion Week (LFW), selected the Gen Next and Emerging Designers for the upcoming LFW Winter/Festive 2010.
With consistent focus on quality, innovation, creativity and commercial viability, the Advisory Board members shortlisted 13 talented designers of which, six were selected to join the Gen Next Designer Programme and seven new designers were chosen for inclusion in the Emerging Designer Programme. Eminent designer Wendell Rodricks returns to mentor the Gen Next designers this season.
This year marks another milestone for LFW as the Gen Next platform completes five years of successful contribution to the business of fashion. LFW showed remarkable growth in the number of Gen Next and Emerging designer applications. This season received 172 Gen Next applications marking a growth of 81 percent and 92 Emerging Designer applications were received, recording a hike of 44 percent as compared to last season. Submissions came from 34 cities across the country and also from London, Dubai, Dhaka and Kowloon.
The eminent panel of LFW Advisory Board including Dr Alka Nishar, Gaurav Mahajan, Narendra Kumar, Pradeep Hirani, Priya Tanna, Sathya Saran, Sangita Kathiwada, Sujata Assomull, Anil Chopra, Ravi Krishnan, N. Rajaram and Sujal Shah welcomed renowned designers Anamika Khanna and Manish Malhotra as they join the LFW Advisory board to select the future faces of fashion.
Anil Chopra, Advisor, Lakme said, “India has a huge market for festive apparel as festivals form an integral part of our culture. Keeping in mind the potential of the market and addressing the need for the season, Lakmé Fashion Week focusses on Winter/Festive for the coming season. We are pleased with not just the enormous increase in applications received in the Gen Next and Emerging categories but also with the quality of talent we have reviewed.”
Sujal Shah, Vice President and Head of Fashion, IMG India said, “Pioneered by Lakme Fashion Week (LFW) in 2006, both Gen Next and Emerging platforms are aimed at discovering and nurturing fashion design talent in India. It was a challenging task to shortlist the best talent as the entries were distinct and competitive.
Gen Next Designers
- Fazal Mahmood & Akanksha Arora (Delhi)
- Jelin George (London)
- Juilee Bendkhale (Delhi)
- Megha & Pragya Samor (Noida)
- Riddhi & Siddhi Mapxencar (Mumbai)
- Ruchika Sachdeva (London)
Emerging Designers
- Pallavi Mohan (Noida)
- Sougat Paul (Mumbai)
- Vikramjit Choudhury (Mumbai)
- Manju Agarwal (Kolkata)
- Atithi Gupta (Delhi)
- Smriti Gupta (Delhi)
- Pooja Kapoor (Delhi)
