India fashion week at 25: what is holding back its grand ambitions?

Final week marked 25 years of vogue weeks in India, and that would come with Mumbai’s Bollywood powered Lakmé Vogue Week (LFW) and Vogue Design Council of India (FDCI) supported Delhi Vogue Week. Only for comparability: Paris is in its 52nd 12 months, Milan in its 66th, and New York, in its present format, is within the thirty second. Its legendary determine, Fern Mallis, is commonly credited with creating the format upon which Indian, Moscow and Berlin constructed their respective vogue weeks.

India’s vogue weeks are comparatively younger, however not so younger that we are able to’t be self accountable. And a silver jubilee is an effective event to look again — and ahead.

Indian-origin American actor Kal Penn hosted the night on the Jio Conference Centre; Lakmé veteran, actor and crowd favorite Kareena Kapoor Khan took to the stage to announce her return to the model and the ramp. However the loudest laughs have been reserved for LFW head and Reliance Manufacturers’ Group Vice President Jaspreet Chandok’s quip that the night’s seating was determined by AI, not his group.

An A-list roster of 30 Indian designers, together with veterans akin to Anamika Khanna, Suneet Varma, Tarun Tahiliani, Sanjay Garg’s Uncooked Mango, but in addition youthful creatives akin to Bodice, and Jason & Anshu, showcased two archival seems to be from their previous finale collections. A star was lacking, although. Sabyasachi Mukherjee, of the eponymous vogue home, who received his begin at LFW, celebrated his personal twenty fifth 12 months this January, with what is taken into account the ‘present of 2025’.

The designer line up
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Courtesy FDCI x Lakme Vogue Week

“We have to function as an business, and never as particular person entities, if we would like the style week format to develop. Manufacturers should commit to point out as a part of the official calendar persistently, 12 months after 12 months — simply as is the usual at worldwide vogue weeks.”Rahul MishraDesigner

Wanting again

“I lived this present for the final three months, combing by, recreating, and remodeling these archival items,” shared senior stylist Gautam Kalra, who labored on the gala present. It was not simply nostalgia; Kalra and the designers revisited a time when Indian vogue weeks weren’t as closely bridal-focused. True followers will bear in mind Tahiliani’s jewelled T-shirts and Malini Ramani’s all-year-round resort glam.

Rahul Mishra’s present
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The chosen items have been glamorous, and in some circumstances, recreated from reminiscence as a result of many designers haven’t maintained formal archives. It was fascinating to witness early experiments, such because the now-ubiquitous breastplate by Suneet Varma, or the cheeky throwback to the gold sling Manish Malhotra initially designed for Shah Rukh Khan in 2009 — a practical accent from when the famous person agreed to shut the LFW present with a fractured hand. Equally particular was seeing archival lehengas from the doyenne of Indian vogue, Ritu Kumar, who hardly ever opens up her atelier to the style crowd.

Anamika Khanna’s designs
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Courtesy FDCI x Lakme Vogue Week

Enterprise of runways

Over time, questions have routinely popped up concerning the relevance of vogue weeks: some discover the format ineffectual for worldwide consumers, others are discovering extra alternatives in newer platforms, and some are disenchanted with sponsorship and every thing that comes with it. “The promise of vogue weeks from say 15 years in the past has been considerably eroded since social media, influencer tradition and the undue significance given to Bollywood showstoppers. Exhibits nonetheless should be critically evaluated,” veteran couturier and FDCI founding member Tahiliani — who in 2003 grew to become the primary Indian designer to showcase at Milan Vogue Week — minces no phrases.

Designer Tarun Tahiliani at Lakmé Vogue Week 2025
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However Sunil Sethi, founding father of FDCI, says, “Yr on 12 months, we have now a ready checklist of over 60 manufacturers that wish to be part of the showroom or stalls. If vogue weeks didn’t generate enterprise, we wouldn’t nonetheless have this rush.” He factors out {that a} designer must spend ₹30 lakh to create affect with their very own marketing campaign or present, however a single vogue week present (₹6.5 lakh for a solo, ₹4.5 lakh for a twin, and simply ₹2.5 lakh for a triple slot) gives manufacturers fashions, make-up artists, choreographers, stylists — and that’s not even contemplating unparalleled publicity, content material creation alternative, and gross sales.

(L-R) Milind Soman, Ankita Konwar and Sunil Sethi at designer Namrata Joshipura present
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“Within the early 2000s, designers solely did enterprise of ₹1 crore; within the final 12 months, impartial designers with no company backing have carried out a complete enterprise of ₹20 crore with us,” he says, including that designers should use vogue weeks as a springboard — to showcase at nationwide and worldwide platforms in addition to commerce exhibits.

