Fashion week gone digital
As you may know, over the past few days Lakme have launched their first virtual fashion week.
The digital line-up includes both upcoming and prominent designers, such as Manish Malhotra, Gauri & Nainika, Suneet Verma, Payal Pratap, and Shantanu & Nikhil.
In this seasonless edition, designers present a collection of their choice, through fashion films, and digital shows shot against a green screen in Delhi, Mumbai and other places in between.
As we reflect on the changes that the fashion industry has recently faced with the pandemic and social distancing, in this article we wanted to look at how such circumstances have influenced these runways and how designers have exhibited their collections in the new normal. Is this change here to stay? Can retailers and buyers fully comprehend and invest in collections from afar?
To help share some insight on this, our founder Jackie shared her opinion on the shows that have been broadcasted so far and what trends she predicts in the future from a buyer perspective;
“Historically fashion has provided social and economic commentary and certainly the shows of Lakme 2021 have exhibited just that so far.
For example, the cyclical nature of life and the hope that Anamika Khanna’s show in particualr evokes, combined with her iconic draping and use of natural colours echo this.
Then feelings of constraint and unrest can be seen in the shows of Bloni and Shantanu & Nikhil, with strong lines and a nod to military features.
We’re excited to see what the remaining shows bring us and the overall feeling, personally I feel the creativity and expression that can come from a darker place is often unparalleled, however looking to the future and embracing the optimism of what that may be could put us all in a better place.”
The season started with a digital presentation from veteran designer Anamika Khanna. Her inspiring lines were displayed in an artistic fashion film, that started with artisans creating and designing various looks to help heighten a handcrafted element throughout her floor length coats, fluid pants and asymmetrical tunics.
The Kolkata-based designer told Indian media outlet First Post she was “honoured” to kick off proceedings with the opening show.
Later in the week we logged on to witness another fantastic presentation by Akshat Bansal who really highlighted the concept of gender-fluid indo-western fashion, a growing trend which promotes style experimentation.
Arpita Mehta also showed her first-ever digital show at Lakme Fashion, against a natural backdrop of a summer sea.
This light and relaxed aesthetic juxtaposition beautifully contrasted against the other presentations during that day and shows how such digital formats can really help benefit designers, who want to create unique environments to reflect their designers, but working together in the same space.
A recent article by Vogue discussed such advantages further as well, mentioning that whilst the future of the fashion calendar may be uncertain, each day offers new and exciting challengers for designers to overcome.
Harpers Bazaar also talked about the realistic future of digital fashion week and how with several big labels including Saint Laurent and Gucci already announcing more permanent intentions to leave behind the traditional seasonal calendar, perhaps this is change that is here to stay or at the very least provides an opportunity for designers that wish to create a bespoke show experience whilst also providing a more sustainable, long-term solution.
With lockdown restrictions now starting to ease around the world, we are keen to follow this journey across the next foreseeable months, as we see how virtual shows evolve and social distancing eases.
We predict that digital shows are definitely going to remain as an option many designers wish to continue with, whilst some may wish to go back to the traditional physical format. Either way there is no denying the curiosity that entails if designers are really able to conjure up the same feeling of excitement and electricity as the ‘real’ thing.
We would love to hear what you think about the virtual fashion shows presented at Lakme Fashion Week so far and if you think this offers a more accessible level for everyone, at all levels to watch?
So if you have an opinion that you would love voiced, please get in touch with us today at contact@amrika.co.uk for the chance to be featured in our next piece.
Meanwhile if you want to follow daily updates and behind the scenes content from the shows, be sure to follow Amrika on Instagram.