Eco Fashion World

Favoring western designs and customs over their own traditions is a common characteristic of people in non-western countries. From a fashion perspective, this is problematic because it makes us all look the same. From a cultural perspective, it's dramatic because it makes us loose authentic techniques and crafts that people have been practicing over centuries. Copy-paste behavior results in a minimum dull look and designers who stick their neck out deserve some appreciation.

Sabyasachi Mukherjee, a young, hip, Bengali designer, has taken India's chattering classes by storm. He is insisting that to be well-dressed at Delhi and Mumbai's best cocktail parties, you have to be wearing not glittery Western-inspired tube dresses and leggings, but khadi - the simple homespun weave that was championed by Gandhi in the 1930s to boost the rural economy and give India a sense of nationalist pride during the fight for independence. Apart from the beauty of the fabric, whose history in India goes back well over 5,000 years, Mukherjee's reasoning is simple. Khadi, he says, is refined, sophisticated, eco-friendly and comfortable, and has too long been regarded as the poor man's fabric. To wear it is a sign of being well dressed and cultured. Best of all, in his view, it should help India's rural craftsmen and women to share in the country's growing wealth and economy.

Like Mukherjee’s inspired clothing, the people in India’s West Bengal recognize that before Britain’s industrial revolution in the late eighteenth century, homespun textile production was their mainstay. Even now, the local industry sustains up to one million weavers in the state. Because of this, the people are planning a fashion show in Kolkata to show off these styles. Promoted as ‘Gandhi chic,’ the fashion week will showcase simple handwoven fabrics made famous by the independence leader Ghandi. “The aim of the fashion show is to promote the handwoven fabrics to the international market which we feel is not aware of our rich heritage of handloom,” West Bengal handicraft and village industries commission chairman Mohammed Salim told AFP by telephone.

India isn’t the only country getting back to homespun styles. When French fashion journalist Nadine Gonzalez and Brazilian designer Andrea Fasanello discovered the talent of women in Rio’s slums, ModaFusion was born. What began as a social project promoting ethical fashion from Brazil, ModaFusion now designs and develops high fashion collections using organic cotton, PET from recycled plastic bottles, banana fibre, fish skin and bamboo. Brazilian savoir-faire combined with French haute couture design makes for unique fashion pieces. The atypical brand aims at enhancing the idea that future fashion creations are in the core of disfavored communities, and creates an identity of strong potential for Brazilian fashion and a source of inspiration for western fashion.

For more designers getting back to homespun, also be sure to check out the lineup at Ethical Fashion Show Paris from October 1st to 4th. One of our favorites featured at the show is Bibico’s Nieves Ruiz, whose hand-woven prints, embroidery and knitwear reflect the traditional skills of her female producers mixed with contemporary style.

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed

Show/Hide comments

Show/Hide comment form