India Fashion Awards witnesses launch of new fashion grant for India, celebrates designers

By

Isabelle Crossley

Published
Dec 19, 2022

The third edition of the India Fashion Awards played host to the launch of a new fashion fund to help entrepreneurs in the sector get started. The event also celebrated designers and industry players with awards at a gala evening in New Delhi. 

The event saw the launch of ‘India's First Fashion Only Grant-The Fashion Entrepreneur Fund’, PR Newswire reported. The new grant will be used to identify, inspire, and supportdesigners and creatives. 
 
The awards ceremony was presented by Rajnigandha Pearls and was held at the Andaz by Hyatt in New Delhi with awards categories spanning craftsmanship, handloom, and more. The gala event’s guest list included fashion designers Manish Malhotra and Raghavendra Rathore and the event’s sponsors included Mario Foods and Kuber Shoppe.

“In the last few decades, the Fashion industry has contributed significantly to the growth of the Indian economy,” said India Fashion Awards chairperson Vagish Pathak in a media release. “This promising sector in the country continues to establish new success milestones and industry benchmarks on the global stage of fashion. India Fashion Awards has been curated to spark a fresh wave of excitement and motivation in the fashion industry and confer the right professionals with deserving praise and admiration.”

The jury at the event included Sanjay Nigam, Vagish Pathak, Dia Mirza, Raghavendra Rathore, Nikhil Kamath, Shalini Passi, Maneka Gandhi, Ambika Pillai, Kunal Rawal, Carol Gracias, Tarun Khiwal and Ravi Jaipuria and other names in fashion. Notably, Gaurang Shah won designer of the year for handloom and textiles and Gaurav Gupta won designer of the year for bridal wear fusion. 

“There are iconic designers in the Indian fashion industry who have taken the global fashion stage by storm and received their due honour,” said India Fashion Awards founder Sanjay Nigam. “But, a majority of our unsung heroes of the industry, behind the scene of this new fashion revolution are still waiting for the rightful recognition. The need of the hour is to create more collaborations, repositioning Indian Fashion on global platforms to honour and glorify the tremendous hard work of these unsung heroes. India Fashion Award is an honest attempt to honour and highlight these real heroes' contributions in front of a global audience.”