“Tightly edited collections with a critical POV is the way in which to go forward”Tarun TahilianiCouturier 

Consistency is essential

Younger designers akin to Dhruv Kapoor, who has been persistently exhibiting at Milan Vogue Week since 2022, are targeted on enterprise development, too. “Shifting ahead, India must refine its shopping for patterns and transfer away from the consignment mannequin,” he says. “Younger manufacturers wrestle underneath this format financially — at a juncture when money stream is of utmost significance for rising manufacturers. Collections needs to be bought outright, and multi-brand retailers [MBOs] ought to put money into selling new merchandise.”

Designer Dhruv Kapoor

Kapoor additionally emphasises the excellence between heritage clothes and ready-to-wear collections. “Inviting worldwide consumers to see beautiful heritage clothes makes little sense in the event that they don’t have any market exterior the NRI viewers. If India desires to determine a world presence, its merchandise should be tailor-made for worldwide retail.”

It’s a sentiment that embroidery wizard Rahul Mishra understands all too effectively. “We have to function as an business, and never as particular person entities, if we would like the style week format to develop,” he says, insisting that manufacturers should commit to point out as a part of the official calendar persistently, 12 months after 12 months — simply as is the usual at worldwide vogue weeks. A daily at Paris Vogue Week for 11 years, Mishra acknowledges that regardless of the worldwide platform he enjoys, Indian vogue weeks stay impactful for his enterprise.

Rahul Mishra (proper) with Janhvi Kapoor (centre) at Lakmé Vogue Week
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“By 2030, I hope they’ll garner the identical degree of consideration from worldwide consumers and media. There’s no denying the function of sponsors in subsidising exhibits for us within the nation, however as our business matures, we want extra delicate and artistic methods to collaborate with them — in order that garments and exhibits can nonetheless preserve their integrity.”

There are numerous practicalities to think about, too. Based on Kapoor, whereas rather a lot has been formalised underneath business seniors, rising designers nonetheless require steerage on fundamentals — be it line sheets (a catalogue-like gross sales device for consumers), standardised high quality management, manufacturing, and transport documentation. “These are essential components of constructing a model, but many designers are left to navigate them alone.” Whereas prestigious design colleges could train the fundamentals, vogue weeks stay the true testing floor.

Fashions current creations by FDCI x Pearl Academy
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PTI

“Shifting ahead, India must refine its shopping for patterns and transfer away from the consignment mannequin. Younger manufacturers wrestle underneath this format financially — at a juncture when money stream is of utmost significance for rising manufacturers. Collections needs to be bought outright, and multi-brand retailers [MBOs] ought to put money into selling new merchandise.”Dhruv KapoorDesigner

The query of why

“Indian vogue weeks, now greater than ever, serve a deeper goal. They’re, and needs to be, a platform for cultural concepts that prioritise the native over the worldwide,” says Bandana Tewari. Hailing from Sikkim, the tradition journalist and sustainability advocate has witnessed first-hand how manufacturers dedicated to indigenous practices uphold the integrity of their origins. “The brand new era of designers are storytellers — not simply of merchandise however of immersive cultural experiences. They didn’t develop up in an period of globalisation and homogenisation. As a substitute, their work engages with the ‘invisible’ folks within the provide chain, the time-intensive processes, and the deeper functions of creativity.”

A mannequin presents a group by Somya Goyal
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Reliance’s Chandok, as an illustration, has categorically supported younger expertise, textile-forward designers, and artisans, and was tremendously accountable for reuniting India’s fractured vogue week platforms.

Embracing the longer term

Indian vogue weeks have given us unforgettable moments: Katrina Kaif as Barbie, Akshay Kumar’s notorious Levi’s unbuttoning by Twinkle Khanna, and a really pregnant Kareena Kapoor Khan strolling a Sabyasachi present. Together with Bollywood showstoppers is a apply our business can’t fairly shake off, given its assured return on funding. However designers have additionally delivered thought-provoking showcases: Kallol Datta’s no-front-row experiment in 2016, Rohit Bal’s Kashmiri poetry underneath a crescent moon at Quli Khan’s tomb in 2014, and Antar-Agni’s groundbreaking menswear debut in 2014 with its fluid and draped silhouette.

Fashions current a group by Tahiliani
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Because the Indian business matures, a lot of its authentic tastemakers could have stepped away — or return just for particular exhibits. The main target has shifted to sustainability, and distinctive design languages. Nostalgia has served its goal. Now, it’s time to maneuver ahead.

The author is a Mumbai-based vogue stylist.