Fashion Week, Day 2: Designers make waste look uber-cool

The second day of Lakme Fashion Week X FDCI was dedicated to sustainability, with designers showing off their creative chops with mindful clothing and garments designed from leftovers and waste. Have a look.
Abraham & Thakore

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The designer duo gave us a lesson on upcycling by using laser-cut sequins from discarded X-rays. Titled Finding Beauty, they made clothes from everyday ephemera that caught everyone’s fancy. Bin bags, toffee wrappers, kitchen foil and rice sacks found their place in skirts, sarees and co-ord sets. Actor Shefali Shah strutted the ramp for the designers in a saree with long-sleeved blouse and a belt cinched at the waist.

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Hailing from a small town and finding a spot in the GenNext show, designers Saurabh Maurya and Ranjit Yadav have come a long way. For their latest outing, they used a quilting technique from Gujarat called Sujani. They made use of recycled wool boucle, cotton twill checks, and Bamberg lining for pants.

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Designer Ujjawal Dubey of Antar-Agni stuck to what he does best- reinventing fluidity and structure in menswear tailoring. His core aesthetic remained the same but the presentation was certainly hard-hitting. He toyed with drapes, but it wasn’t something that we have not seen him do before.

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Ritwik Khanna of Rkivecity was the winner of this year’s Circular Design Challenge and the award was quite well deserved as his upcyling of denims are not only functional but also au courant. Ritwik has transformed discarded vintage clothing into contemporary, upcycled pieces using innovative techniques such as fabric manipulation and patchwork paneling.

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By repurposing discarded textiles, Fan Yu’s collection embodied a commitment to environmental responsibility and social consciousness. The designer sourced fabric waste from local Japanese enterprises like Kimono, life jackets, vehicle airbags and parafoil kites.

With the sad demise of business titan Ratan Naval Tata, the organizers at Lakme Fashion Week X FDCI paid their tribute to him before commencing any show.