Khadi – the earthy fabric from the Indian soil with a strong imprint of the country’s history – has brought laurels to a budding designer from the city at the national level.
Lakshmi Sujatha Ganguri, student of JD Institute of Fashion Technology, bagged the best Khadi Designer Award at a national level contest organised by the Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises. She was selected from over 50,000 entries from designers across the country. The award function was held in Delhi on December 30.
Inspired by the Swadeshi movement, 11 of her garments designed on khadi fabric were selected for the finale.
She was among 35 designers who were short-listed in the final round and the only one from the Telugu States of AP and Telangana.
The award has come as a big boost to the 44-year-old designer who started her journey in the fashion designing world only a year ago. “I have always had a deep attachment for khadi and handlooms. All my designs done so far are on handloom fabrics. My childhood years were spent in Gummileru in East Godavari district where I have seen the weavers spin handloom yarns. When I heard about the contest, I knew this was my chance to showcase my passion,” said Ms Sujatha.
Steering away from dyed khadi fabrics, the designer retained the originality of the rich shade of the khadi and accentuated the texture through embellishments and accessories – all made from khadi, sourced from the villages of AP like Ponduru and Angara. Some of her Indo-western designs reinterpreted khadi to create a bohemian aesthetic with layered, off shoulder blouses and lehenga with a trail on khadi fabric. Interestingly, participants of the Miss Khadi beauty pageant held were so floored by Sujatha’s collections that they all sought to walk the ramp in her designs. She emerged the winner in all the three categories of Indian, Indo-western and Western wear category.
“There is no need to glamorise khadi. The original richness of the fabric not only brings in a deep sense of Gandhian aesthetics, if khadi clothes are made with cutting edge designs at par with global trends, they will automatically appeal to the youth. My aim is to take this humble fabric across the globe and showcase it in the trendiest forms and designs,” says Ms Sujatha.
She believes that khadi can be used to fuel the ‘Make in India’ initiative of the government and entrepreneurship. “I am working towards launching my own label. My focus will be handloom and handspun fabrics. This award platform has given the much-needed impetus to designers from tier-2 cities for intervention in the khadi space,” she added.
The budding designer has already got offers from films and also has three job offers from Delhi.
