Style, glamour set to take centrstage at LFW

With an aim to set new benchmarks in the Indian fashion industry and provide a platform to budding designers, Lakme Fashion Week Summer-Resort kicks off from tomorrow.

Currently in its 18th year, the fashion trade event, features a stellar line-up of shows, designing world heavyweights like Ritu Kumar, Tarun Tahiliani, Anita Dongre and creative presentations by several young and upcoming designers.

This time 50 models are set to make their runway dream into a reality by making their debut on the ramp.

In a first for a fashion week in India, transgender model from Nepal Anjali Lama and international gender neutral model Petr Nitka are set to walk the ramp for different designers during the course of five days of the event.

Indian-American supermodel, actress and author Padma Lakshmi is set to turn showstopper for ace designer Tarun Tahiliani and Bollywood actress Kareena Kapoor Khan, who welcomed her son, Taimur, in December last year, will return to the fashion ramp.

International model Varsha Thapa is also part of the model pool this year. International make-up artist and LFW's official make-up expert, Donald Simrock will make a return after a successful session last season.

While Monisha Jaising opened the week with her cruise show last month, the extravaganza will culminate with the grand finale show to be presented by couturier Dongre, who has kept the rich heritage of India alive through her clothes.

The second day of the event will be traditionally dedicated to the artisans of the country with the focus on sustainable fashion.

The Sustainable Man Show will feature leading designers - Rajesh Pratap Singh, Abraham and Thakore and Aneeth Arora.

This time there is a special focus on the 'Artisans of Kutch'.

Stage One will this season has been renamed as 'Studio' and emerging designers such as Naushad Ali, Jayanti Reddy, Gaurav Khanijo, Sohaya Misra, Paridhi Jaipuria will be showcasing their Summer/Resort 2017 collections here.

Established names like Dev R Nil, Savio Jon, Sanjukta Dutta and Mandeep Nagi among others will also be participating in this space with their individual artistic initiatives.

The 5 labels making their debut this year are Ishanee Mukherjee and Anirudh Chawla "Poochki", Pallavi Singh "Arcvsh", Nakita Singh, Soumodeep Dutta and Resham Karamchandani and Sanya Suri "The Pot Plant".

Other than the many fashion firsts, this time the venue has shifted from St Regis to the JioGarden at Bandra Kurla Complex.