Koutons Retail was awarded the ‘Most Admired Fashion Group of the Year’ award, while Kouton’s chairman was honoured with ‘Most Admired Fashion Face of the Year’ at the finale of the 8th Annual LYCRA® Images Fashion Awards (LIFA), empowered by Kshitij, at The Intercontinental, Mumbai. This marked the culminating event of the just concluded India Fashion Forum 2008. Amongst glitz and glamour, captains of the Indian fashion and retail industry were honoured for their contribution to India’s evolving business of fashion.
In what constitute the two IMAGES Excellences awards, the chairman of the Vardhman Group, SP Oswal, was honoured as the ‘Most Admired Textile Visionary’ for his outstanding contribution to the textile industry, while Fabindia was bestowed with the epithet ‘Most Admired Fashion Retail Story of India’.
John Abraham received the ‘Most Admired Fashion Icon of the Year (Male)’, while Katrina Kaif won the ‘Most Admired Fashion Icon of the year (Female)’. Shahrukh Khan was declared the ‘Most Admired Fashion Ambassador of the Year’.
In the kidswear category, Lilliput bagged the title that was held by Giny & Jony for past five years. Globus won the ‘Most Admired Fashion Campaign of the Year, while Reliance Trends won the ‘Most Admired Fashion Concept of the Year’. Park Avenue received the title ‘Most Innovative Brand of the Year’ for the second consecutive year, presented by LYCRA® fibre brand for excellence in product innovation, brand communication and retail expansion in the year 2007.
International star Aly Khan and popular Bollywood personality and model Lisa Ray kept the crowd entertained with their rapid-fire one-liners as they hosted the show. Sunita Rao, popular pop star, performed some of her chartbusters. Mika and his troupe performed along with Jhalak Dikhlaja runner-up Sandhya Mridul and her co-partner to the tune of Bollywood’s hit songs.
UK-based premium menswear brand Savile Row unveiled its association with the much-awaited global espionage thriller Mission Istanbul, directed by Apoorva Lakhia, at LIFA ‘08. The film’s actors, including Sunil Shetty, Vivek Oberoi, Zayed Khan, Shabbir Ahluwalia, Niketan Dheer and newcomer Shweta Bharadwaj, walked the ramp with long-time Hindi film actor Jeetendra and music director Anu Malik.
LokSabha MP Priya Dutt along with Sanjay Dutt walked the ramp for SUPPORT, a charitable organisation for addressing drug addiction, alcoholism and prostitution among street children. DPS Kohli, chairman, Koutons Retail India Ltd. donated Rs 21 lakh in support of the charitable organisation.
LIFA celebrated achievements of fashion and lifestyle brands, retailers and professionals who have done exceptionally well in the year just gone by, on all deliverables, constantly reinventing themselves to keep pace with the dynamics of the fashion industry, to remain forerunners in shaping the future of fashion in India.
LIFA 2008 was attended by over 2,500 captains of the fashion and retail world celebrating achievements in clothing, footwear, watches, jewellery, beauty, home fashion and lifestyle businesses, which make up a huge Rs 300,000 crore market in India. The awards were followed by a theme gala party and nightlong celebrations.
Conceived in the year 2000, LIFA was the culminating event of India Fashion Forum (IFF), the largest congregation of the business of fashion and retail in the Indian subcontinent and the Middle East.
IFA selection process involved a nationwide poll by IRIS, with AT Kearney as the ‘process approver’ among over 7,000 fashion-conscious Indians, recommendation by over 500 industry professionals, and self nominations. Also, face-to-face interviews were conducted among “fashion conscious shoppers” across 10 leading cities in India. An extensive secondary data search was conducted and self-nominations were invited from 300+ fashion brands, textile brands and fashion retailers across India. The winners were chosen on the basis of their popularity among consumers, mentions from industry professionals, and financial parameters such as sales and profit growths and retail coverage plans over the last year.
“LIFA recognises the true worth of brands and retailers among consumers as they are based on the verdict of thousands of brand-conscious consumers, who have voted for their most favoured brands,” said Amitabh Taneja, chief convenor of LIFA.
