NIVEDITA SABOO
SCover Story he counts the city’s power set and the recently crowned Mr World winner Rohit Khandelwal among her customers and her creations have gone to fashion shows across the globe but Nivedita Saboo, 35, continues to combine social causes with high fashion. While she’s employed women and the physically challenged at her factories ever since she launched her eponymous label, the designer took her social commitment a step further when she worked with victims of acid attacks in March this year. Saboo created a special collection of ivory and gold outfits for a show called Satva-The inner strength in which she had victims of acid attacks walk the ramp in their flowing outfits made of super fine gentle cotton. “Thousands of women are subjected to acid attacks and as a woman and a designer, I wanted to make them feel confident and empowered” says Saboo.
Making a difference Even as she’s set to make her debut in Mumbai next month, the designer recently held a colouring workshop for visually impaired children from Pune. She changed the texture of paints by adding pounded pulses, dried leaves and fine sand to help the children differentiate between colours they couldn’t see. Saboo works closely with artisans and the physically disabled to impart skills and create employment opportunities “Working with the disabled is different but not difficult,” she says.