Fashion forward

The fashion industry is ever evolving not just in terns of designs, but also awareness, more so in recent years. While designers and consumers are becoming more and more aware of the harms of fast fashion, new age designers are bringing a new perspective to their designs keeping sustainability in mind. 

Delhi-based JD Institute of Fashion Technology partnered with India Fashion Week London for the sixth consecutive year where the students showcased their designs along with professional designers from India. The celebration involved seminars, ramp walk and talk sessions on style and trends and various other aspects of fashion. Students of JD Institute of Fashion Technology, who showcased their talent on a global platform, represented the theme of sustainable fashion and highlighted traditional arts like Rogan art — a design style from Kutch, Gujarat, handloom designs from Arunachal Pradesh, and so on. 

Every design that was put on the ramp had an interesting concept. Niharika Bhatia, a student of the institute presented her collection under the banner ‘House of Jediiians’ at the India Fashion Week London. The students introduced a mix of sustainable and ethnic fashion on the ramp. Bhatia says that it was an experience of a lifetime, something that she would never forget. 

“Showcasing designs at a leading fashion week is an opportunity that can open a thousand opportunities, so when we were selected we knew we had to do our best not just in terms of performance but bring the best of meaningful designs on the stage that will have a positive impact on the world of fashion,” says Bhatia. 

Talking about the designs that were showcased by her team, she says that they used cork fabric to create two designs — a dress, and a skirt and a blazer set. “We used laser-cut techniques on cork fabric and experimented with different types of pleats, and used it with tie and dye marbling effect with a satin fabric and also created 3D flowers with the fabric,” explains Bhatia. 

When asked why was she keen on working on designs revolving around sustainability, Bhatia says that the global leather industry slaughters more than a million animals approximately to manufacture leather every year. “However this is not only the concern, the production of leather uses chromium which is a carcinogenic chemical causing cancer and also causes air pollution, and living in New Delhi, I know it is a big deal. Therefore choosing a sustainable approach towards fashion has become extremely important,”  she says. 

Talking about the fabric that they used, Bhatia says that cork is a natural high-quality material directly obtained from the bark of the Oak tree. Since the manufacturing process and other activities of leather production consist of the killing of animals, which is hazardous for nature, they wanted to switch to leather with a plant source. She further explains that cork leather or cork fabric is a high-quality fabric produced from thin cork shavings obtained directly from the tree and looks similar to leather. 

She also points out that initially when it came to fashion and designing clothes, designers would often think of the aesthetics, but this narrative is slowly changing. “Along with the design point of view, as part of our curriculum, we are taught the dangers of the fashion industry in terms of its impact on Earth and pollution causing factors, because of which not only our views have changed but we have become more aware of the situation. This has made us come up with designs that are not only appealing to the eye but also good for the environment,” says Bhatia. 

There are several new-age designers who are coming up with sustainable designs. “Sustainable fashion does not start and end with just the designs or the designers but also with the consumers of fashion. Unless they become aware of the hazards of fashion, we, as sustainable designers, might not be able to bring about that positive change,” Bhatia concludes.