Catwalk trendiness fondly mingled with Northeastern art and craft on the opening day of the Spring-Summer 2013 edition of the Wills India Fashion Week (WIFW) at Delhi’s Pragati Maidan on Saturday.
The first such show by a mainstream designer to be sponsored by the Ministry of Textiles (MoT), Atsu Sekhose’s collection on the ramp was significant on many fronts. The most important being that the Fashion Design Council of India’s (FDCI) populist fashion event is no longer seen as a breezy cocktail space by the MoT, which formerly found it unfit to showcase the country’s textile legacy.
Despite being co-dependent — as textiles are the biggest feed into Indian fashion collections — the two sides had remained politely (and politically) aloof till now. Working in collaboration was an unrealised vision. That has changed.
What makes the change even more remarkable is that the region the MoT has chosen to support is the Northeast. Most of “mainland” India, as Northeast designers emphasise, is ignorant about the nuances of their crafts. What better platform to showcase it than a hyped fashion event that attracts the media like a magnet.
“The provision of marketing is an important element in a support strategy and is equalled in importance only by the design input. The Northeast lacks both these inputs, as a result of which its handloom sector languishes,” said Kiran Dinghra, Secretary (Textiles), Government of India.
Fashion week organisers and MoT officials have marked out an entire section of stalls for ready-to-wear, saris, accessories and jewellery from the Northeast, curated by Mala Barua. Six designers are displayed here, with wares made from local materials like Eri and Muga silk, loom woven mekhlas and tribal fabrics interpreted in Western silhouettes, apart from water hyacinth bags, handmade paper made from rhinoceros poo.
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