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3 ELLE Graduates 2023: The Best Dressed Attendees At This Fashion Soiree

4 ELLE Graduates 2023: Here Are This Year’s Trailblazing Winners

5 ELLE Graduates 2023: The Esteemed Jury

Here Are All The Nominees For Trell ELLE Graduates 2021

- Announcing young and creative designers nominated for ELLE Graduates

Team ELLE

November 3, 2021

A celebration of the future of Indian fashion, Trell ELLE Graduates is an annual event held to recognise India’s young and upcoming designers. Acting as a platform for emerging talent – it gives homegrown brands a chance to showcase their creations and be mentored by the best minds in the industry.

We bring to you our nominees for each category.

Designer of the Year – Ready To Wear (Western)

AKHL Studio-Defined by innovation & experimentation, AKHL Studio is a brand that explores new age fabrics combined with hand weaving techniques that are meticulously tailored to encapsulate luxury womenswear.

Anatomy-With the aim to express modern femininity, Anatomy explores with the fusion of edgy organic forms and strong architectural designs.Their pieces define the contemporary women with their zero-waste techniques

Aroka-An inclusive slow fashion brand started by the dynamic duo Shweta Agarwal and Karan Ahuja, Aroka is a Ready-to-wear brand that aligns social messages with their design processes to create eclectic collections.

Corpora Studio-Corpora studio is a size inclusive brand that caters to all body shapes and types. They aim to break the monotony, create structures yet fluid proportions and highlight minimalistic details by creating garments that offer women the freedom to express themselves and be confident in what they want to wear.

Koai-Launched in 2019, Koai, which also means ‘Love Child’ in Japanese, is a non-fussy everyday brand that aims to bring comfort and love through their collections. Even with an international appeal the brand is quite attached to their Indian roots.

Ode to Odd-Created as an ode to each and every distinctive self of ours, Ode to Odd started as a brand that relishes the worth of true craftsmanship and believes that true magic lies in those hands that weave a narrative. The brand wishes to celebrate the unrealistic, the eccentric and everything in between.

Sazo-Born amidst the pandemic, Sazo is a brand of independent creators that draw inspiration from the human vision. All what we see and all what we do turns into an abstract creative expression that stems from their designs.

Vir Shete-A high end RTW label, which is strong yet feminine, sexy yet sophisticated, and cosmopolitan yet classic. The brand includes influences from identity, culture, technology, travel & architecture. The brand aims to champion the idea of fashion forward functional RTW for both day & evening.

Line Tribe-The brand is an unpredictable mix of elements representing a cultural melting pot as well as the global community. The brand has a self developed mix of draping and pattern making. The brand constantly explores ways of construction/deconstruction and uses a spectrum of textiles in the most effective technical manner. The brand aims to contribute towards a truly inclusive world.

Designer of the Year – Ready To Wear (Indian)

Aseem Kapoor -Rooted in the notion of simplicity, Aseem Kapoor brings together the most luxurious elements of India’s sartorial traditions and reinterprets them into designs that capture a delicious ambiguity, a sense of controlled chaos.

Label Nimbus -Much Like nature, Nimbus takes inspiration in the ethereal beauty of nature. It’s bold in thought yet delicate in persona. Comfortable and timeless styles, intricacies in hand embroidery and dexterity in design is what the brand believes in.

Raffughar -What started as a homage to the traditional raffughars of Kashmir, now tries to bring to life the magic of kashmir textile and weaves through garments that each have a story that’s rooted in Kashmir.

Ruchi Soni -Ruch Soni collections aspire to revive the finest techniques from past eras.Their designs cater to women with an intrinsic sense of style, who not only prefer bold and fearless fashion choices but also believe that fashion is not just art but a way of life.

Sureena Chowdhri -A conscious, data driven and technology forward brand, Sureena Chowdhari is a brand that believes in the ‘less is more’ philosophy with their simple, minimal, versatile and well-thought designs. They practice sustainability by using technology and data to minimise waste.

YAM -A print centric, millennial-run brand, YAM uses traditional techniques of weaving, embroidery, sketching and painting to create new and contemporary artworks. They believe that one of the best ways to promote sustainable fashion is to use open communication and create what the customers want and like.

