Gender-Neutral Fashion At The Lakme Fashion Week By Akshat Bansal

Welcome to the world of inclusive fashion where nobody can dictate terms when it comes to dressing. The Fashion Design Council of India and Lakmé Fashion Week’s joint phygital, seasonless fashion week, slated for March 16-21, 2021, saw young talent Akshat Bansal of the label Bloni showcase his line.

Talking about his collection, Akshat Bansal says, “This collection marks the third year of making clothes that are not confined to any particular gender. It’s self-accepting, it’s self-informed. Enhancing transparency and creating a unique hybrid culture is what the brand thrives on. Bloni as a brand talks about looking back to where we started, introspecting our presence, reviving what we left behind is the essence of the brand.”

“X is everywhere around us. X represents something unexplainable or unknown. Y questions our existence and everything around it in its truest form. Y is integral for the formation of humanity when combined with X, but also doesn’t confine one to an identity. The craft and techniques are the mainstay of the brand,” he adds.

The USP is the technique of tie-dye with the mix of fabrics sourced globally. Bloni blends textiles and gives sustainability a new form and edge by using technologies to make eco-friendly clothing, not only supporting Indian artisans, but also introducing advancements and hybrid textiles for the new-tech generation.

This year, they have introduced marine plastic waste textile giving it a new life. Blending tech-generated fabrics with local artisanal techniques, hand crochet and knitting along with glazed fabrics, clean silhouettes and gender-neutral shapes blur the visual distinction and forms a strong base for this collection.