Rath won the title after competing with 14 finalists, in a three round event. The Ccntest invited final year students of fashion design discipline from all centres of NIFT, NID and Pearl Academy Of Fashion.

Initially 319 contestants applied for the reputed fashion ensemble.

When Rath was approached to comment on his success,he said, "Leaving 319 participants from leading design colleges behind was a moment worth cherishing, but it was never a easy win as once I got short-listed among the first 45, it was very encouraging and after that I moved in to the last 14 finalists before winning the award finally in the last round".

Sanjit, 22, who hails from Orissa, elaborated and said that every year Wills Lifestyle gives an opportunity to the final year design students of leading colleges from India to present their collection, where, in the first round the participants submit their initial concepts in form of sketches or illustrations, after which, students who get short-listed need to develop the actual garments, as per the sketches submitted in the first round.

This regional round happens in Mumbai, Calcutta and Bangalore respectively and then the final 14 selected students from NIFT, NID and Peal Academy of Fashion showcase designs for the final round in Delhi.

Rath's collection titled "Phoenix" and "Forest" keeping in mind the theme "Sunehra Kal: For All Our Tommorows"" alloted to them.

Wills accounting a Superbrand status
Wills Lifestyle celebrated the fourth edition of "The Debut" award by once again recognizing the promising fresh young talent in the fashion design arena from all over the country.

In its 9 year course, Wills Lifestyle has achieved high recognition from consumers within the industry - including 'Most Admired Women’s Wear Brand, 'Retailer of the Year' & 'Superbrand' status.

The Talented Debutant
Rath designed two garments for his collection ‘Resurgence of Life’.

He said, “It took me a rigorous whole month to bring the designs to life. I hand-stitched swatches of clothes using kantha embroidery to create the garments.Since my designs are inspired by the forest,it has shades of green and brown.

It signifies the need to save our environment. I tried to show resurgence and rebirth by drawing inspiration from the phoenix bird. So, the garment has shades of red, orange and yellow".

"The victory is overwhelming. I hope this win will open up new opportunities in the fashion industry," said Rath.