Lakmé Fashion Week announces jury, finalists for Circular Design Challenge

By

Isabelle Crossley

Published
Feb 11, 2020

Lakmé  Fashion Week has announced its jury and finalists for sustainable fashion award the ‘Circular Design Challenge’, as the fashion week brings together global sustainable fashion leaders in Mumbai.

 
LFW, which kicks off at JioWorld Garden on Wednesday, will hold a live final for its Circular Design Challenge on Thursday, the event announced on Facebook. At the final, the jury will asses live pitches and proof of concepts from a group of five finalists and choose a winner, who will receive funding and mentoring to help scale up their sustainable fashion brand. 
 
The jury features content director, sustainability at Neonyt Max Gilgenmann; programme manager for the United Nations Environment Programme Divya Datt; editorial director for Paper Magazine Mickey Boardman; creative director of clothing brand Abraham & Thakore David Abraham; and Trust for Retailers and Retail Associates of India founder and Shoppers Stop chairman BS Nagesh.

The Circular Design Challenge sees LFW collaborate with Reliance Industries’ sustainable textile brand R Elan and the United Nations. Ahead of the final, the five shortlisted designers and brands have been undergoing mentoring by a group of fashion leaders, including style mentor Ekta Rajani, business pitch mentor Siddharth Lulla, and personality mentor and show director, Neeraj Gaba, R Elan announced on Facebook.
 
The finalists include Varsha Rani, founder of clothing brand Off-Grain which uses dead stock and old yarn and blankets to create clothing. Finalist Mallika Reddy, founder of Cancelled Plans, creates lifestyle accessories from high-grade waste materials.
 
Slovakian material researcher, Zuzana Gombosova, and production design graduate, Susmith Chempodil, were selected as finalists for the bio-composite material they developed named ‘Malai’. The textile uses organic, sustainable bacterial cellulose, grown on agricultural waste from the coconut industry in Southern India.
 
In addition, fashion brand Chambray and co-founder, Esha Agarwal, has been selected for her womenswear made from handloom textiles, in collaboration with local weavers. Finally, Skilled Samaritan founder, Gauri Gopal Agrawal, was chosen for her work in Muzaffarnagar with local women to create woven goods.