As the CEO of the North East Institute of Fashion Technology and the founder of Celebrating North East festival, Vikram Rai Medhi hopes that Delhiites will see that the Seven Sisters are a mix of traditional and the modern.
The event, now in its ninth year, will see an exhibition showcasing handicrafts and handlooms(garments and home decor) and the sale of tribal cuisines of the states. Models will Top-line designers from North East will show aesthetic beauty of textiles and how the local women wearing skirts, tops, denims, palazzos, trousers as well as traditional headgear have a fascination for dressing up in style. As Vikram Medhi is a noted name on fashion, leading models like Noyonika Chatterjee, Sonalika Sahai, will walk the ramp wearing outfits worn by people on the streets of Shillong, Aizawl, Imphal, Guwahati and Itanagar. The aim is to bring alive the beauty and vastness of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura, Mizoram, and Nagaland.
“The highlight is the inauguration of the Bhupen Hazarika pavilion by Usha Mangeshkar, sibling of Lata Mangeshkar. will sing the Assamese song, “Chameli”. The late singer’s son Tej Hazarika, a professor in New York, is coming from there to deliver a speech.We have collected a number of images of Bhupenda da,” says Vikram.
Zubeen Garg, Joi Barua and Deeplina Deka will perform music live. To boost tourism, stalls will be set up by Ministry of Tourism to beam videos highlighting the beauty of the region. “We want to encourage tourists to undertake a pilgrimage to the Kamakhya Temple of Assam and the Tawang Monastery of Arunachal Pradesh,” says Vikram.
Vikram Rai Medhi
On what designers will showcase?
All the designers will display traditional textiles with the age old way of draping. To strike a bond with young generation of Delhi they will also present contemporary designs. The festival will feature fashion shows on the both days highlighting handloom and handicrafts ensemble. They will create kaleidoscopic magic in weaved textiles.
Catch Nandini Borkakoty, an Assamese designer, who will showcase block printing using wooden blocks . It is inspired from by Assamese motifs king khap style which is inspired from the Ahom dynasty and signifies the royalty and magnanimity of the erstwhile kingdom. See a Japi, traditional headgear, once worn by aristocratic women, being tied. Buy a Mekhela Chador, in all-natural indigenous silks like eri, muga, mulberry, by Arita Kashyapwho is giving a push to sustainable slow fashion. She has used indigenous pure silk like eri, muga and mulberry with traditional weave patterns and sustaining age old weaving skills. She will demonstrate that Mekhela Chador is an unique garment which can be worn universally.
Robert Naorem, a Manipuri designer, will show both handloom and textile of his State. It has Indo-western and traditional collections. in with work of ethnic motifs keeping the style and trend intact. He used shades of pink, grey, peach and beige to construct his garments.
At Selectcity Walk, Saket; November 2, 3; 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