Designer of the Year – Fashion Accessories & Jewellery

Aarjavee -Inspired to reflect the elements of nature and all the little things in life, Aarjavee is an amalgamation of eclectic and effortless designs made in an unconventional manner. Handcrafted and ethically sourced, each piece of jewellery becomes a part of your identity.

Baka Jewellery -Sustainable methods being ingrained in their processes, Baka Jewellery expresses their contemporary designs with a hint of inspiration from their traditional Indian roots. These dynamic designs keep heritage and modernity alive.

Chamar Studios -A design studio making its way with a new recycled substitute for leather, Chamar Studio is breaking boundaries with their work alongside leather cooperatives and artisans by teaching them new techniques with their substitute material. They are handcrafted, cruelty free and timeless.

Mero Jewellery -Drawing inspiration from rich heritage and craftsmanship of heirloom pieces, Méro jewellery is aiming to create heartfelt experiences that are based on nostalgia and love for all things traditional.

Stem -With the aim to create a conscious lifestyle, Stem celebrates Indian craftsmanship through sustainable, ethical and minimal designs. Their ethical approach in the leather industry has uplifted the longstanding ways of traditional methods.

Kira -Kira can be defined by three words - slow, simple and strong. The brand strongly promotes slow and conscious living with a simple lifestyle. Their designs are raw, fresh, contemporary and experimental that embrace irregularities and uniqueness.

Designer of the Year – Men’s Wear

Agraj Jain -A newly launched luxury fashion brand, Agraj jain truly believes that every piece of fashion is a work of art and art is a part of life. Sustainability and an eco friendly attitude is what the brand stands for while creating the best of couture.

Dash and Dot -With contemporary aesthetic and accessible designs, Dash and Dot has a vast array of meticulously crafted garments that define the new age man. They take inspiration from a dash and dot that are the simplest form of sign language used across the world to define their functionality and comfort.

Studio Margn -With humanity at its core, Margn looks at the world without discrimination and divides. They collaborate with smaller communities to ethically develop recycled fabrics. The brand uses rigid silhouettes to explore conceptual ideas around masculinity, identity and humanity to narrate stories from a fresh perspective.

Line Outline -A range of RTW clothing with a fluid narrative. The brand works closely with local craftsmen and local tailors. The label pushes semantic dialogue within the creative industry, exploring the lines between form and function. The aesthetic is carefully curated using a range of interesting fabrics & construction techniques.

Sustainable Design Brand Award

Em & Shi -Em & Shi defines storytelling as a journey through eclectic prints and eye-catching colours. With subtle details entwined in handcrafted and ethically made garments, the brand aims to create a deeper bond with their consumers by promoting slow fashion & long lasting pieces.

Graine -Consciously electric is how the brand describes someone who wears Graine. The brand believes in contemporizing revered techniques in modern silhouettes with its signature craftsmanship. Graine practices design and dressmaking through purpose and responsibility.

Joskai Studio -A sustainable & ethical brand working with the grass-root level artisans of ethnic communities of Morigaon district & Sualkuchi village in Assam & other craft cultures in India, with focus on innovation in textile techniques. Fabrics are locally sourced and designs are mindfully made to minimise wastage. All the art prints are also developed in house, translating a certain story onto the fabric and designs.

Nece Gene -Mindfulness, consciousness and necessity, defines Nece Gene. The brand believes in closing the loop and by making use of even the last strand of thread wisely. They use the denim waste to create avant-garde outfits to promote ‘innovate-wear-recycle’.

Paiwand Studio -Inspired by the local Indian ideology of repairing a patch, Paiwand Studio pays homage to that bygone tradition. They see beauty in bits and fragments and all the things that add meaning to life. Their collaborative process aims at uplifting artisanal communities and redefining artisanal craftsmanship.

Studio Rigu -Since its inception, the brand has been synonymous with the ideology of “Empowered Femininity”. Transcending trends, independent & modern, the rigu brand provides transformative clothes to meet the everyday needs of the globetrotting woman. The amalgamation of multiple genres, cultures, & deep rooted psychological traditions inspire the brand to create this eclectic blend of eccentricity and convention, spiced with a contemporary twist on individuality.