FROM FIBRE TO FASHION

— HEMANT SAGAR

"In my second column I would like to highlight the importance of 'Fibre To Fashion'. Under the forward thinking initiative and supervision of the Government of Meghalaya, a new organic fibre 'Ramie', which grows wildly in Meghalaya and has been traditionally used in the region but not at an industrial level, has been introduced to the textile industry for the first time. Curated by me, this project highlights textile innovation by inviting designers to use the newly grown Ramie fibre in an imaginative manner.

To celebrate the introduction of this new fibre, I selected seventeen designers with the help of co-curator Caroline Young, based on creativity, originality and paired together with a strong understanding of aesthetics. To ensure a bright future, the first trial weaves — which were distributed amongst all these designers — were developed on a power loom which ensured an industrial procedure rather than taking the traditional route of hand-woven, which is not strong enough to withstand the demands of modern daily life.

The creations of this amalgamation of both established and a fresh generation of designers, was recently showcased at an evening hosted at the French Ambassador's Residence, in New Delhi. There, I delivered a motivating speech which I would like to repeat here: "It is very important to understand that fashion, before anything else, is a huge global industry and a massive part of our economy. Our aim was to leverage India's strength in the field of textile and marrying it into the creations by these extraordinary designers. The Meghalaya government, along with the French Institute in India, have made it possible for us to witness our intuitions come to life. We are so thankful to all the designers for agreeing to put their creativity at the service of Ramie and helping us to showcase the importance of collaboration between the farmers, the government, the industry and design."''

Designers who were part of this initiative include Adil Iqbal Ahmad, Akihi, Atsu, Bodice, Daniel Syiem, DRVV, Huemn, Kaleekal, Kishmish, Lecoanet Hemant, Lovebirds, Payal Khandwala, Peachoo, Péro, P.E.L.L.A., Rajesh Pratap Singh and Savio Jon.