Elle Graduates 2019
ELLE
Graduates is an annual event, held to celebrate the rising stars of Indian
fashion. Past winners have included designers Rahul Mishra and Ruchika Sachdeva,
both of whom have gone on to win the prestigious International Woolmark Prize.
After a nationwide hunt, nine designers took
part in R|Elan™ ELLE
Graduates 2019, held in association with Istituto
Marangoni, Mumbai. The awards show took place on Saturday, March 30, at the
Worli outpost of the internationally renowned fashion school, and saw the
city’s most influential folk rub shoulders with industry insiders, celebrities
and influencers.
This year’s edition also marked a milestone
moment as ELLE India collaborated with the United Nations Environment Programme
(UNEP) for the first time, incorporating sustainability—a cause close to the
magazine’s heart—as one of the three categories. It was a move that opened up
the competition even further in terms of championing new talent. Sustainable
fashion has become the need of the hour, given that the fashion industry
accounts for a staggering eight to ten per cent of global carbon emissions—more
than all international flights and maritime shipping combined. The industry can
play a pivotal role in halting environmentally and socially destructive
practices. With the introduction of the Sustainable Design Award category at R|Elan™ ELLE Graduates, designers will now be encouraged to make sustainable practices
mainstream in fashion.
The evening began with host Leeza Mangaldas
welcoming guests, before ELLE India’s editor Supriya Dravid took to the stage
to introduce the founding ideology of R|Elan™ ELLE Graduates. This year’s judges were
fashion designer Rahul Mishra, Atul Bagai (country head, UN
Environment India), Jaspreet Chandok (vice
president, head of fashion, IMG Reliance), Gauram
Vazirani (creative strategist, sustainable fashion, IMG Reliance), Sabina Chopra (fashion consultant and
mentor, Gen Next, Lakmé Fashion Week), Francesco Fioretto (Programme Leader of Fashion Styling
and Creative Direction, Istituto Marangoni), Gunjan Sharma, CMO of Reliance Polyesters) as
well as ELLE’s Supriya Dravid (editor,
ELLE) and Malini Banerji (fashion
director, ELLE).
This year’s participants were as follows:
Ready To Wear:
NIFT
Delhi grad Diksha Khanna, whose eponymous womenswear label is all about premium
pret.
Anvita
Sharma’s agender label Two Point Two.
Yadvi
Agarwal’s playful and inventive contemporary womenswear band Yavi
Accessories:
Kichu
Dandiya, who creates wondrous, unconventional pieces with her brand Kichu that
are stellar examples of form and finish.
Self-taught jewellery designer
Bhavya Ramesh, whose designs
are majorly influenced by Banjara culture.
Interior
design grad Aditi Sharma, whose in-depth exploration of concrete led to her
experimenting with the material for her jewellery brand Greytone.
Sustainable:
Pallavi
Shantam, whose label Buna works with handwoven textiles such as khadi and
jamdani.
NIFT
Chennai alumnus Naushad Ali, who creates designs that marry modern cuts with heritage
fabrics.
Shreya
Oza, whose brand ASA focuses on natural fabrics and dyes in not just khadi,
cotton and silk-blends, but innovative materials like paper fabric and banana
paper.
“R|Elan™
ELLE Graduates is a mentorship programme that aims to provide a platform to the
next generation of designers in the country. The idea is to promote local
talent and empower their vision using ELLE’s outreach. This year, for the first
time, we have introduced the Sustainable Design Award as a category. It is the need of the hour, and I am so proud of our
collaboration with the UN Environment, which has given us invaluable support
and guidance in making this possible,” says Supriya Dravid, editor, ELLE India.
“R|Elan™ ELLE Graduates is a unique platform that
supports young designers and nurtures talent. Looking at the way the world is moving
forward, we are particularly thrilled to announce the sustainable design category
this year,” says Malini Banerji, fashion director, ELLE India. “R|Elan™
ELLE Graduates is an exciting discovery platform for emerging design talent,
and it has helped bring immediate attention to some of our young designers. I
had a fantastic experience being part of the jury last year, and it has been
wonderful this year too,” says Jaspreet Chandok, vice
president, head of fashion, IMG Reliance.
“I am very excited to be a part of R|Elan™ ELLE Graduates. It has
been the most important platform to discover young talent in the country, and
when I look back to almost 10 years ago, I too was one of those graduates,
which makes it even more special to me. The fresh talent and unique design voice
given by young minds creates new direction for fashion in India, and new voices
are important for the industry to progress. ELLE deserves a great appreciation
for consistently organising R|Elan™ ELLE Graduates,” says fashion designer Rahul
Mishra.
“UN Environment
launched the UN Alliance for Sustainable Fashion at the UN Environment Assembly,
held earlier in March. Our collaboration with R|Elan™ ELLE Graduates builds on this global
momentum. The sustainable collections showcased demonstrate that the fashion
industry can be a driver for mainstreaming sustainable, environmentally friendly
fashion. Time has come to reinvent the fashion industry so that it makes us
love our clothes as well as our planet,” says Atul Bagai, country head, UN
Environment India.
The winners of R|Elan™ ELLE Graduates
2019 are as follows:
Ready
To Wear Designer Of The Year: Yavi
Accessories
Designer Of The Year: Greytone
Sustainable
Design Award: Naushad Ali
Stylist
Of The Year: Nikhil D
Social
Media Influencer: Dipa Khosla
Best
Debutante: Radhika Madan
Best
Debutante: Mrunal Thakur
Male Model Of The Year: Tuhir Brahmbhatt
Female
Model Of The Year: Namita Sunil
Be
More ELLE: Taapsee Pannu
Entrepreneur
Of The Year: Adwaita Nayar
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