R|Elan™, the fabric brand from Reliance Industries Limited, will collaborate with Indian fashion label HUEMN for a runway showcase at Lakmē Fashion Week in partnership with the Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI) on 16 October at Taj Palace, New Delhi.
The show is the second collaboration between the two at the platform. It will also be the stage for the public unveiling of R|Elan’s renewed brand identity as the brand enters its eighth year.
Beauty and Terror
The collection centres on ‘beauty and terror,’ a recurring duality in HUEMN’s design philosophy. The label, which draws on the social, political and cultural landscapes of its time, will present archival craft techniques, original prints, experimental surfaces and contemporary sportswear silhouettes, all made with R|Elan’s performance textiles. The showcase also reflects HUEMN’s 14-year journey in taking athleisure beyond conventional sportswear into a space where performance, craftsmanship and high fashion meet.
The collection uses seven R|Elan technologies: Kooltex, GreenGold, Cotluk, EcoTherm, AllClima, EcoGold and AirTherm. Together they bring breathability, comfort, adaptability, thermal functionality and responsible material innovation into HUEMN’s designs. Rather than hiding the technologies as an invisible layer, the collection lets material and performance inform how the garments are constructed, how they move and how they look.
Among the key pieces is an oxblood denim jacket made from R|Elan EcoGold and featuring intricate Chikankari embroidery, pairing a traditional Indian craft with contemporary construction. HUEMN also introduces an original snakeskin print.
Kooltex features in a more experimental silhouette, including a draped garment the HUEMN studio calls the “mummy top,” inspired by the wrapped and layered form of Egyptian mummies. Kooltex is also used in a hand-illustrated dusty-print jacket. The collection’s cargo pants use R|Elan EvaSoft, a fibre engineered for soft touch, enhanced moisture management and superior wet strength.
What the companies said
Hemant D. Sharma, President – Polyester, Reliance Industries Limited, commented, “This showcase marks a defining moment for R|Elan. As we enter our eighth year, we are unveiling a renewed brand identity that captures who we have become — a brand that never stands still. We chose Lakmē Fashion Week for this reveal because the true measure of textile innovation is how it comes alive in design. Our collaboration with HUEMN brings seven of our fabric technologies into a single design language, uniting performance, sustainability and craft, and reflecting our ambition to create better, smarter and more purposeful textiles.”
The refreshed identity builds on eight years of textile innovation and signals the brand’s ambition to keep developing smarter, more purposeful material solutions. By revealing it through the HUEMN collaboration, R|Elan places textile technology within the creative process, showing how material innovation can influence both the functionality and the aesthetics of fashion.
Pranav Kirti, Co-founder & Creative Director, HUEMN, said, “For over a decade, our design journey has been an unapologetic exploration of contrasts, where the rawness of destruction meets the elegance of creation. Partnering with R|Elan allows us to elevate this narrative. By spotlighting our thought-provoking prints and a heritage technique, like Chikankari, in cutting-edge, eco-conscious fabrics like Eco Gold and EvaSoft, we are engineering a resilient, elevated uniform for modern living. This approach seamlessly marries traditional craftsmanship with advanced material science, taking athleisure out of the ordinary and firmly planting it in the realm of high fashion.”
Jaspreet Chandok, Group Vice President, Reliance Brands Limited, said, “Lakmē Fashion Week in partnership with FDCI continues to be a space where design, craft and innovation come together to shape new possibilities for Indian fashion. The R|Elan™ × HUEMN collaboration reflects this spirit by bringing advanced textile technologies into conversation with HUEMN’s distinctive approach to contemporary design and craftsmanship. As R|Elan™ enters its eighth year and unveils a new brand identity, the showcase also marks an important moment in its journey, demonstrating how material innovation can find meaningful expression through fashion. We look forward to seeing this collaboration come alive on the runway this season.”
The collaboration proposes an approach to athleisure in which performance does not sit apart from fashion, with technology, craft, comfort and visual expression sharing the same design language so that the everyday uniform takes on a more considered, elevated form.