Nominees and winners of LIFA 2008:
1. Most Admired Brand Launch of the Year: GAS
Other Nominees
• KAPPA
• BOSSINI
• SPRINGFIELD
• GREG NORMAN
• NUN
2. Most Admired Fashion Concept of the Year: RELIANCE TRENDS
Other Nominees
• LEVI’S SQUARE
• ZAPP! KIDS
• BRAND FACTORY
• PROMART
• TITAN EYE
3. Most Admired Footwear Brand of the Year: REEBOK
Other Nominees
• LIBERTY
• BATA
• NIKE
• METRO
• M&B
• ADIDAS
4. Most Admired Timewear Brand of the Year: TITAN
Other Nominees
• TIMEX
• SWATCH
• CITIZEN
• HMT
5. Most Admired Jewellery Brand of the Year: TANISHQ
Other Nominees
• D’DAMAS
• ORRA
• NAKSHATRA
• GILI
6. Most Admired Home Fashion Brand of the Year: BOMBAY DYEING
Other Nominees
• SEASONS
• PORTICO
• SPACES
• CARMICHAEL HOUSE
• MASPAR
• ATMOSPHERE
7. Most Admired Fashion Campaign of the Year: GLOBUS
Other Nominees
• SHOPPERS’ STOP
• WESTSIDE
• LIFESTYLE
• TITAN
• LOUIS PHILIPPE
8. Most Admired Private Label Retailer of the Year: PANTALOONS
Other Nominees
• GLOBUS
• WESTSIDE
• SHOPPERS’ STOP
• LIFESTYLE
9. Most Admired Retail Destination of the Year for Fashion: SHOPPERS’ STOP
Other Nominees
• PANTALOONS
• WESTSIDE
• LIFESTYLE
• GLOBUS
10. Most Admired Suiting Brand of the Year: RAYMOND
Other Nominees
• VIMAL
• REID & TAYLOR
• GRASIM
• SIYARAM’S
• DONEAR
11. Most Admired Shirting Brand of the Year: ARVIND
Other Nominees
• ASHIMA
• CARALON
• BOMBAY RAYON
• GINNI
• OXFORD
• SIYARAM’S
12. Most Admired Sari & Dress Material Brand of the Year: GARDEN
Other Nominees
• NALLI
• HAKOBA
• VIPUL
• PRAFUL
• CO-OPTEX
13. Most Admired Textile Brand of the Year: RAYMOND
Other Nominees
• VIMAL
• REID & TAYLOR
• BOMBAY DYEING
• GRASIM
• SIYARAM’S
14. Most Admired Textile Face of the Year: PRASHANT AGGARWAL, MD, BOMBAY RAYON FASHIONS
Other Nominees
• SANJAY LALBHAI, MD, ARVIND MILLS
• DILIP JIWRAJKA, MD, ALOK INDUSTRIES
• NIKHIL MESWANI, ED, RELIANCE INDUSTRIES
• GAUTAM SINGHANIA, CHAIRMAN & MD, RAYMOND LTD
15. Most Admired Menswear Brand of the Year: ALLEN SOLLY
Other Nominees
• PARK AVENUE
• BLACKBERRYS
• VAN HEUSEN
• KOUTONS
• PROVOGUE
16. Most Admired Womenswear Brand of the Year: VAN HEUSEN WOMAN
Other Nominees
• BENETTON
• ALLEN SOLLY
• WILLS LIFESTYLE
• PROVOGUE
17. Most Admired Casualwear Brand of the Year: LEVI’S
Other Nominees
• PEPE
• SPYKAR
• V DOT
• PROVOGUE
• LEE COOPER
18. Most Admired Kidswear Brand of the Year: LILLIPUT
Other Nominees
• GINI & JONY
• BENETTON
• ZAPP! KIDS
• MOTHERCARE
• CATMOSS
19. Most Admired Premium Lifestyle Brand of the Year: TOMMY HILFIGER
Other Nominees
• ESCADA
• MANGO
• HIDESIGN
• SATYA PAUL
20. Most Admired Fashion Group of the Year: KOUTONS RETAIL INDIA
Other Nominees
• MADURA GARMENTS
• RAYMOND INDIA LTD
• ARVIND BRANDS LTD
• LEVI STRAUSS INDIA
• GITANJALI GROUP
• FUTURE GROUP
• TITAN INDUSTRIES
• ITC – LRBD
21. Most Admired Fashion Face of the Year: DPS KOHLI, CHAIRMAN, KOUTONS RETAIL
Other Nominees
• SHITAL MEHTA, BRAND HEAD, VAN HEUSEN
• SHUMONE CHATTERJEE, MD, LEVI STRAUSS INDIA
• SANJEEV AGGARWAL, CEO, PANTALOONS
• VINAY NADKARNI, CEO, GLOBUS
• SUBHINDER SINGH, MD, REEBOK
22. Most Admired Textile Visionary: SP OSWAL
23. Most Admired Fashion Retail Story of India: FABINDIA
24. Most Innovative Brand of the Year (presented by LYCRA® fibre brand): PARK AVENUE
25. Most Admired Fashion Icon in India – male: JOHN ABRAHAM
26. Most Admired Fashion Icon in India – female: KATRINA KAIF
27. Most Admired Fashion Ambassador of the Year: SHAHRUKH KHAN
