Eco Fashion World

The Centre for Sustainable Fashion—part of London College of Fashion—along with funding from Defra and the Indian Government launched Shared Talent India in 2009. The project, which worked to recruit the best UK and Indian design talent to showcase sustainable Indian textiles, culminated in design concepts, a promotional film and a photography exhibition which were showcased at the the Monsoon Stand at this year’s Estethica at London Fashion Week and are making their way to Indian Fashion Week in October.

On September 21, the eco fashion dialog continued when Shared Talent India designers Samant Chauhan, Gaurav Gupta, Anjana Janardhan and Shazia Saleem participated in an informative panel discussion at Asia House in London. Here they discussed the importance of environmental and ethical considerations in both their own work and in fashion production and consumption across Asia and the West. The NIFT alumni, experts in their fields of fashion, textiles and dyes, spoke passionately about their labels and shared their expertise. One of the members very rightly talked about the need for a global collaboration regarding raw materials, technology and manpower, with each nation to provide according to its fields of excellence rather than trying to source globally and produce locally.

CSF Hannah Higginson and Dilys Williams

The Indian textile industry seems to have come a full circle and is now back to the basics, with KHADI being the hot new selling brand. During the Asia House discussion, the panellists pointed out that the meaning of ”sustainability” is different in the two hemispheres. The Western market is no doubt highly sensitive and more aware of the various methods through which to manufacture and produce ethically; the Eastern market, on the other hand, is more consumer-oriented rather than following fashion luxury.

The Indian fashion industry should most definitely identify its strength in handloom textiles, embroidery, silks and surface ornamentation, a glimpse of which was seen in the expertly crafted garments showcased at LFW Estethica this season. One of the ways to promote handicrafts and ancient arts is to allocate GI (Geographical Identification) marks to textiles or garments produced in the specific area. This would make it easier for consumers to identify with the origin of the product.

The Shared Talent India project was useful not only for the participating designers, but it also provided the Indian weavers and embroiders with a wider stage to display their talent. The Centre for Sustainable Fashion Website will soon launch a database with information related to sourcing fabrics and embroidery in India and to the people connected with this project overseas.

The collection created as a part of Shared Talent India showcased a mix of excellently tailored, elegant, artsy and bohemian dresses. The pieces were created from simple Muslin cloth and highlighted with a bright red running stitch. Many of the garments displayed traditional fabric manipulation techniques like Batik, Smocking or Pintucking, giving the ensembles a more textured, three-dimensional feel. The suits and evening gowns played with the placement of Jacquards and Silks, giving the garments a regal feel. The use of the cross breed of fabrics is what ultimately made it a collection worth remembering.

On a note of thanks, Dilys Williams (director, Centre for Sustainable Fashion) very aptly pointed out that Ethical Fashion is not just WHAT we do, but HOW we do it. Here’s hoping that Sustainable Fashion continues to grow steadily and makes it into the mainstream fashion area soon.

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed

Show/Hide comments

Show/Hide comment form