Benetton India Welcomes Global Artistic Director Jean-Charles De Castelbajac For The First Time In India

United Colors of Benetton's Global Artistic Director - Jean-Charles De Castelbajac (also JCDC) made his maiden visit to India.

Whether it's Beyoncé's wild blue jacket, Rihanna in a Donald Duck dress, or outfit queen Lady Gaga in a jacket with sewn-on Kermit the Frog puppets, they have all worn his creations and made them famous. Jean-Charles de Castelbajac is a designer who knows how to dress women with courage and creativity. And for his somewhat unorthodox tastes, he has been nicknamed 'King of the Unconventional'.

The fashion fiesta kick-started with a creative master class by JCDC at Istituto Marangoni. A full-house attendance of young design & fashion students, the session was aimed at inspiring the future generation at embracing creativity with strength, focusing on sustainability and always being proud of one's individuality. Young creators engaged themselves in conversations with the man-of-the-moment who inspired fashion trends for decades with his distinctive design aesthetics.

The masterclass was followed by a gala evening where the venue opened doors to prominent fashion & design stakeholders, Istituto Marangoni's Mumbai alumni, Indo-Italian embassy delegates and opinion makers of the industry. Talked about at the venue was the high on style, limited edition collection by JCDC for Benetton titled The Rainbow Machine that made global headlines earlier this year when the brand made its debut on the runway at the Milan Fashion Week Fall-Winter'19. JCDC has recently showcased his SS20 collection Color Wave which is inspired entirely by sea. The collection was showcased at the historic Piscina Cozzzi Swimming pool in Milan. Castelbajac gave a sneak-peak to the creative design inspiration behind the collection and shared his inspirational stories.

This was the first-ever event in India which personified upcycling. This personality of the brand was evident at the event with the entire venue being set-up with utmost attention towards sustainability and recycling - there were three art installations made from pencil shavings, discarded glass bottles, broken CDs and molten waste crayons, respectively.

Benetton's profound heritage was knitted colorfully around the theme of 'Sustainability'. Green is not just the color of the brand; it is also a philosophy that has permeated the Benetton Group culture for decades. From eco-friendly white craft paper shopping bags, discarding denim treatment methods with sand-blasting and adhering to principles of organic agriculture to being associated with green projects& programmes like Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals (ZDHC) Programme, The Better Cotton Initiative (BCI), Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC) among others; Benetton has been walking the sustainability talk for decade.

The evening was a true testament of Jean-Charles de Castelbajac's iconic fashion repute, a celebration of Benetton's heritage and legacy, with a modern spin, and a unique meet & greet of some of country's most celebrated fashion voices.

MUMBAI, Oct. 30, 2019