LSA India and DLF Emporio’s ‘Fashion Forward’: Insights on luxury, fashion, and culture

Luxury. Fashion. Cocktails and canapes. A mingling of diverse minds and tastes at one of Delhi’s swankiest shopping destinations, DLF Emporio. What are we referring to?

Last weekend, Lifestyle Asia India and DLF Emporio hosted ‘Fashion Forward’, a soiree where we dove into the intersection of style, technology, luxury, and culture. The evening began with a thought-provoking discussion with Pushpa Bector, Senior Executive Director, DLF Retail, fashion designers Amit Aggarwal, Shivan Bhatiya and Narresh Kukreja, along with Aman Kumar, Country Head of Bulgari. The panel was moderated by Editor-in-Chief Rahul Gangwani and the panellists shared their thoughts on the future of fashion, what brands expect from influencers, the changing consumer culture landscape in the country and how the pandemic has affected the way the industry functions.

“We live in a very democratic world and transparent world. It’s a world where even if you don’t wish to be transparent, social media makes everything so. So, if you don’t want to call the shots, some other whistleblower is going to call the shots for you. You have to see this as an opportunity because this allows you to share your success with everyone that has made you successful. The moment you understand the power of that, your success becomes a huge contribution not only to all of those who made you successful but bring you more success,” said Narresh while talking about the changing nature of the fashion and luxury industry.

It is common knowledge that the fashion and luxury industry has always been subject to rapid change and fast-evolving trends. However, in the past few years with the intersection of technology and social media, this growth has been unprecedented. With the advent of AI and the postmath of the pandemic, fashion brands are now adapting themselves to a new era of consumer behaviour and patterns. These points were addressed by our panellists along with topics such as the need for the industry to adapt to new ideologies and technologies, the concept of luxury in India and whether it has become more accessible.

“Few things that I’d like to emphasize about the new age Indians – they are not people who are obsessed with saving, which is a huge difference from the generation before. They had to have their first home, they would save and they would have an EMI. That’s changing. This lot has already got a platform and they want to live a life today. The present is important for them. And the other thing is they value themselves. So I think that data points are all very well, but brands will vary to a wearer and that kind of fashion house will flourish. Those who understand the importance of personalization for that customer, understand that it’s a more ethical customer that they’re dealing with,” said Pushpa Bector while discussing the new-age consumer.

The soiree was attended by the who’s who of the Delhi social scene from designers Punit Balana, Param Sahib, Rishi and Vibhuti Roy, award-winning film director Tushar Tyagi, Rableen Malhotra, the Head of Marketing, The Chanakya, content creators Tejeshwar Sandhoo, Chirag Khanna, Karan Sareen, chef Parul Pratap and many more.

The ‘Fashion Forward’ panel also discussed how millennials and GenZ are driving consumer trends – after all, the future of Indian fashion hangs at an intersection between these two generations and how they respond to fashion trends, champion the cause of sustainability and perceive the future of Indian fashion and luxury.