BENGALURU : The weekend started early for handloom lovers, when Raintree on Sankey Road, turned into a shopping paradise with leading sustainable brands coming together under one roof. The two-day artisans’ pop-up started on Friday, with more than 15 designer brands displaying their collections. With the aim to promote sustainable fashion and pay an ode to Indian handicrafts, the pop-up curation includes designers and craftsmen who use traditional Indian crafts and textiles in a modern way, thereby creating sustainable fashion.
Along with several people who attended the event, the artisans who are the real hands behind the products stood out in their traditional attire. Their collection includes hand-block prints, Ikat and hand embroidery, made by the artisans from Okhai in Gujarat.
“Pop ups are a great way for us to meet our customers. A few years ago, the artisans were very hesitant to travel anywhere, but now they are travelling to places such as Paris and New York to promote ethical fashion,” says Kirti Poonai, head of Okhai, whose brand went digital in 2015. Like Poonai, entrepreneur and designer Farah Khan, is ‘obsessed’ with reviving the traditional Kantha.
“Going by the demand, we are planning to open in Japan next year,” says Khan, whose products range between ` 3,000 and ` 35,000.At a time when fashion designers are getting conscious of textile pollution, Shilpi Yadav, founder of Khara Kapas wants to bring about a change by making fashion sustainable and zero waste.
“When the company started, the whole aim was to make everything out of homegrown cotton because it’s such an underrated fabric,” she says, adding, “Textile industry is one of biggest contributors to the pollution and to change that we take any of our products from the customers of any kind of alteration so that the usability of the apparel is more.”
With options being so versatile among Indian fabric, some like Indu Mohanty have been going back to their textile roots. The designer who has been working in the corporate sector for last 10 years, says she has almost given up westerns brands. “I feel most comfortable in the clothes made of Indian fabrics. There are so many Indie brands, which are come up with modern apparel with little desi vibe in it. I don’t think I am going back to any other fabric,” says Mohanty.