IFF Innovators Club Awards 2026: Celebrate the Creative Forces Powering India’s Fashion Retail

Bengaluru: While business events across the world often spotlight the C-suite as custodians of strategy and scale, the Business of Fashion tells a different story — one where innovation is shaped by the artists, designers, visualisers, and strategists working behind the scenes in studios, labs, and on shop floors.

Recognising this creative backbone of the industry, India Fashion Forum (IFF), at its landmark 25th edition, honoured exceptional innovation and creativity through the IFF Innovators Club Awards 2026, celebrating individuals, teams, and organisations that are redefining fashion retail in India.

IFF Innovators Club: Championing the Unsung Heroes of Fashion Retail

From trend-spotting and sourcing to design conceptualisation and immersive in-store storytelling, these innovators create the magic that defines contemporary fashion retail. Launched at IFF 2023, the IFF Innovators Club has grown into a nationwide movement through roadshows, masterclasses, and curated engagements, championing the creative intelligence that fuels brands.

Now in its fourth year, the IFF Innovators Club at India Fashion Forum 2026 hosted a two-day convention featuring town halls, sessions, and roundtable discussions focused on buying, sourcing, design, fashion innovation, and visual merchandising. Senior members of the community were invited to participate as speakers, mentors, and presenters, reinforcing the Club’s collaborative spirit.

IFF Innovators Club Awards 2026 – Winners

IMAGES Most Admired Fashion Innovation of the Year

• Disruptive Design — Product
  Nykd by Nykaa Design Team — Simran Sharma & Swati Sud

• Disruptive Design — Visual Merchandising (VM)
  Seven Sarees — Hemamalini Padmanabhan, Founder

• Design Innovation in Craft
  Seven Sarees — Hemamalini Padmanabhan, Founder

• New India Consumer Breakthrough
  Zivame — Prachi Walia, AGM, Design Head
  Van Heusen — Shankar Chowdhury, General Manager, Design

• Modern India Supply Excellence
  Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) — Vishal Kumar, Membership & Supply Chain Officer

• Circular Fashion Initiative
  Ratan RLS — C. Anbumalar, PA Footwear

• Sustainable Fabric Adoption
  R|Elan™ SmarTex Team — Reliance Industries Limited

Special Mention by Jury

• Revival of Craft
  Adyam Handwoven, an Aditya Birla Initiative — Manish Saksena, Business Lead

IMAGES Fashion Awards (IFA) 2026 – Key Winners

Marketing & Promotions

• Festival Sales Campaign of the Year
  Lacoste — Court of Light

• Multimedia Campaign of the Year
  Avantra — Avantra My Way
  Campus Shoes — You Go Girl!

• Digital / Social Media Campaign of the Year
  By a Brand (Tie)
  Spykar Lifestyle — Daur Apna Hai
  U.S. Polo Assn. — Leisure On The Go

  By a Retailer
  Max Fashion — Max Turn Up the New 13X

• Celebrity Endorsement Campaign of the Year (Tie)
  PUMA India — PVMA
  Jadeblue x Jasprit Bumrah

Retail Excellence & Innovation

• Experiential Store Design of the Year
  The Body Shop India

• Visual Merchandising Innovation of the Year
  Lifestyle

• CRM Initiative of the Year
  Pepe Jeans London

• CSR Initiative of the Year
  Vismay

• EBO Debut of the Year
  Neo Stretch

• Concept Store Launch of the Year
  Knockout, Barnala, Punjab

• Flagship Store Launch of the Year

  • Exclusive Brand Retailer: TechnoSport, Sarath City Mall, Hyderabad

  • Multi-Brand Retailer: Image Luxe, Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh

  • Private Label Retailer: Easybuy, JP Nagar, Bengaluru

Retailer of the Year – Market Expansion

• BAGLINE — New Market Penetration

• Megamart — Store Count Augmentation

• Tommy Hilfiger & Calvin Klein — 360° Market Expansion

• Valli Silks — Trading Area Growth

25th India Fashion Forum – Leader of Leaders Award

• B S Nagesh

A Celebration of Creative Leadership

The IFF Innovators Club Awards 2026 reaffirm India Fashion Forum’s commitment to recognising the creative minds and operational leaders who shape the future of Indian fashion retail — not just through scale and strategy, but through design, innovation, sustainability, and customer experience.

As India’s fashion ecosystem evolves, the IFF Innovators Club continues to serve as a powerful platform for collaboration, learning, and recognition of the talent that brings fashion to life.