If there was an Indian fashion textbook, where textiles told you what to do, we would perhaps be more aware of the gold mine of weaves our country is privy to
The label: Story of Weaves
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The first and fourth day stood testimony to the idea, with stylist Edward Lalrempuia mixing customary and communal, teaming saree drapes with puja thalis, trendy accessories like handbags, belts, chunky bangles, hoops and chandelier earrings, with ghungroos and stilettos, large bindis and quirky surprises in the form of cutwork petticoats.
Bengal's traditional weaves and embroidery like Kantha (close running stitch filled inside a design), Jamdani (or Woven Dreams combines intricate surface designs with delicate tapestry sprays, and coloured, gold or silver threads are passed through the weft), Baluchari (woven in Bengal silks, paisley motifs form the centre of this design surrounded by figurine motifs and narrow ornamental borders), shared runway space with the lesser known Tangail (borders have a lotus and lamp pattern) and Garad (silk saree consisting plain red borders set against a natural ground, with widely spaced red paisley motifs scattered diagonally from feet to waist).
What we would have liked to see
With UN declaring 2009 as the International Year of Natural Fibres, and KFW alligning their event with the cause, we expected to see more than a showcase of fabric and weaves from West Bengal. Maybe a daily morning seminar on topics like how designers can make jute (a fibre that more than 4 million farmers in India and Bangladesh make a living from) stylish, would have worked. Or perhaps if hemp can be used to produce textiles, reducing dependency on cotton and generating extra income for hemp-cultivating farmers.
Log onto https://www.naturalfibres2009.org/
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