Nurturing design talent

What is a Fashion Fund?
Launched in association with the Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI) Vogue India’s annual fashion property is a prestigious platform for India’s next generation of emerging designers. The Fashion Fund was originally conceptualised by the US edition of the fashion bible. 

Judging panel: Entries for the Vogue India Fashion Fund were invited on pre-defined eligibility criteria. The jury Sunil Sethi, Gaurav Mahajan-COO, Westside, Sabyasachi Mukherjee, Suneet Varma, Alka Nishar and Tina Tahiliani.

Winner: The winner of the Vogue Fashion Fund will get a fashion shoot in Vogue India along with a year-long business/creative/marketing mentorship with an industry professional, a grand cash prize, an opportunity to commercialise a collection, access to prominent platforms in the industry besides mentorship from Vogue, PR support and media coverage.

What are the main areas of focus while judging the designers?
The designers are judged on six parameters which include creativity, originality, growth and potential amongst others. Though young, we are dealing with a talented, erudite and intelligent set. We need to assess whether their vision for their brand and potential is strong enough to help them see the distance. In addition to their creativity, we are looking for commercial viability.

How do you judge two very different aesthetic, who cater to the same segment/market besides keeping the brand age and evolution in mind?
The fund is focused on fashion in India and needless to say we are on the lookout for designers like Péro who have a strong imprint and story to tell.
Without force fitting or making it mandatory to adopt an Indian or international silhouette or influence, we are looking for talent whose creative voice has a long shelf life. Since our parameters for judging for all the semi–finalists are the same, it is easy to assess and identify what it is that we are looking for.

How fair it is to judge senior designers like Nachiket Barve and Rahul Mishra with the younger lot of designers?
Like I said earlier, we are not judging them on pure talent. To be entirely honest, a few of the newcomers have wowed us with the maturity of their design. Since the eligibility criteria makes it easy for designers with two to eight years of experience to apply, it is democratic in that sense. We are not judging for seniority but longevity.