Australian, Japanese Designers to Participate at LMIFW SS'19

Australian design and Indian handloom will come together at the forthcoming Lotus Make-Up India Fashion Week (LMIFW) Spring-Summer 2019 edition, where Japanese designer Atsushi Nakashima will showcase too.

Australian creativity and style will take centrestage at the gala where a design showcase will be presented in collaboration with Ministry of Textiles, Government of India, and is an outcome of an MoU between the two countries that was signed at Textiles India 2017' in Gandhinagar.

The show will feature the collections of five Australian designers -Romance was Born, We are Kindred, Brother's Earth, Cassandra Harper and Roopa - created using Indian handloom textiles.

Australia's High Commissioner to India Harinder Sidhu said fashion has a strong potential in the expanding trade and investment relationship between the two countries.

"We are proud to present this project as an outcome of Australia's MoU with India on cooperation in the textiles, clothing and fashion sectors. It is an exciting project that promotes collaboration and exchange between Australian designers and Indian artisans," Sidhu said in a statement.

The collections, she said, will demonstrate the "richness and versatility of Indian textiles interpreted in a contemporary Australian design context".

According to Sanjay Rastogi, Development Commissioner (Handlooms), Ministry of Textiles, the collaboration will highlight the versatility of the Indian textiles, opening gates to the foreign intervention.

As part of this project, developed in partnership with Australian social enterprise Artisans of Fashion (AOF), Australian designers worked closely with Indian artisans and textiles like brocades from Uttar Pradesh, natural indigo-dyed fabric from Tamil Nadu, Ikat from Telanganaa and silks from West Bengal, to develop their collections.

Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI) President Sunil Sethi said: "Crafts have always been a focal point for us and the Ministry of Textiles has embarked on bringing to life the strength of four clusters - Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and West Bengal, with designers engineering these handlooms into their collections to tell a story."

Sethi is also excited about by Atsushi's show, which will take place on October 12 during the gala which is scheduled from October 10-13.

Atsushi worked as an assistant designer with Jean Paul Gaultier and in 2011 came back to his country of origin, Japan, to launch his own brand Atsushi Nakashima. He has also showcased at Milan Fashion Week in the past.

Kenji Hiramatsu, Ambassador of Japan to India, said it's a great way to "promote and expand exchanges between the fashion industries of India and Japan".

The FDCI-hosted fashion event has had Japanese buyers over the years.

Sethi said: "There is no doubt that the Japanese are trendsetters not just in the world of technology but also design. And they truly understand the nuances of style."