Fashion and Fabrics – Crafting our future through raised awareness
People have a choice to buy things that are of better quality, organic, limited edition and bio-degradable. The focal point of slow fashion is sustainability. The benefits are good quality products with clean environment and fair policies for consumers and producers. The slow fashion concept puts emphasis on quality over quantity. It takes time to ensure quality, value to production, and connection with the environment.
Join us as we discuss how we can raise our consciousness with respect to not just embracing sustainability of slow fashion but also finding sustainable means of reduce, reuse and recycle our garments to reduce the tossing of surplus clothing (outcome of fast fashion) into the landfills and decreasing manufacturing needs. We shall hold the space for you to reflect if acceptance of the liminal and transitional spaces between sustainable fabrics and machine made fabrics, instead of debating over or choosing one over the other, is the immediate solution towards reducing our carbon footprints with respect to clothing choices.
We look forward to hearing our guests perspectives and learning from their creative journeys and exploring different ways of being.
Additional Details
Event Timezone Reference - India
Presenter(s) Bio
Archana Shah has been collaborating with artisans for the last forty years to create textile for urban markets. As a design student, she developed a keen interest in the traditional craft skills of the indigenous artisans. She travelled to remote corners of the country to study, understand and experience the vast variety of weaving, dyeing, printing, embroidery and ornamentation techniques practised by different communities. This proved to be a very enriching journey, and the unique skills of the people of various regions, their distinctive colour palettes, and rich design vocabulary became the base for all her future work. This lead her to start a clothing company, ‘BANDHEJ’ in 1985, a label influenced by the traditional textile skills, offering a range of sustainable, handcrafted, fashion clothing created for Indian women, with an eastern sensibility. The company was started with a vision to uphold, preserve and sustain the precious skills and inherent knowledge of indigenous artisans through collaborative design interventions. Over the years, through many initiatives and interactions, she has been able to revive and rejuvenate many craft skills, encouraging young artisans to realise that they can earn a decent livelihood by pursuing their traditional vocation. She continues to foster support to weavers, dyers and many women’s groups who embellish the clothing in ‘Kutch‘ and many other parts of India. In 2013, she published a book - SHIFTING SANDS, Kutch: A Land in Transition. The book is a personal journey of discovery, about her association of over forty years with the land, people and their craft. Her recently published, second book - Crafting a Future: Stories of Indian Textiles and Sustainable Practices is about artisans, their aspirations and the value of handcrafted textiles in present times. She believes, traditional wisdom has a lot to offer. Archana lives with her family and dogs in Ahmedabad.
Event Language - English
Posted By - Rritu Rana
Email - riturana199799@gmail.com / rriturana@shakhhsiyat.com
Spare Field - Not in use - Prasad Bidapa is the pioneer in the Indian fashion industry since the last four decades. A textile expert himself, he has presented the Rajasthan Heritage Week since 2015. This is a project he developed for the 'khadi' board for the government of Rajasthan, India. This is considered to be one of the most successful 'Khadi' & Handloom revival projects in India. An alumni of NID Ahmedabad, he is the creator of high-profile events like India Men’s Fashion Week, Colombo International Fashion Week, Kingfisher Fashion Awards & Mega Model Hunt. He has presented shows in The United States of America, Japan, Sweden, The Middle East, Singapore, Sri Lanka and other nations. In 2019, he presented the Mahatma Gandhi Sesquicentennial Show at the embassy of India, Qatar. He is currently working with various government departments to create similar handloom revival projects in various other Indian states. He works with National & International Designers to present the products of India in hand-loomed cotton, wool, silk and 'khadi'. This year he will present shows for the 75th anniversary of India’s Independence with ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’, an initiative of the Government of India to celebrate and commemorate 75 years of progressive India and the glorious history of its people, culture and achievements.
Spare Field - Not in use - Rritu Rana is an Executive Coach and Founder at Shakhhsiyat-Skills For Significance. She helps individuals in leading from within to step into their greatness in their personal and professional lives. She is an alumna of Delhi School of Economics, the University of Delhi and Bangalore University where she completed her masters in Geography and Masters in Business Administration (MBA in Human Resource and Marketing), respectively. She has extensive experience in teaching, personal branding and transformational coaching. She is currently working towards taking soft skills training to two tier and three tier cities in India; taking up projects that help individuals in building resilience to change; and is also working towards introducing environmental awareness and its regeneration through trainings and sessions to co-create a more tolerant world. She is based in Mumbai and is passionate about gardening and spreading awareness about the conservation of our planet Earth.