The High Commission of India on Monday, September 18th, hosted over 30 Indian fashion designers, both established and emerging, who were to participate in the London Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2018. The reception also had Mr. Adrian Mott, Course Director LST (London School of Trends), Mr. Martyn Roberts, Fashion Scout London and Mr. Anil Khosla, CEO, INIFD as guests. Prominent Indian entrepreneur Shahnaz Husain, the CEO of Shahnaz Herbals Inc., who is best known for her herbal cosmetics, also attended the reception to encourage the young designers.
The Deputy High Commissioner Mr. Dinesh K. Patnaik welcomed the guests and urged them to collaborate and cater to the High Street fashion market globally, as there is an enormous potential market beyond manufacturing solely for big fashion houses or fashion weeks. Furthermore, he linked this with this year’s celebration of India-UK Year of Culture, and said that India’s participation at a large scale event like the London Fashion Week assumes significance in this regard. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 5-F formula - 'Farm to Fibre, Fibre to Fabric, Fabric to Fashion and Fashion to Foreign', also featured in his address to the guests.
On 19th of September, these designers participated in Innovation X: A Portrait of India event organised by London School of Trends, and INIFD and Fashion Scout. Portrait of India was an experiential event celebrating India’s growing fashion industry and the 70th year of the country’s independence. This event was unique as this was the first time in history of international fashion weeks that a day was allocated for celebration of Indian designs and designers, exclusively showcasing the emerging Indian fashion talent.
InnovationX: A Portrait of India celebrated traditional Indian culture with modern design through activities and fashion shows. The core idea was to develop a promotional forum to illuminate the ever-growing Indian fashion talent and to foster links with the UK fashion market. Apart from the ones present at the High Commission at the reception, more Indian designers presented their capsule collections at the Freemasons Hall in collaboration with Fashion Scout and its founder, Martyn Roberts. Fashion Scout is the only platform supported by Mayor of London that gives an opportunity to Non-UK resident designers to showcase during the London Fashion Week. There was a dance performance by Atisha Pratap Singh, a young Kuchipudi classical dancer from Delhi who marked the start of the India Day at the LFW.
