Young designer brings child abuse, women trafficking issues on Lakme Fashion Week ramp 

Sumiran Kabir Sharma, one of the Gen Next designers at the Lakme Fashion Week (LFW) Winter/Festive 2017, displayed a line-up that was more than just "beautiful dresses" here on Wednesday. Sharma, the creative director of the brand Anaam, says his line was inspired by the red light area of Sonagachi and he wanted to focus attention on social issues like child abuse and women's trafficking through his clothes.

"That was a part of my inspiration and research... a lot of children and women are abused and trafficked, so we tried to bring that into... fashion... as a cause," Sharma told IANS. He says that he will always cover social causes in his work. "It's an ethical collection and social causes are always a part of brand Anaam. Fashion is meaningful and it's not just about wearing a beautiful dress and going out.

If we can save... children from sexual abuse, then there is nothing like that," he said. Talking about how this idea came into being, he said it all happened with an accidental car ride. "My inspiration was Sonagachi. An accidental cab ride took me to this area and I was amazed to see women who were more like warriors. So I took that inspiration and brought in my clothes through soothing fabrics and textures," he said.

Sharma has been doing his bit of social work with CRY and other small women-oriented NGOS. "We try and talk to children and explain what is a good touch and bad touch, and I feel for it," he said. Day one of LFW started with the Gen Next show, where apart from brand Anaam, four other brands showcased their designs.

The other new faces were Akshat Bansal, Deepak Pathak, Shenali Sema N' Rinzin Lama and Saaksha Parekh and Kinnari Kamat. They displayed varied designs, some of which were in asymmetrical patterns focussing on knots, while others displayed black as their theme in different patterns.

The Gen Next segment of LFW has previously given the industry names like Rahul Mishra, Masaba Gupta, Aneeth Arora and Nachiket Barve. Barve was seen appreciating the works of these new faces, along with veteran designer Manish Malhotra.