Harshit Dhingaun
From a ₹200 media student trying to enter India Fashion Week in 2007 to creating his own fashion platform at Bharat Mandapam, Harshit Dhingaun’s 18-year journey comes full circle
New Delhi: What began in 2007 with a young media student standing outside Pragati Maidan hoping to enter a fashion week has, nearly two decades later, culminated in Delhi Fashion Week 2026 at ITPO, Bharat Mandapam.
For Harshit Dhingaun, Founder and Chairman of Delhi Fashion Club, the occasion also marks the organisation’s 10th anniversary and the realisation of a vision he began building in 2015 — to make fashion more accessible to young and middle-class talent while using fashion as a platform for culture, textiles and opportunity.
Dhingaun’s first exposure to the fashion industry came in 2007, when he was pursuing a media diploma at YWCA. He saw an advertisement for FDCI India Fashion Week in a newspaper and decided he had to experience the fashion world.
when he reached the then Pragati Maidan, he was told that only registered people could enter. Determined not to leave, he tried repeatedly to find a way inside. Eventually, someone offered him a pass, initially asking for ₹3,000, then ₹2,000 and ₹1,000.
“I told him I had only ₹200 with me. Seeing my determination, he finally gave me the pass,” Dhingaun recalls.
He later discovered that the pass was for the Rohit Bal finale.
Inside, he encountered the fashion world he had only read about, seeing personalities including Milind Soman and Rahul Dev and supermodels such as Carol Gracias and Sonalika Sahay. Years later, Sonalika Sahay would become a showstopper at one of Dhingaun’s own shows.
That experience shaped his philosophy.
“I understood what it felt like to stand outside wanting to experience fashion but not having access. Later, when I worked as a fashion blogger, whenever I had extra passes, I would go back to the gate and give them to people who genuinely wanted to experience the fashion world,” he says.
A Struggle Becomes a Vision
Dhingaun also remembers hearing legendary designer Rohit Bal speak about fashion not being accessible to poor or middle-class people. Rather than accepting it, he says he took it as a personal challenge.
“Being from a middle-class background, I wanted to create equality in fashion and make it accessible to people who are ambitious and want world-class exposure.”
That vision led to the founding of Delhi Fashion Club in 2015.
The organisation began creating opportunities for young models, designers and fashion enthusiasts to connect with the industry. Its work soon expanded beyond fashion shows into cultural promotion.
From Nagaland to the Northeast
in 2016, DFC began its dedicated Northeast fashion journey with an initiative in association with DENSU — Delhi Eastern Nagaland Student Union At Nagaland House, New Delhi.
The work subsequently expanded across Manipur, Assam and Karbi communities, and Meghalaya’s Garo and Khasi heritage, using fashion to bring regional culture, textiles and talent to wider audiences.
Among the milestones were promoting Manipur designer Robert Naorem at Asian Designer Week, working with Manipur designer Arbin Tonjam with Bala Hijam as showstopper at International Fashion Week Chandigarh, and continuing the fashion-week journey at International Fashion Week Goa, including work associated with FDCI designer Sonia Jetley.
For Dhingaun, these were part of a larger mission.
“Fashion is not only about the garment. Behind it are the weaver, artisan, community and culture. I wanted to use fashion to give those stories visibility.”
This philosophy eventually developed into International Reinvent Northeast, creating a dedicated platform for Northeast fashion, textiles, culture and talent.
2020–2025: The Delhi Fashion Week Dream
In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Dhingaun applied for the trademark for DFC Delhi Fashion Week.
“While the world was dealing with Corona and the fashion industry was facing uncertainty, I was thinking about the future. I wanted Delhi Fashion Club to eventually have its own fashion week and identity.”
The trademark process became a prolonged legal battle. After more than four years, the DFC Delhi Fashion Week trademark was secured in 2025, turning a long-standing ambition into an established platform.
2026: The Dream Reaches Bharat Mandapam
The vision reached its most emotional milestone with Delhi Fashion Week 2026 at ITPO, Bharat Mandapam, during Film Expo India.
the event carried the theme “Naari Shakti – Weaving Viksit Bharat”, bringing together women empowerment, Indian handlooms, Khadi, textiles and Northeast cultural heritage.
For Dhingaun, the venue itself carries a deeply personal meaning.
“There was a time I used to stand at the gate of Pragati Maidan to get entry to India Fashion Week and other shows. Today, that same place is Bharat Mandapam and we are organising our own fashion week. After 18 years of exposure to the fashion world and ten years of Delhi Fashion Club, it feels like God has brought everything full circle.”
Fashion Beyond Commercialism
Dhingaun says his objective has always been larger than commercial fashion.
“I wanted to use fashion to create change in society rather than look at it only from the commercial element.”
That philosophy continues through DFC’s focus on young talent, women, handloom, Khadi, Northeast culture, designers, models and artisans, alongside the broader ideas of Vocal for Local and Atmanirbhar Bharat.
DFC has also expressed gratitude to the Film Expo India team for its collaboration, support and trust in bringing Delhi Fashion Week 2026 to the Bharat Mandapam platform.
The Next Decade
As Delhi Fashion Club enters its next decade, upcoming projects include International Reinvent Northeast Season 9, planned as a full-fledged full-day fashion and cultural event; Miss Glamour International, with registrations through missglamour.in; and Global Fashion Runway Season 3 in Goa, in association with International Fashion Week Goa.
From a ₹200 student outside Pragati Maidan in 2007 to organising Delhi Fashion Week at Bharat Mandapam in 2026, Dhingaun’s journey has come full circle.
The person who once stood outside the gate now creates the stage.
And for Delhi Fashion Club, the next decade is about ensuring that more young people, designers, models, artisans and cultural communities get the opportunity to step onto it.
From standing at the gate to creating the grand stage Delhi Fashion Club’s 10-year journey has turned a personal struggle into a mission of fashion, access, culture and opportunity.
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