Hyderabad fashion designer turns fabric waste into stunning outfits

Geethika Kanumilli aims to establish a strong foothold for Indian fashion on a global level. Photo Courtesy: Geethika Kanumilli

Can you imagine donning a bridal outfit made from fabric waste? Geethika Kanumilli is not the one to follow conventional fashion anyway. Her stunning ensembles made from wasted fabric are feminine yet fierce and reflect newness, the kind that would make anyone's jaw drop. What's more, they have pockets!

In September 2018, the 29-year-old fashion designer Kanumilli launched her flagship store in Hyderabad that sells occasion wear. "I like to design pieces that make people stand out in a very elegant way without the designs being too much in your face but just bold enough to catch everyone's attention," says the designer. Her designs can also be found under different brands in Delhi, Chennai and Bangalore. Besides this, one can also buy her outfits on e-commerce sites.

To realise her dream, the designer had to tread a challenging path. The 29-year-old wanted to become a fashion designer from the tender age of three which led her to pursue a degree in fashion designing from NIFT, Hyderabad. Life, however, had a different plan in store for her. During her academic period, she was diagnosed with a rare autoimmune disease that impaired her vision, reducing it by half. Although it seemed like the world came crashing down to the designer, she bounced back bringing to the table contemporary styles with time-honoured Indian artisanal techniques.

Today, her exquisite ensembles have been adorned by celebrities like Kiara Advani, Samantha Prabhu, Trisha Krishnan, P.V. Sindhu, Keerthy Suresh and Rashmika Mandana to name a few. Her clientele is spread across India as well as in the UK and USA.

Recently, the designer launched a new collection named ‘Wilderness' that involves making outfits from fabric waste. Kanumilli says, "I am someone who doesn't like to waste things. I try to reuse them. So why should it be any different with clothes?"

Glimpse of Geethika Kanumilli's Wildnerness collection. Photo Courtesy: Geethika Kanumilli

Be it using her old scarves to design a dress or her mother's dupattas to stitch kurtis, Kanumilli has been making the best out of discarded fabrics right from the time she started designing.

She gradually began noticing that large amounts of fabrics were scrapped and ultimately ended up in landfills, contributing heavily to land pollution and resource wastage. "It felt cruel," she says. "I started using all the scrapped bits and pieces to make new garments. This is how Wilderness came into being".

The collection employs a variety of materials and draws inspiration from nature's exquisite beauty, transforming symbolic representations and spontaneous expressions into tangible art. Its colour palette is pretty moody and plays with pale to dark colours. "There are a lot of interesting silhouettes and textures involving heavy patchwork with leftover fabrics. You can't really replicate it," says Kanumilli.

Wilderness embraces a wide range of emotions, paying tribute to the vibrant essence of Mother Earth and its profound connection to human feelings. It captures timeless sentiments through organic shapes, flowing fabrics and unconventional designs, creating an atmosphere that speaks volumes through touch and texture. "People love it. They thoroughly appreciate the idea," the 29-year-old exclaims.

Kanumilli aims to integrate more natural fabrics into occasion wear, uplift dying crafts, empower women and local craftsmen by making employment available to them and establish a strong foothold for Indian fashion on a global level.

One can buy her outfits for prices ranging from Rs 40,000 to Rs 3,00,000. The designer now plans to enter the Mumbai market soon through various multi-designer stores.