From a street bazaar to artisans spinning on stage, Lakme Fashion Week’s closing days turned clothes into pure theatre
Somewhere between a candy-floss seller strolling down the ramp and a Ladakhi artisan quietly spinning Pashmina under the lights, the closing days of Lakme Fashion Week 2026 in partnership with FDCI turned into something closer to theatre than a parade of clothes. Designers built whole worlds around their collections, from mirrored columns and Rishab Kumar’s FARAK and its village folktales of witches and kings, to a bustling Indian street with street lamps, balloons and rolled chatai, where each prop carried a piece of the story. While Pawan Sachdeva recast Bandhani and Kantha into easy, gender-fluid tailoring, the most moving sight of all was weavers and spinners sharing the spotlight with Pearl Academy’s young designers, a gentle reminder that every thread on the runway begins in someone’s patient hands, long before it reaches a showroom.
Midnight Luxe
Manish Malhotra returned with Luxury Prêt, “effortless, contemporary” glamour for today’s celebrant, while Ayushmann wore a beaded midnight jacket and Sara a sequinned corset.
Groom’s Innings
Ethnix by Raymond’s Wedding Stories drew on Warli art, miniatures and jharokhas, with Twin Strings playing live. Suryakumar Yadav closed in an ivory long jacket blooming with chintz florals, proof a cricketer can carry a groom’s charm effortlessly.
Mirror
Themed ‘The Unseen’, Richa Khemka’s Vesper explored noir and reflection beside tall mirrored columns. Showstopper Diana Penty wore an embellished black bralette, silver-stitched cummerbund and black-and-white fringed skirt that swayed like rippling shadows.
Pashmina Pride
The Fifth Season brought Ladakh’s Pashmina from Changthang, some 14,000 feet up, to the ramp, with an artisan spinning wool on stage. Zilzom’s landscape-printed silks and Namza’s brocades followed, a show where the makers mattered as much as the clothes.
Bazaar Chic
Amit Aggarwal closed the week by building an Indian bazaar on the ramp, complete with street lamps, a balloon seller on a cycle and rolled chatai mats. His AM:IT prêt, with Lakme 9to5, turned plastic wire, polythene and recycled plastics into stripes and fringe. Showstopper Aneet Padda wore a striped balloon-sleeved shirt under an iridescent corset with purple satin trousers. Pure street theatre.