Lakme Fashion Week showcases fashion for a cause 'Save Our Tigers' an Aircel Initiative

The ramp on day 5 at Lakme Fashion Week witnessed a transformation . It was a ramp with a difference where the Tiger roared loud and fearless. The show was hosted by Aircel, one of India's leading telecom players, as an extension of its tiger conservation initiative ‘Save Our Tigers’ and was styled by Aki Narula.

For this initiative, Aircel invited entries from designers across India to design garments inspired by the tiger. 189 designers sent in 300 garments out of which 40 short listed designs were showcased during the show.

Speaking at the occasion, Renuka Jaypal, National Brand Head, Aircel, said, “Aircel ‘Save Our Tigers - Fashion for a Cause’ is a unique collaboration between environment & fashion and will help us reach out to a wider audience for creating awareness on our Tiger conservation initiative. We at Aircel, always try to communicate with our customers in various innovative ways. Being a youth focused brand, we try to reach out to our target audience through initiatives which make sense to them, fashion being one of them. We are extremely happy to be on this platform and would like to thank all the designers who have spent their time and effort to create such awe inspiring designs thus helping in contributing to the cause.”

Brinda Malhotra, Head-CSR, Aircel, too elaborated on their unique initiative. She said “Tigers today, are among the ten most endangered species in the world and need active protection. As part of our ‘Save our Tigers’ initiative, we have taken various measures towards tiger conservation and have been working closely with bodies like WWF-India, the Wildlife Trust of India, Wildlife

Conservation Trust and many other independent NGOs. We have also started ‘Kids for Tiger’ program as an extension to the initiative, where we have educated over a million children on environment and tiger conservation in the last two years. From 1411 tigers in 2009 to 1706 tigers today, we are happy that we have been able to make some difference. With Aircel ‘Save Our Tigers’ – Fashion for a Cause, we are taking this initiative to another level by making it reach out to a larger target audience.”

Bollywood actress Neha Dhupia supported the cause as she walked the ramp with other models who wore garments inspired by the Tiger. They were  designed by some of the  fabulous present day designers such as Kallol Datta, Nachiket Barve, Arjun Khanna, Swapnil Shinde, Rocky S, Satya Paul and many others.

The three best garments designed by Arjun Khanna, Sougat Paul & Vaishali S. won and the designers were awarded a cash prize of Rs. 2,50,000 by Neha Dhupia.  The rest of the collection is expected to be retailed with the proceeds going towards tiger conservation.

On her association with the initiative, Neha Dhupia shared to say, “We have all grown up listening to the stories of tigers and it is sad that our national animal is going towards extinction now. But at the same time, it is so good to know that Aircel is working tirelessly towards spreading awareness on tiger conservation giving us hope of seeing an increase in the number of tigers. I am obliged to be a part of this event today and am happy that I could contribute to this cause too. All of the designs today were simply creative and so in line with the ‘Save Our Tigers’ spirit.”

The three winners shared their views with regard to the theme, their designs and also spoke about their support towards  Aircel’s unique initiative . Vaishali S. said, “Everyone wants to save the Tiger, because we know their importance. They are our heritage and when I visualized this concept, I felt connected with the tigress and that is what I tried to showcase in my designs.”
“Being a Bengali I love the royal Bengal Tiger, and this was a way in which  I could  contribute towards this cause and that is what inspired me to design the dress that I’ve showcased. If  I associate with such a cause in the future I would be an active member for the cause,” said designer Sougat Paul.

Arjun Khanna said, “It’s not about winning or losing, it’s a great initiative by Aircel and yes it’s very important to save Tigers. Whatever I design is always inspired from my heart and what I presented today too comes from an inspiration from within.”

Aircel mobilized the fashion fraternity to unleash their artistry to spread awareness on the cause. The garments were selected by a jury that comprised of designer Narendra Kumar, Pearl Shah, Fashion Director at Marie Claire, India and Saket Dhankar, Head of Fashion, IMG Reliance.