LAKMĒ FASHION WEEK FDCI 25 YEARS INDIAN FASHION RELIANCE BRANDS HOUSE OF LAKMĒ ANAMIKA KHANNA AK|OK SAAKSHA & KINNI FDCI SHOWROOM KHADI INDIA BOY’S CLUB R|ELAN CIRCULAR DESIGN CHALLENGE ASOS FASHION TRUST ARABIA SUNIL SETHI SUNANDA KH NATIONAL
MUMBAI, MAHARASHTRA, INDIA
By IFAB MEDIA - NEWS BUREAU - March 18, 2025 | 154 12 minutes read
- Celebrating 25 years, Lakmē Fashion Week X FDCI is all set to redefine fashion & beauty
Lakmē Fashion Week in partnership with Fashion Design Council Of India will celebrate the 25 year anniversary of the official Fashion Week of India bringing together the best of Indian fashion. The highly anticipated event, presented by the House of Lakmē, the Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI), and Reliance Brands (RBL), will feature a stellar roster of designers, new initiatives by the platform, and path-breaking collaborations that will shape the future of the fashion and beauty industry.
Beginning in 1999 as India’s most prestigious & official fashion week, the event today is a partnership between Lakmē, FDCI and Reliance Brands. Its Summer Resort showcase takes place in March in Mumbai, while the winter Festive show takes place in October in Delhi.
The platform has proved instrumental in crafting the Indian fashion space, responsible for the flourishing of household names like Manish Malhotra, Sabyasachi, Anamika Khanna, Tarun Tahiliani & Rohit Bal as well as launched the careers of designers such as Rahul Mishra, Masaba, Aneetha Arora through the Gen Next program.
Since 1952, the House of Lakmē has been a trailblazer in shaping India’s beauty landscape, empowering women both on and off the runway. Continuing its legacy of championing beauty and fashion as powerful forms of self-expression, Lakmē remains at the forefront of innovation, and bringing trends fashion x beauty trends to India at scale. For 25 years Lakmē has been the one to introduce the next big beauty trend in India - bringing trends at scale in the country, thereby democratizing beauty and innovations in beauty. Lakmē’s collaboration with Lakmē Fashion Week shapes beauty and fashion together for over two and a half decades. While Lakmē Fashion Week introduces the newest in fashion, Lakmē leads the charge to keep beauty trendy - enabling women to be able to experiment and express themselves unapologetically.
The House of Lakmē Grand Opening will open the season with the celebrated designer Anamika Khanna with her pret label AK|OK Anamika Khanna, in partnership with the Lakmē 9to5 Hya-Matte range - designed for the unstoppable modern woman, the multitasker and the boss lady who demands power dressing and beauty that is efficient and long lasting and works as hard as she does. Lakmē Sun Expert will also be presenting The Showstopper Party with emerging label Saaksha & Kinni.
With over 400 members, the Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI) was founded to expand and enrich the nation’s fashion industry by supporting, nurturing, and highlighting India's most exceptional fashion and creative talent. In a country rich in indigenous crafts, where handlooms take pride of place, FDCI remains steadfast in its commitment to promoting the “Made in India” label. Through initiatives like the FDCI Showroom at the event, attendees gain direct access to designers’ latest collections and have the opportunity to engage with them on the ground, fostering a deeper connection to Indian fashion. The perfect culmination of this five-day-long initiative is the FDCI Stockroom, where people can explore and shop designer wear at jaw-dropping prices. FDCI will be presenting 3 curations this season. The first continues their exchange partnership with Moscow Fashion Week with international designer ZA_ZA and their commitment to growth of Khadi with a special showcase with Khadi India featuring Ka-Sha, Nikasha, Niki Mahajan and COEK- Khadi India. The FDCI in its continued support for the growth of menswerar will also feature The Boy’s Club with emerging lables Anurag Gupta, LineTribe_ and roy_calcutta.
Reliance Brands, the driving force behind Lakmē Fashion Week x FDCI, is a key player in India’s luxury and fashion landscape. The organization is deeply committed to nurturing emerging designers and talent while championing sustainability through initiatives like NIF Global Presents GenNext and R|Elan Presents Circular Design Challenge. R|Elan Circular Design Challenge, in partnership with the United Nations in India, has grown from a pioneering initiative to a prominent global platform. This season, CDC Winner Rkive City will be debuting a full collection of pioneer’s sustainability. Additionally, the season will feature a collaboration between R|Elan™ and Namrata Joshipura to create a special Atleisure range. Bringing in an international flavour would be British brand ASOS and a special showcase of Fashion trust Arabia winners Salim Azzam, Kazna Asker and Yousef Akbar. The showcase will form the starting of a year long collaboration with Fashion Trust Arabia where India is the Guest Country this year.
Lakmē Fashion Week x FDCI has always been one of the most awaited and celebrated fashion shows in the country. All showcases will be live-streamed across Lakmē, Lakmē Fashion Week, and FDCI social media channels as well as JioTV on OTT to ensure widespread access to Indian and global fashion audiences.
Commenting on the upcoming season, Sunil Sethi, Chairman, FDCI, said, “It is a privilege to have been associated with the industry this long as the platform turns 25 years. Hopefully, our endeavor to provide a platform over these years for the business of fashion is being realised as we go along the way. This season promises to highlight exceptional design talent on the runway. Our aim is to create a dynamic platform for both established and emerging designers, showcasing their work to industry professionals while fostering new talent through our discovery initiatives. We are eagerly anticipating this season and believe it will elevate the Indian fashion industry to new heights.”
“Beauty and fashion are both fluid, they are not separate choices but are part of a unified statement. Individual expression isn’t either beauty or fashion, alone, it’s the entire look. For our collection each season, we think differently from the start, ensuring trends in fashion seamlessly influence beauty and vice versa. When floral fashion makes a statement, Lakmē brings that influence into beauty like we did with our Rouge Bloom collection last season; when shimmer was all the global rage, Lakmē predicted that trend in beauty, and we debuted our Glitterati collection at the same time as it did on global runways, thus ensuring a cohesive and contemporary aesthetic. By continuously shaping trends and inspiring self-expression, we empower individuals to embrace beauty as a form of personal storytelling, and be unapologetically themselves.
As we commemorate 25 years of Lakmē Fashion Week, we take immense pride in our legacy of shaping the convergence of beauty and fashion in India. With a dynamic confluence of designers, cutting-edge beauty looks, and a continued emphasis on defining trends at scale, we are looking forward to our opening show titled Silver Collar, where we are collaborating with Anamika Khanna AK|OK to bring runway inspired beauty to the daily work wardrobe of the woman at work.” says Sunanda Khaitan, Vice President, Lakmē India
Jaspreet Chandok, Group Vice President, Reliance Brands said, “We are excited to return with an exhilarating line-up, showcasing outstanding design talent from India and around the world. This season will feature a diverse array of influential and visionary creators as we also look ahead to setting an agenda for the next 25 years. We’re grateful for the ongoing support of our valued brand partners and are thrilled to welcome new collaborators to this dynamic journey. With high anticipation, we aim to transform the event into a vibrant epicentre of design, innovation, and sustainability at the iconic Jio World Center.”
The five-day event is set to captivate audiences with an impressive line-up of both breath-taking and unconventional showcases.