Kering's first India Generation Award honours Paiwand, A Blunt Story, Without

French luxury group Kering presented the first Indian edition of its Kering Generation Award on Tuesday, 13 October 2026, at the Embassy of France in New Delhi. The prize, run in India with Reliance Brands Limited, went to three young sustainability businesses: Paiwand Studio, founded by Ashita Singhal; A Blunt Story, founded by Chandni Batra; and Without, founded by Anish Malpani. Two of the three winning ventures are led by women, and all three turn waste or low-impact materials into products for fashion and everyday use.

Kering owns some of the best-known names in luxury fashion, and its sustainability prize is one of the ways it scouts for new materials and suppliers. Bringing the award to India puts small Indian studios in front of a jury and a network linked to global supply chains. Malpani said the win gives his company a chance to show its materials to large buyers, which is often the hardest step for a materials start-up: proving that a new fabric or plastic substitute can be made at scale and bought by big brands.

The win for Paiwand Studio is also a story about craft. Handloom is one of India's largest sources of rural work for women; government figures put the share of women in the handloom workforce above 70 per cent. Paiwand's model keeps the loom at the centre and changes the yarn, feeding in fabric scraps that would otherwise be thrown away. That gives weavers a product that speaks to buyers who care about waste, without asking them to abandon their skill.

A Blunt Story addresses a different gap. Footwear depends heavily on rubber, foams and synthetic leather made from petroleum. Batra's label is one of a small number of Indian brands trying to replace those inputs with plant-based and recycled ones, and recognition from a major luxury group can help a young, self-funded label win attention from retailers and investors.

The Indian edition also ties a European luxury group to a homegrown platform. The R|Elan Circular Design Challenge has been the main route into the award, so designers who enter that contest now have a further path to international recognition. Kering's sustainability chief Marie-Claire Daveu said India was chosen for its mix of sustainability work, entrepreneurship, craftsmanship and heritage, and indicated the company plans to return.

Short-term: The three winners gain visibility with a global luxury group, its Indian partner and the fashion press during one of the busiest weeks of the Indian fashion calendar. That can open doors to pilot orders, collaborations and mentoring.

Long-term: If the award returns each year, it could become a regular bridge between Indian circular-design start-ups and international buyers. It also signals to young designers, many of them women, that waste-based materials and craft-led production can be the basis of a serious business rather than a side project.

Who is affected: Founders of sustainable fashion and materials start-ups in India, handloom weavers who work with studios such as Paiwand, designers who enter the R|Elan Circular Design Challenge, and Indian and global brands looking for lower-impact materials.

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