FDCI X Lakmé Fashion Week has announced the winner of ‘NEXA presents The Spotlight’ – a program that makes its debut this season. Priyanka Ella Lorena Lama oflabel P.E.L.L.A. emergedas the winner after a highly competitive selection process that required each participating designer to present the collection, idea and concept of their fashion film through a virtual presentation to the jury. The winning designer was awarded with a gratification amount of five lakhs to shoot and create a fashion film which will be showcased at FDCI X Lakmé Fashion Week that takes place from 16-21 March 2021.
The participants were judged by an esteemed panel comprising Rahul Mishra – Fashion Designer; Ashiesh Shah – Architect & Interior Designer and Priyanka Kapadia – Fashion Director, Vogue India along with Shashank Srivastava – Executive Director, Marketing and Sales Maruti Suzuki India Limited and Jaspreet Chandok – Head, Lifestyle Businesses, RISE Worldwide
The winner was chosen from among six other talented designers – Abhishek Sharma for his label Abhishek Sharma; Akshat Bansal for his label Bloni; Kritika Tula for her label Doodlage; Kunal Anil Tanna for his label Kunal Anil Tanna; Shweta Gupta for her label SWGT and Yadvi Agarwal for her label Yavi. Each of the designers were given the task to interpret the theme ‘Utopia: A Designers Journey’ in line with NEXA’s ‘create, inspire’ ethos in their submissions.
P.E.L.L.A.’s winning presentation called THE HIVE takes inspiration from the understanding of life in slow motion. This was translated by her during the design process through zero waste pattern making and construction, weaving together indigenous handwoven textiles from silks to the finest Pashminas and stinging nettle weaves in hues of eggshell, beige and creams. It also incorporates silk painting by hand and thread as it evokes the unpredictable nature of time.
Commenting on the initiative Shashank Srivastava – Executive Director, Marketing and Sales Maruti Suzuki India Limited said, “We at NEXA, are ever-evolving in our journey to present the best of lifestyle and technology to our customers. Staying true to our philosophy of Create & Inspire, we announced ‘NEXA presents The Spotlight’ in association with FDCI X Lakmé Fashion Week. It is an initiative to provide a platform to budding designers to express their creativity without the limitation of physical space. In its first edition, the initiative saw participation from 60 budding designers, of which Priyanka Ella Lorena Lama of label P.E.L.L.A. was declared winner who has showed tremendous talent through her unconventional presentation, “The Hive” which captures the creative expression of life and its essence. We are the first brand in the country to introduce an innovative concept like this and we look forward to witness our association with P.E.L.L.A.”
Jaspreet Chandok – Head, Lifestyle Businesses, RISE Worldwide said, “NEXA presents ‘The Spotlight’ is yet another step towards our continued effort to promote and nurture deserving talent in the Indian fashion industry. This program has been developed to give artists the chance to express their design story without the limitation of physical space. Each of the shortlisted designers had a unique style of interpretation, and I’d like to congratulate them all. We look forward to see how P.E.L.L.A. leverages the power of audio-visual presentation to showcase her latest collection at FDCI X Lakmé Fashion Week.”
