Fashion Police! From Kareena Kapoor to Janhvi Kapoor; how Bollywood rang the death knell for the supermodels | Lakmē Fashion Week 2025

Gone are the days when fashion weeks were about style and design and supermodels were the showstoppers. Now it’s all about Bollywood, paparazzi, influencers, sponsored clothes and a few minutes of fame. Nobody really writes about the fashion designers, their weaves, textiles, cuts and most importantly the labour, time and craftsmanship that went behind it. Honestly, when would designers and organisers stop using Bollywood as a bolsterer and go with models who are far more professional and do justice to the craft and don’t shift the attention from designers’ creation.

But don’t you think that it’s a huge time that designers and organisers should stop taking Bollywood stars as showstoppers because this isn’t a Bollywood filmy event in the first place. It is a platform for designers to showcase their craft. With this unnecessary eye ball isn’t the whole idea of the craft of the designers being distracted and isn’t it also a grave injustice to the supermodels too.

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At least, this year we are talking about this craze for Bollywood celebrities on the ramp at the Lakmē Fashion Week. But this shift has been happening gradually over a few years.

Are fashion shows losing its charm?

Designer Anavila Misra begs to differ. She says, “ Fashion shows are a great platform for the new designers, otherwise how do you present your creation to the world. For young designers who want to enter into this space and business it is very important for them.”

You need to understand that corporate houses have taken over most of the fashion houses. In the last few years it’s more about the business of fashion.

Inclusivity in the fashion industry and how it’s a sham

When asked about ageism in the fashion industry, super model Candice Pinto says, “Everyone talks about inclusivity in the fashion industry, but I still don’t know till what level it works.”

In last year’s Lakmē Fashion Week, model Nayanika Chatterjee rightly said on ageism, “Honestly speaking, I think inclusivity is quite a sham. There are very few designers who actually include all of us. Now it’s always thinner, younger. That’s always been the trend. So I have to be honest, it’s very few and far that actually lead in it from within. A lot of people do it because they want to show that they’re inclusive but they don’t necessarily do it. And they do it when it’s in season. And when the season dies out, then you see only. few people like him and some others who will still call me and say, no, it doesn’t matter what size.”

Now, we need to admit that there aren’t any supermodels these days and Bollywood does give us the social media tractions. Those were the days when models like Nayanika Chatterjee, Mehr Jesia, Milind Soman would light up the ramp shows with their style. True that today’s new generation don’t want to be supermodels, they probably don’t want to walk behind a Janhvi Kapoor. 

We need to understand when creativity is backed with sponsors and definitely you cannot run a huge fashion event without understanding the commerce of it, then definitely Bollywood takes over. It has a very common scene at the fashion show, when Bollywood stars walk the ramp, mobile phones go up and there are those oohs, aahs and wows… as if they are getting their instant orgasms, not realising that the entire idea of displaying the creations of the designers are getting defeated.