Five designers from Lakme Fashion Week’s programme, LFW Gen Next on the Road, will display their collections in Chennai

They may not be the most talked about names in fashion yet, but they sure are getting there. Five designers, all part of 2018's Lakme Fashion Week’s Gen Next designers programme will be showcasing their collections (that were also showcased at LFW Winter/Festive 2018)  in the first-ever edition of Gen Next on the Road that covers three cities, including Raipur and Kolkata. In Chennai from today, Yadvi Agarwal, Anurag Gupta, Ajay Kumar Singh, Kanika Sachdev & Neelanjan Ghosh, and Shweta Gupta, are all part of LFW Gen Next — a unique programme that handpicks promising talent and showcasing them on large scale platform, and whose alumni include names like Nachiket Barve, Rahul Mishra, and Masaba Gupta, among others. A quick look at what the designers have to offer…

Just for jackets
Impressionist art is what inspires 29-year-old Yadvi Agarwal, who brings her label Yavi to Chennai for the first time. Comprising everything from handpainted jackets and silk saris (that are a celebrity favourite; we hear Dia Mirza loves her collection) to impressionist one-thread embroidery jackets, about 26 pieces on display. “Silhouettes of cotton and silk, designed for easy wearability, flowy silk tunics and the stiff handpainted jackets are some of the highlights of the collection,” says the Delhi-based designer. Also expect  a collection of separates the NID graduate says.
Rs 7,500 onwards.

Elegance in embroidery 
Twenty-eight-year-old Anurag Gupta plans to showcase his Metamorphosis collection, that’s inspired by Maurits Cornelis Escher’s Metamorphosis artwork, and also launch his new label, Virtuoso at the pop-up. “The pieces give an illusion of depth. They have different edges and layers, in addition to beautiful hand embroidery on khadi cotton and block print on khadi denim,” says the Noida-based designer, who has trained under fashion stalwarts like Manish Arora and Varun Bahl. From dresses to separates and even a festive collection, he has it all.”
Rs 8,000 onwards.

Cool cottons
Delhi-based Ajay Kumar Singh’s label Aur has the perfect wardrobe additions for the girl on the move. The 33-year-old graduate from NIFT Mumbai, who has in the past worked with Yash Raj Films and Channel V, will be bringing about 25 pieces from his collection Imagination, which he says is “inspired by human thought process which has no limits and boundaries. We have used chanderis and cottons primarily, but what really stands out is the organza layering.” Expect to find sets (jackets and tunics), dresses, skirts and trousers, at the designer’s first showcase in Chennai.
Rs 6,000 onwards.

Stories in shift dresses
Jajaabor, the brainchild of 32-year-old Kanika Sachdev and 41-year-old Neelanjan Ghosh has a new collection called The Artful Lodger, which draws inspiration from their homestays around the world. “Our prints reflect the silhouettes of rows of houses on a snowy morning while our embroideries are an artful representation of hand-drawn maps on tissue paper. There are quaint hidden details in zardozi and resham embroidery, too,” says Kanika, adding that it is their third showcase in Chennai. Expect draped kurtas and organza jackets to khadi biker jackets and kimonos in addition to shift dresses, deconstructed angrakhas to kalidar dresses, shirts and trench coats. “We have about 35-40 pieces, and is the most extensive collection that we have ever presented till now,” says Neelanjan.
Rs 6,900 onwards

Moving mountains
Designer Shweta Gupta’s latest collection, Begin Again, draws inspiration from the mighty Himalayas. “This collection is an honest account of experiences mixed with my imagination to showcase the unknown wonders of Himalayan beauty. The inspiration is rather unconventional, so the weaves reveal a marked influence of landscapes and textures that are created with various yarns, smocking and fabric hand manipulation,” says the 32-year-old Delhi-based designer. From the 40 pieces, she’s bringing to Chennai, expect to find a balanced mix of separates and dresses.
Rs 8,500 onwards