Lakmé Fashion Week ends with Amit Aggarwal finale, Aneet Padda and Suryakumar on ramp

Lakmé Fashion Week x FDCI ended its October 2026 edition in New Delhi on Sunday, October 18, 2026, with designer Amit Aggarwal's prêt label AM.IT presenting the grand finale at the Taj Palace hotel. Actor Aneet Padda closed the show as its showstopper. Also on the closing day, cricketer Suryakumar Yadav made his runway debut as showstopper for Ethnix by Raymond, closing the label's "Wedding Stories" collection. The six-day event, run with the Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI), began on October 13.

The finale showed where Indian occasion and prêt fashion is heading: towards clothes that can move through a whole day. Aggarwal, known for his sculpted, pleated metallic work, built his show around a working woman's day. The designer said the collection moves from the structure of the working day into the freedom of after-hours dressing. In practice that meant structured silhouettes and shirting worn with corsets, metallic pleating and strong colour, pieces meant to be mixed rather than worn as one formal look. Coverage of the show also described a theatrical staging with street scenes and dancers.

Several shows across the week pointed the same way. Ashish N Soni built his menswear around the character of textiles, Anushree Reddy explored different identities of the modern bride, and Ethnix by Raymond framed its menswear as wedding stories. For buyers, wearable ideas matter more than spectacle. Weddings and festivals drive a large share of what Indian families spend on clothes, and designers are trying to make those purchases feel less like one-time costumes and more like pieces that can be worn again.

The finale was also a brand showcase. The show was staged with the Lakmé beauty label, owned by Hindustan Unilever, which used it to present a new range in its 9to5 make-up line. Sunanda Khaitan, chief marketing officer for Beauty and Wellbeing at Hindustan Unilever, said the partnership reflects how a woman's energy and style change through the day. Readers should see the finale as both a design statement and a marketing event, which is how most fashion-week closing shows now work.

Suryakumar Yadav's appearance shows another trend: sports stars are joining film actors as fashion faces. Menswear labels in particular are using cricketers to reach men who may not follow fashion news but do follow the game.

Short-term: Looks from the finale and from the wedding-wear shows will shape what boutiques and online stores push for the coming festive and wedding season. Expect more metallic accents, corset-and-shirt layering and embroidered Indo-Western menswear in stores.

Long-term: The steady growth of sustainability platforms such as the circular design challenge, and the shift to wearable separates, point to an industry trying to sell clothes that last longer and get worn more often. Whether that holds will depend on whether shoppers actually buy fewer, more versatile pieces.

Who is affected: Women and men shopping for festive, office and wedding wear; independent designers and craft clusters who show at the event; textile and garment businesses supplying fashion labels; and beauty brands that use fashion weeks to launch products.

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