Lakme Fashion Week: Sustainable Fashion & Indian Textile Day Part One

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The Sustainable Fashion and Textile Day at Lakme Fashion Week is like no other with the runway hosting craftsmen and weavers; recyclists and upcyclists, unconventional models and revivalists while stirring up a real conversation on the unique landscape of fashion in dynamic India.

The show – Reincarnations introduced designers who are working with upcycling.

The design inspiration for Wandering Whites collection comes from metal junk – air conditioner coils, bolts, gas burners etc. which are then morphed into these stunning pieces.

Innumerable types of industrial waste generated in the world today that is irresponsibly discarded. Jambudveep‘s garments and shoes are delicately embellished with such waste.


Thousands of saris are given to raddi walaas everyday which get collected in crowded whole sale markets for reselling as rag. I was a Sari visits these shops, goes through the saris and chooses the ones that can be brought back to life and presented in these myriad ways.

Where does tons of fabric scraps go? Normally to choke the earth in a landfill, unless Smriti Dixit lays her hands on it and transforms them in these covetable statement accessory pieces. The clothes were provided by P.E.L.L.A.

Savior of disposed off fabric, The Stitching Project chooses the best pieces, puts together contrasting ones and the village women of Rajasthan stitch them together with basic kantha work to create trend free pieces. Shoes made of rubber tires and discarded fabric were courtesy of Kurio.

Gossamer khadi sari, hand woven in jamdani weave with cranes, birds, flowers, butterflies in over 8 months were presented by Sailesh Singhania.

House of Milk presented garments made in non-toxic fabric treated with Ayurvedic healing herbs with clever cuts.

Easy garments in handwoven checks and stripes made by the shrinking tribals of Odisha was the showcase of Galang Gabaan that included the Santhal tribe sari.

Slow fashion brand Maku brought forth the angle of emotion that is the nucleus of sustainable fashion: the feelings of hand spinners, weavers, tailors while making the garments.

Working with natural, cruelty free fibers made into simple, functional garments that follow fair work practices while employing local artisanal communities, Oshadi defined what the face of fashion can be.

Boro inspired garments with buttons, trims and left over fabric with sujani hand embroidery by Indegene can be worn off the runway.

Naushad Ali transformed 5.5 meters handwoven saris, with patience required to generate close to zero-waste, into these garments.

The technical complexity of textile was made fun by Padmaja. Her line had joyful colours, in easy silhouettes custom woven by Women’s Weave.

Pallavi Datta is a textile enthusiast on a journey to explore the myriad delicious facets of sustainable fashion in India of now and yore. She chronicles her pilgrimage on PallaviStyleDiaries.

Photo Credit: Viral Bhayani

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7 Comments

    • I agree, zero waste and all that jazz is okay, but the things need to be wearable. What amongst these can be worn by regular people on a regular or even for a party? ridiculuous!!!

      Reply
  1. Love this piece and the fact that the Indian fashion world is thinking about sustainability and dedicating a day to showcasing designers’ work in this space. Am a huge fan of Naushad Ali, Maku, Padmaja and I was a sari

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