A Responsible Runway

Day 2 of Lakmé Fashion Week was an ode to sustainable clothing and responsible fashion

“Sustainable is not a trend, it’s not fashion, it’s the need of the hour,” says fashion designer Rajesh Pratap Singh, who has been rooting for sustainable and responsible fashion through this label which closed Day 2 on an ecofriendly note.

However, Singh was not alone. Lakmé Fashion Week celebrated its Sustainable Fashion Day with an array of talented designers showcasing their designs made from eco-friendly fabrics. Starting with the opening act #KhadiGoesChic, a grand khadi showcase by fashion designers Lars Andersson, Jewellyn Alvares, Pallavi Shantam (of Buna) and Saloni Sakaria (of The Third Floor Clothing). Speaking about khadi going chic, Shantam, all of 25 years, believes that the younger generation needs to explore this fabric more, just like she did. Also, Andersson is of the opinion that if khadi has to move forward, it needs to be renewed. “Bringing khadi to Lakmé Fashion Week Winter/ Festive 2018, to an audience that has probably never seen khadi as something that can be used fashionably, is what khadi going chic is to me,” says Alvares.

Taking a step further was the digital empowerment showcase where talented designers such as Naushad Ali, Indigene and Three By Pallavi Dhyani teamed up with three clusters including weavers of Musiri, Tiruchirappalli, Ikat weavers of Barpali and Naupatna and cotton weavers of Barabanki. “We live in a digital age then why leave the artisans behind? Weaving is an important craft of India and it is our responsibility to take it forward to the next generation. I think empowering weavers digitally could be an interesting step for that [to keep the tradition alive],” says Ali.

Creating awareness through an array of silhouettes, drapes and colour palette, fashion designers Sunita Shanker and Gunjan Jain had the audience sit up and take notice when their unconventional sari drapes gave a whole new meaning to tradition with a twist.

A love story between khadi and matka by fashion designer Lars Andersson

Working with shades of beige, offwhite, green, purple and mustard, Jewellyn Alvares worked on construction techniques instead of embellishments

PHOTOS: PRODIP GUHA/HT, SHASHI KASHYAP/HT, HEMANSHI KAMANI/HT Naushad Ali was inspired to create a line of garments that would highlight the beauty of the textiles created by the talented weavers. Working with checks, stripes and ikats, he gave a more abstract and colourblocked effect to patterns

A model strikes a pose in a woven Varanasi brocade with Tencel. The art work on his red and gold ensemble with a hoodie designed by fashion designer Rajesh Pratap Singh is called Sher Babbar.