India bags best country award at London Fashion Week

The International Fashion Showcase (IFS) Country Award was given to India for its sustainable fashion exhibition ‘The Indian Pastoralists’ at the London Fashion Week.

Winning country India was selected from 26 participating countries by a panel of industry experts. Its presentation, organised by IMG Reliance, showcased the talents of five emerging designers.

The award was presented by The British Council, British Fashion Council (BFC) and Mercedes-Benz and the ceremony was held in Somerset House, London.

Ikai by Ragini Ahuja, Kaleekal, Ka-Sha by Karishma Shahani Khan, P.E.L.L.A. and Antar-Agni by Ujjawal Dubey participated in the London Fashion Week with Wasim Khan as exhibition designer and Gautam Vazirani as the curator.

The designs showcased at the Fashion Week were inspired by the ethnic lifestyles of nomadic pastoral communities of India. The participating designers interpreted the heritage of Indian handlooms and textiles. 6Degree, a fashion talent and tech platform, organised the exhibition in association with IMG Reliance.

The IFS Designer Award was presented to Younchan Chung of the-sirius for his impressive design showcased in the Korean installation. Katerina Plamitzerova from Czech Republic and Vanessa Schindler from Switzerland received special mention for their designs.

The IFS Curation Award went to Wojciech Dziedzic and Agnieszka Jacobson–Cielecka of Poland, with special mentions for Julie HJ Lee of Korea and Roxanne Chen of Taiwan.

"The incredible creative response from all the countries and designers who have taken part in IFS 2017 edition has taken this annual competition to the next level of importance. The theme of Local/Global has resonated in profound reflections on the environment, identity and the strands which bind people together through generations," said Sarah Mower MBE, BFC ambassador for emerging talent, chief critic at Vogue Runway and chair person of the judging panel at IFS.

The IFS is a series of specially-commissioned and curated fashion installations featuring work by emerging designers from all over the world.

The 26 countries that participated in the IFS were Austria, Canada, Chile, China, Czech Republic, Egypt, Germany, Guatemala, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Korea, Netherlands, Panama, Poland, Portugal, Peru, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, South Africa, Switzerland, Taiwan, Ukraine, Uruguay, and Zimbabwe.