By Nivedita
Mumbai, Aug 24 (IANS): Lakme Fashion Week (LFW) is back with the winter-festive edition and the forthcoming season will witness many firsts. From ace designer Manish Malhotra's first ever menswear show titled "The Gentlemen's Club", Anita Dongre's maiden show for her new label 'Grassroot' to actor Vir Das's debut fashion show named "Pret-A-Funny", the extravaganza will be nothing less than a treat for fashion lovers.

The five-day event will start on Wednesday and Malhotra will introduce "The Gentlemen's Club" in the form of an offsite show at Mehboob Studio on the opening day of the fashion gala with "Barfi!" star Ranbir Kapoor as the showstopper.

"In keeping with the season, 'The Gentlemen's Club' collection is a festive fusion of Indian and western couture, focusing on shades of emerald green and adorned with botanical motifs," said Malhotra.

Dongre's 'Grassroot' is a craft-based sustainable line and showcases a versatile range of wardrobe essentials that pay tribute to women's progressive attitude of embracing modernity, with due respect to the traditions of India.

Her collection is going to be a part of the second day of the fashion gala which is also The Indian Handloom & Textile Day.

This season, LFW launched a special initiative - 'Re-invent Banaras', a campaign to revive, uplift and celebrate Banaras handlooms in partnership with India's leading designers.

Saket Dhankar, vice president and head - Fashion, IMG Reliance Ltd, said: "The Indian Handloom & Textile Day at LFW commemorates the rich heritage of hand-woven luxury every season.

"This season, we celebrate crafts of weavers and artisans from Varanasi by launching 'Reinvent Banaras' campaign supporting the national initiative led by Shaina NC to promote the age-old Banaras textile tradition."

A hundred designers from 18 cities and 13 sponsors will participate in LFW winter-festive 2015 with 31 from Delhi and 21 from here.

Ace designer duo Abu Jani-Sandeep Khosla will open the season on Tuesday through their collection titled "Jawani Jaaneman". The line is an ode to retro chic with designs inspired from the 1970s and 1980s. The duo has also chosen the collection to debut new silhouettes which include gowns, capes and kaftans, each created for the global diva.

Exploring the realm of fashion fantasy, Lakme's beauty statement for the season will play muse to designer Gaurav Gupta at the grand finale. Daniel Bauer, Lakme make-up expert, will collaborate with the designer to craft runway renditions of playful make-up looks on models with the Lakme Absolute Lip Pout.

The fashion week will also see the return of established designers like Namrata Joshipura, Ritu Kumar, Tarun Tahiliani, Neeta Lulla and Narendra Kumar.

Joshipura will be showcasing a unique LakmeInsta Light show inspired by the latest launch from Lakme and she has specially designed the clothes on the theme of Insta Light.

"Taking inspiration from Lakme's latest skin care innovation LakmeInsta Light, my collection aims to set the stage for a youthful and modern collection that glows and sparkles. Iridescence and shine are the primary elements of my collection and I am achieving this through both surface embellishment and interesting selection of fabrics," the designer told IANS.

Also, designer Monisha Jaising, who has marked her entry in the e-commerce arena and is in the 25th year of her fashion career, will be presenting her creations here after a gap of five years.

With 21 designers to debut this season, LFW continues the trend of promoting new and emerging talent in the country. Some of the designers like Anand Kabra, Arjun Saluja, Nachiket Barve, Nikasha, Ruchika Sachdeva, Eina Ahluwalia whose fashion journey started with LFW platform, will be showcasing this season after a long time.

LFW has also reinvented the Jabong stage that will now offer a new dimension in fashion content. The fashion week will give centre stage to new age fashion content in the form of experimental presentations by established artistic designers such as Kallol Datta, Ahluwalia, Little Shilpa and Bodice by Ruchika Sachdeva.

Another highlight of this season is that would-be brides will also get a chance to walk the ramp at Lakme Salon's bridal show co-created by designer Neeta Lulla.