The three-day-long India Runway Week organised by Indian Federation for Fashion Development (IFFD) concluded yesterday at Select Citywalk, Saket.
The final day was called The Pink Day after being dedicated to breast cancer awareness. Not only that, women at the event could avail of free cancer checkups. For those found positive, Avon Foundation has stepped forward to aid them with their treatment.
While designers like Ramnik Pahwa and Anupamaa Dayal displayed their work, we caught hold of Miku Kumar just before the showcasing of her collection Legends of the Sea to understand more about the initiative.
Four years ago, Kumar had dedicated a show to breast cancer awareness and raise funds for those fighting the fight.
“I had 15 breast cancer survivors walk the ramp. Out of those, five became really good friends and have been in touch with me since then. I believe that for the survivors staying strong and moving on becomes a challenge. Also, being part of their lives I understand the physical and mental changes they go through. So I wanted to do my part in creating awareness,” said Kumar.
From taking a step towards sustainability to celebrating the scrapping of Section 377, the fashion industry time and again played a great role in highlighting social issues.
Kumar too believes that such initiatives are the need of the hour and more and more platforms should open up to highlighting social issues.
“IRW is a big platform and garners huge media coverage. When such issues are talked about on such platforms people become more aware. So, I feel that every big event should talk about at least one social cause,” said Kumar, who is proud to be associated with the cause.
Jaipur to Goa
Legends of the Sea is a blend between ethic and Indo western style. “I have always been fond of the sea and the calming effect it has on one.
And this time we wanted to bring this feeling in our collection,” said Kumar, who used her experience of living in Jaipur and Goa to bring the collection together.
So the collection not only has motifs related to sea but also ones that were borrowed from the palaces of the Pink City.
The collection also has a lot of traditional Indian hand embroidery on fabrics like silk, organza, net and georgette.
For someone who strongly believes in women empowerment, Kumar ensures that only women stitch and do the embroidery for her collection.