How to Participate in the Lakme Fashion Week?

Whether you’re a seasoned veteran in the fashion industry or a young talent looking for a launchpad to success, the Lakme Fashion Week is India’s most definitive platform to demonstrate your fashion skills. It opens doors to countless opportunities by providing designers access to national and international sponsors. The front runners of the fashion industry make up the audience for this runway show, and with them lies the chance at having your potential seen. These people are also your potential buyers who you would want to impress with your gorgeous designs and inspired style.

The designer should gear up for an original and richly imaginative production and see their collection come to life on this grand stage. But before you experience the grandiosity of the event, you first need to prepare yourself and register for it. 

Knowing how big of an opportunity the Lakme Fashion Week is, we have some tips exclusively for you. 

Here’s How To Participate in the Lakme Fashion Week

1. Build a solid portfolio

Right at the very outset, the designer must build a strong portfolio that cements you as a designer. Try to make the portfolio look as inspired and professional as possible. Make sure to showcase your creative flair and express yourself in a conceptually cohesive manner. Do not dilute the commercial aspect because a collection should, in the end, be profitable. When you apply for participation, you would need a professionally shot collection, pictures of your workshop, copies of press coverage, and previous participation documented through a video. All these things besides your portfolio would help you ramp up your professionalism.

2. Register for the event

First, before you can apply for Lakme Fashion Week, you need to apply for membership with the Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI). Keep a tab on the announcements. This will help you register for the event as soon as the forms are out. Pay attention to the requirements that have to be met and the criteria for eligibility before you proceed with registration. Before submitting your form, make sure you’ve gone over every requirement and have provided everything asked. Since the application itself costs a good sum of money, it must be done meticulously. 

3. Eligibility Criteria

A candidate must be actively engaged in fashion designing and retailing their own brand for at least two years. 

4. Get your groundwork right

Gearing up for the fashion week can take a lot. It is emotionally grueling and financially challenging, especially if you’re relatively new to the fashion scene. Focus on how you will create your fashion identity in a way that best captures your essence as a designer. You need to decide how you’d like to set foot in the bigger market and with what signature you would lead your brand. This is some intense period of brainstorming and would allow you to plan on your brand’s creative and saleable aspect before undertaking the grand production of the Lakme Fashion Week.

5. Create a strong social media presence

Creating a buzz online is not just an added bonus anymore. A strong social media presence can actually take you places. Designers and labels that elicit interest online and make a name for themselves on these platforms get a definite edge over others. Your value rises by a substantial margin as you’ve already drawn attention to your work and have obtained a certain recognition value with the exposure.

6. Plan your design samples for the screening

Pushing your brand as a designer needs a strong vision. The samples that preface your collection for the show should bring out the real identity of your garment line. This vision is captured only through the samples you cull from your upcoming collection. So be very thorough about it. Keep in mind that before you actually roll out your collection, you would need a favorable assessment from the selection panel.

7. Prepare for the main event

Go over everything and work closely with the crew and your hairdressers, makeup artists, and tailors. The showrunners need to come together and work closely on the logistics to translate the vision into reality. Work in close collaboration with the entire production to see your collection come alive on the runway. In the end, it is the whole production that would help you achieve your vision and get you a step closer to changing the fashion game for the entire industry.

Conclusion

For participating in the Lakme Fashion Week, it is important to do more than just apply. Designers must reflect critically on how to bridge the gap between the quality and the commercials. Tailor your vision, focus on your concept, and plan the execution of your label for the runway. Above all, push your boundaries and embrace the opportunity with all your might.