By Puja Gupta
Mumbai, Aug 22 (IANS) The Lakme Fashion Week Winter/Festive 2019 on its Day 1 on Wednesday was owned by newbies as well as veterans. Many young designers debuted in the industry with this edition of LFW that completed 20 years, while other celebrated their years-long journey in the industry.
Six rising designers namely Sahib Bhatia, Gaurav Singh, Ankita Srivastava, Akanksha Aggarwal, Manjushree Saikia, Stanzin Palmo coming from different parts of the country showcased their contemporary collections inspired by regional traditional wears marked their debut on the LFW ramp with the Gen Next show.
Fresh designers Him Kumari Gurung and Amandeep Singh Dhesi from Chandigarh, Deepali Jain from Hyderabad, Sangeeta Aidasani from Jodhpur, Chitra Singh from Kanpur and Rushikesh Bhivsane from Nasik also marked their entry into the fashion world with the show 'Launchpad' by Inter National Institute of Fashion Design (INIFD).
On the other hand, designer Payal Singhal marked 20 years in the fashion industry. Actors Shibani Dandekar and Farhan Akhtar turned showstoppers for the designer. She said: "I kind of grew on the runway. Lakme Fashion Week and I complete 20 years together. We have grown together. It's very nostalgic for me."
Designer Amit Aggarwal also launched his luxury pret collection called 'Flux' with cricketer Hardik Pandya and actress Lisa Haydon walking the ramp as showstoppers. Aggarwal, who is known for engineering recycled products in his designed garments, has this time tied up with R-Elan - Reliance Industries' textile arm - to create the grandeur pieces in fluid, free flowing fabrics.
Actress Esha Gupta walked the runway for label 'Not So Serious' by designer Pallavi Mohan.
The day also saw labels 'HALF Full CURVE' by Rixi and Tinka Bhatia, Vineet Rahul by Vineet Kataria and Rahul Arya and Saaksha & Kinni on the runway.