MUMBAI, (GPN): In line with the festive spirit and to celebrate the Kabaddi World Cup win by the Indian Kabaddi team, Lakmé Fashion Week hosted an exclusive festive showcase by select menswear designers at Mumbai’s leading multi-designer retail store, Ensemble.

Kabaddi players including some from the National Team–Surender Nada, Mohit Chillar, Shabeer Bapu Sharfudheen, Vishal Mane andRishank Devadiga ‘sported’ the collection looks for designersGaurav Khanijo, Huemn, Antar Agni, Tarun Tahiliani and Sahil Aneja,integrating the high energy of sports with the spirit of fashion.

Jaspreet Chandok, Vice President & Head (Fashion), IMG Reliance said, “We are happy to host this exclusive event with Kabaddi stars at Ensemble. It was wonderful to see these champion sportsmen embrace fashion with such flair. This is in line with IMG Reliance’s strategy to enhance the business of fashion by creating these interfaces between designers, stores and consumers.”

Purnima Lamba, Head of Innovation, Lakmé said, “As Lakmé Fashion Week, we are proud to bring together the spirit of sports and fashion. These two worlds seem very different, but as a pair, they have been getting a lot of attention across international runways through Athleisure, which has become a huge trend across the globe. People are becoming more and more conscious about fitness in their daily lives. So now, it’s about transforming comfortable sportswear into something stylish while making health and fitness, chic.”

Tina Tahiliani Parikh, Owner of Ensemble said, “Ensemble is thrilled to have entered the menswear space. I can’t believe that we waited so long! The work being done by the young designers in contemporary and traditional menswear is superb, not to mention what our veteran designers are doing. I have always respected Lakmé’s innovative & energizing approach to fashion. It has been superb to put together this event with them and we look forward, to many more original out of the box events.”