Known for walking uncharted territories, last year, couturier Hemant Sagar, the co-founder of famous French fashion house Lecoanet Hemant, came back rejuvenated from a trip to Meghalaya. It was not just the salubrious weather of the North Eastern State but the fact that he found a fibre called ramie to experiment with. A native to eastern Asia, the strong fibre is similar to linen and flax and is naturally found in Meghalaya because of the high rainfall that the region gets every year.
The fact that it can be harvested four times a year and is naturally sterile makes ramie worth experimenting in fashion space. Hence the government of Meghalaya collaborated with Hemant, who in turn pitched the idea to the French Institute in India. The result is “Fibre To Fashion”, where in the Government of France under the framework of Bonjour India, in collaboration with Hemant and the Meghalaya Government, has invited 17 designers to come together to demonstrate creative interpretations of this fibre.
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What is the process involved in converting ramie into fabric?
It is a classic refinement procedure of this fibre which grows in Meghalaya naturally. The plants are cut and the fibre is extracted, refined, spun into threads which are then woven into material.
What are qualities of this fabric and what are its prospects in contemporary times?
It grows wildly in Meghalaya and has been traditionally used in the region, but never at an industrial level like it is envisaged now. Being totally organic and non-polluting, I see ramie as an alternative to cotton. Cotton plantations are huge polluters, which the public is unaware of. Ramie has been exploited in many countries, but never in India, I suppose, simply because it was never remarked. Also, ramie is not a classic fibre to be spun into fabric. There have been, in fact, blends of eri-silk and ramie – this was just the first pilot project and we just went ahead intuitively – the textile engineering has yet to come in and we will be knowing much more shortly.
Tell us how your French connection has evolved over the years and how it has helped in the Ramie project?
The soul of our company is multicultural, it was from inception onwards and our functioning is international or multinational. One of our major characteristics is total adaptability with a business model that is international and scalable. This culture and functioning makes us into an automatic choice for interaction between India and France, since that is what we are.
Here, it is an industrial thought to ask designers to interpret their vision of designing in a material that is entering a market for the first time. France excels in this and this is why Bonjour India is the ideal partner. This collection which in a way is a pilot launch project is a non-commercial indicator of future use of ramie.
Though veterans like Rajesh Pratap Singh and Aneeth Arora were not given any brief, how did you ensure that the collection looks cohesive?
Both are above all super talented fashion professionals and we approached them precisely because we were convinced they would need the shortest or even no brief. What they created confirmed our approach.
Tell us about Ayurganic, your new wellness line
Ayurganic is undergoing a few adjustments and currently re-entering the market internationally.
The combination of certified organic cotton and ayurvedic fabric treatment arguably make this one of the greenest products in the world.
How do you strike a balance between look and longevity of outfits?
Even classics need a readjustment, very few garments still worn in the world have reached a state of no further evolution like the sari, unchanged since centuries. To keep the classic look, proportions need to be reinterpreted every few years.
Your experiments with Indian outfits like Padma pajama, Gandhira tops, churidar pants and out of the box shawls are legendary. How did you arrive at this language?
It is a free interpretation that is only possible if you are not rooted into a certain culture; it demands an ‘outside’ eye to see the inside.
How do you see the impact of demonetisation on fashion industry?
Time will tell but I can well imagine that some people will rather re-wear a garment they have rather than buying new ones for every wedding, considering they are traditional clothes and cannot go out of fashion and also do not really need to get replaced.
24dmcAneeth
Embroidery matters
Aneeth Arora, the designer behind Pero, says the concept behind the look was to create a multi-panel garment, bringing together the rawness through different weights, textures and natural shades of woven ramie fabrics creating a look that would show how divergent fabrics work when assembled together.
For the designer, the look is not about an age group or a season. It is about a mindset, a willingness to incorporate nature and its natural ways. The colour palette consists of hues of white. As embroidery is palpable in outfits of Aneeth, here too she has kept the embroidery and detail similar to natural tones, staying true to the natural beauty and nature of the ramie fibre. Incorporating the Ramie fibre in Pero style was an important component. Therefore, surfaces were developed using varied hand embroidery techniques, using threads and ramie fibre with which pompoms, tassels and flowers were created.
Keeping it pure
For Rajesh Pratap Singh, it was important to keep the ramie fabric as pure as possible and keep the silhouette and colour true to the fabric’s natural state.
He has explored multiple possibilities with this new fabric and experimented with opposites - masculine and feminine, hard and soft and tailoring and drape. The silhouette of the jacket is in an amalgamation of ramie and silk blend. Using tailoring and drape, it has been made in a way that it accentuates and reveals versatility of the fabric.
The cowl shirt and the pleated skirt resonate the same idea of draping and tailoring and were later block printed at the garment stage.
