These young designers are rewriting the vocabulary of fashion
A quintessential small-town boy, Sumiran Kabir Sharma, 32, counts himself among Lady Gaga's most ardent fans. Nicknamed 'Gaga Boy' for his love for the rebellious musician, Sharma attended an event featuring the singer in New Delhi in 2011. He had been chosen by the organisers to ask Gaga a pre-approved question-"What would you like to do in Bollywood?"-but tore up the sheet it was printed on as he waited his turn.
"My aim in life was to meet you someday," he said to the musician when it was his turn to speak. "Now, I have no more dreams. You tell me-what do I do now?" Gaga's reply was equally sincere: "Dream more. Make millions more. And if you're ever in doubt, remember that this meeting happened," she said, before hugging him.
Sharma, who opened the Gen Next show at Lakme Fashion Week (LFW) Winter/ Festive 2017, has done exactly that. Like him, the new foot soldiers of Indian fashion are young men and women trying to find a new vocabulary of design, one independent of the influence of traditionalists yet remaining distinctly Indian. On that
