 "Ujjawal Dubey")
The FDCI x Lakmé Fashion Week that came to a close last month had more than just fashion to pay attention to. It was also a season that drew almost half as many sponsors as the number of designers, with many individual brands collaborating with designers or presenting their collections.
The season that featured as many as 40 designers who showcased their collections, had 20 sponsors that included the likes of Nexa-- a premium car brand, Realme, Ajio Luxe, and the Natural Diamond Council among others.
“We have now returned to the number of partners the event used to have pre pandemic. However, the total sponsorship value this season has been the highest witnessed across any season of fashion week in the past,” says Jaspreet Chandok, head, RISE fashion and lifestyle.
The FDCI x Lakmé Fashion Week was hosted by Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI) together with Lakmé Fashion Week (jointly organised by Lakmé & RISE Worldwide).
“Apart from our presenting partners, total investments by each partner varies between Rs 30 lakh to 80 lakh, depending on their deliverables with the event,” he added.
“Creatively, collaborations help in pushing creative boundaries and challenging oneself. Business wise, it is a great manner of reaching new audiences and sharing networks too,”says Ujjawal Dubey of Antar-Agni, who collaborated with Adidas Originals, to present his new collection Flutter.
Ujjawal Dubey of Antar-Agni, who collaborated with Adidas Originals | Photo credits- lakmefashionwk/Instagram
“We collaborated with Adidas Originals because it was quite exciting to see a cross between Indian craftsmanship and streetwear. It’s a new language that we hope resonates with our people,” he added.
While onboarding partners, the focus is two-fold, explains Chandok, the first being the partnership with the event itself.
“Here we focus on integrating the partner into the fashion narrative through content creation. The brands also get to engage with guests through on-ground activations.”
He goes on, “The second part relates to their own showcase with a designer and here we structure the partnership to ensure value for both. We also take care to ensure that the brand and designer ethos is synergistic.”
Designer Tarun Tahiliani, showcased his luxury pret collection, Global Indian, in collaboration with Nexa.
“What better way to show our sleek, aerodynamic, India Modern collection for the global Indian, in collaboration with one of the proudest Indian stories in the automotive sector – NEXA!” he said, adding, “We felt like our synergies matched with the brand and they shared the same ethos, being truly international in their approach.”
Such partnerships help in larger scaled showcases for designers than perhaps they would be able to achieve on their own accord.
“Some of our largest showcases cost around Rs 50 lakh to enable and these costs are mainly offset by our partners. Some brands also invest in celebrities for amplification apart from media to leverage the association. All of this in turn benefits the designer to have a larger share of voice during fashion week and hence more visibility,” says Jaspreet Chandok.
As they start preparing for the next season, to be held in October, Chandok says they are not looking to increase the number of brand partners.
“We would instead like to create more seamless and synergistic partnerships in the future which provide greater value to both the brand and the designer. Our focus is currently on how the partners can help scale designer showcases through investments rather than just their partnership fee,” he says.
