As the fashion industry grapples with the environmental cost of production, two design initiatives brought sustainability into focus at FDCI Lakmé Fashion Week in Delhi on Tuesday. The Kering Generation Award, making its debut in India, recognised businesses developing solutions to environmental and social challenges in fashion, while the eighth edition of the R|Elan Circular Design Challenge celebrated designers exploring circularity through reclaimed materials and craftsmanship.
Held at the Embassy of France, the event was part of the India-France Year of Innovation 2026. The award was launched in partnership with Reliance Brands Limited (RBL), with the Design Challenge serving as its exclusive nominating partner.
Addressing the gathering, French ambassador to India Thierry Mathou described India as more than a market for fashion and luxury, calling it a source of “talent, innovation, and entrepreneurship”. He also highlighted how the exchange between heritage and innovation could help shape more sustainable approaches to fashion. “We believe that this interaction between heritage and innovation can help shape the most sustainable future,” he said.
The winners
The Kering Award seeks to identify innovations that could help address environmental and social challenges across fashion and luxury, connecting emerging businesses with the wider industry.
Noida-based Paiwand Studio, founded by Ashita Singhal, won the first Indian edition of the Kering Generation Award for transforming pre-consumer textile waste into new materials through handloom weaving and collaboration with artisans.
The studio's approach brings discarded textiles into traditional weaving processes, creating new circular materials while connecting waste reduction with existing craft skills. Rather than treating textile waste solely as a disposal problem, Paiwand Studio uses it as a resource for developing new fabrics. They received a €50,000 prize, alongside opportunities for mentorship and international exposure.
Pune-based brand Without, founded by Anish Malpani, secured second place for its work converting multilayer plastic waste into usable materials. Chandni Batra's A Blunt Story placed third for developing plant-based footwear soles.
Rethinking sustainability in luxury
A panel discussion featuring Marie-Claire Daveu, chief sustainability and institutional affairs officer at Kering, Sumeet Yadav, head, RBL, and fashion designer Rahul Mishra examined how innovation could reshape the fashion industry.
For Daveu, sustainability is inseparable from the future of luxury. “When we speak about a luxury product, it's about quality, heritage, but also the fact that you pay attention to people and the planet,” she said. Fashion and luxury depend on natural resources for their raw materials, she noted, making climate change and resource scarcity pressing concerns for the industry. Sustainability, she added, is no longer optional. “It's not a ‘nice to have’, it's really a must-have.”
Kering's approach includes exploring sustainable raw materials and identifying external innovations through the Generation Award. Possibilities range from recycled fibres to mycelium, a mushroom-derived material. Daveu also stressed the importance of integrating sustainability at the design stage rather than treating it as an afterthought.
For Mishra, however, the conversation must extend beyond material choices. “Often the definition of sustainability gets merged into just material,” he said, pointing to the importance of employment and social balance in a country such as India. India's regional diversity, he suggested, makes it important to understand sustainability within its cultural and social contexts. “Even from region to region, village to village, the definition of what is sustainable and what is needed in terms of sustainability will always be different,” he said.
MARGN takes the CDC
The R|Elan Circular Design Challenge received around 220 applications from more than 15 countries this year. The final round featured seven contestants exploring sustainability through approaches ranging from recycled materials and textile upcycling to alternatives to plastic-based embellishments.
Noida-based MARGN, co-founded by Saurabh Maurya and Ranjit Yadav, won the eighth edition of the challenge. Yoshita 1967, a Paris- and Nairobi-based label founded by Kenyan designer Anil Padia, was named runner-up.
MARGN combines reclaimed materials with Himalayan craftsmanship, working with artisans and drawing on traditional knowledge in itscontemporary designs. Speaking about the label’s approach, Maurya said it had spent the past five years developing an ecosystem around Himalayan craft. He described the ambition as taking not just Himalayan craft, but “Himalayan intelligence”, to the world—a distinction that places the knowledge embedded in traditional practices alongside the finished products themselves.
The collection showcased how reclaimed materials could be incorporated into contemporary silhouettes, with colour, detailing and craftsmanship helping shape the garments.
Padia’s Yoshita 1967, meanwhile, centres its practice on craft, slow production and collaboration with women-led artisan communities, placing the livelihoods and skills of craftspeople alongside design.
Together, the two awards highlighted complementary approaches to making fashion more responsible: from turning discarded materials into new resources to rethinking the value of craftsmanship and the knowledge embedded in traditional practices.