Lakmé Fashion Week x FDCI wrapped in Mumbai this weekend, concluding a line-up of over 30 designers. Now in its 26th year, the event may still slip under the global radar compared to the likes of Tokyo, or even the much younger Dubai Fashion Week, but for India, it remains a key fixture on the fashion calendar. Even as a growing number of designers increasingly opt for destination shows and were absent this season, the platform’s relevance endures.
The event is produced by the Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI), alongside beauty behemoth Lakmé and Reliance Brands Limited, the country’s largest luxury retail player.
Designers such as Rahul Mishra, Gaurav Gupta, and Sabyasachi Mukherjee all began their runway journeys here. As Mishra says, “The platform remains important culturally. It allows us to share the stage with young designers from the region and collaborate with emerging talent.” This season’s mix of designers points to a broader shift where Indian fashion is looking to go global.
In attendance, alongside domestic buyers, were international retailers including Selfridges and Revolve. Indian designers’ use of craft places them in a unique position at a time when global luxury pricing continues to rise. “Even the wealthiest of consumers don’t feel there is a corresponding increase in design or craftsmanship to justify the price. Indian designers offer craftsmanship at a price that feels substantiated,” says Divya Mathur, chief merchandising officer and fashion director at Revolve.
The Fall/Winter 2026 season arrives amid growing international attention for India, pointing to a market reaching greater maturity. Last November, Galeries Lafayette opened in India, bringing with it labels such as Coperni, Marni, and Patou. At the same time, local talent is gaining visibility globally, as more homegrown labels present on the international stage. Designers such as Gupta and Mishra are now regulars on the Paris Couture Week schedule, and the store footprints of contemporary labels like Kartik Research, Verandah, and Péro are expanding.
Let’s hear it for the boys
In February, the FDCI hosted the fourth edition of India Men’s Fashion Week in Jaipur. “This week was a huge success, we received so much buzz and critical feedback that it was a sign of how men’s dressing is changing,” FDCI chair Sunil Seth said at the time. “I would say Indian men have started to really embrace fashion in recent years, and a knock-on effect is that in the last five years I have seen how Indian designers are now focusing on being experimental.”
This shift carried into Lakmé Fashion Week, which opened with a showcase titled The Boy’s Club, bringing together a new wave of menswear designers including Countrymade, Dhruv Vaish, Sahil Aneja, and Vivek Karunakaran. Countrymade is beginning to build an international presence, with its collection, Cenotaph, employing layered textile techniques that draw on India’s craft heritage — from mud resist printing and cold pigment dyeing, to kantha, an age-old textile technique from West Bengal and Bangladesh that involves stitching together layers of fabric. Founder Sushant Abrol launched the label in 2019 to question norms of dressing in India, but today, it can be found at international retailers such as Wut Tokyo and Politix in Beverly Hills, alongside its growing presence in India.