Lakmé Fashion Week, one of India’s most prestigious fashion events, has announced the winners of its new fashion program, The Platform, in association with smartwater, in Mumbai.
Unveiled last month, the program serves as a platform to identify and mentor upcoming Indian designers and aims to stimulate and progress an alternative genre of fashion which is unconventional, innovative and fearless.
After successfully completing two highly competitive rounds, designers Ishanee Mukherjee and Anirudh Chawla of ‘Poochki’, Sakshi Swasti Shah of ‘Shanti’ and Kanika Goyal of ‘Kanika Goyal Label’ emerged as the deserving winners. The selected designers will further be trained and mentored by a prominent panel of fashion experts from the industry and will showcase their collections at the upcoming edition of Lakmé Fashion Week Winter/Festive, slated for August this year.
Announcing the winners, Anoop Manohar, GM Marketing, Coca-Cola India said, “We are very encouraged by the wonderful response received by ‘The Platform’, just in its maiden season. This simply reflects the need for such initiatives, to lend the much-needed impetus to the enormously talented new generation of designers. Heartiest congratulations to the 3 winners.”
The program received a pool of over 100 applications from talented designers across the country, which were then judged and selected by an esteemed panel from diverse backgrounds of the fashion fraternity comprising of designer Payal Khandwala, Tina Tahiliani – Director, ENSEMBLE; Nonita Kalra – Editor, Harper’s Bazaar; Sheetal Mallar – photographer and former model; Anoop Manohar – GM Marketing Coca-Cola India and Jaspreet Chandok – Vice President and Head of Fashion, IMG Reliance.
The selected candidates were judged in two parts- first, on their interpretation of smartwater’s core theme ‘Inspired By Clouds’, in the form of texture, fabric, shapes or colour, within their respective collections, and second, on the designers’ quality, innovation, marketability, originality and ability to legitimately take their business to the next level.
“The Platform is yet another step towards Lakmé Fashion Week’s continued effort to promote and nurture deserving talent in the Indian fashion industry. After the success of Gen Next which is the launch pad for new designers at Lakmé Fashion Week, we are excited to launch The Platform together with smartwater and encourage designers who excel in design and creativity.” Jaspreet Chandok, Vice President and Head of Fashion – IMG Reliance, said in a press release.
The winners will be presenting their ‘Inspired by Clouds’ collection for the main showcase at the Lakmé Fashion Week to be held from 22nd to 26th August 2018.
Smartwater is the no.1 premium water brand in the USA, newly launched in India by Coca-Cola India last year.
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