Actress Adah Sharma dazzled in a beautiful lehenga at the last day of India Runway Week as she walked the ramp for Shravan Kumar. The designer kept the collection region-specific and showcased the lesser known handlooms of the south. Shrabasti Mallik reports
Just before the curtains came down at the India Runway Week, Shravan Kumar Ramaswamy’s collection crafted out of South Indian handloom was the perfect setting before the curtains came down at the India Runway Week.
Models gracefully walked down the ramp in resplendent kanjivaram sarees, pochampally lehengas and ghagras with malrama borders. Ramaswamy is known for his love for handlooms but this time he decided to keep it region specific. His collection spoke largely about the lost, dying and the lesser known handlooms of the South. “For this collection we have worked with clusters of weavers and craftsmen who want their tradition to live,” he said.
There were a lot of south Indian cotton, silk, malmal and double ikkat puttepatta in the designs. The designer told us of the other, lesser known handloom fabrics that he used in his collection. “We have also used handlooms like kalamkari, mangalagiri, madhavaram, narayanpet, chirala, venkatagiri and chunnur khadi.”
His showstopper, Hasee Toh Phasee actress, Adah Sharma looked like a beautiful bride in a golden lehenga and a red veil, trailing behind her as she swirled and turned to show the dress.
Ramaswamy draws his inspiration from sheer volume and beauty of ethnic Indian designs that reflect an amalgamation of colour and texture along with class. “Handloom in India is lost,” he said, “What I, and a few other designers, are doing is simply reincarnating and reviving the craft from the very little that is left. Ours is a fashion for cause.”
Through his designs and handloom society Alian, he encourages weavers to continue with the art and also takes initiatives to generate interest in the youngsters as well. “Children of weavers now do not want to carry the craft forward. They want to move ahead in search of a better livelihood. And it is primarily because of this that most of the traditional handloom is fading away,” explained the designer nd gave us statistics, too. “In the 70s, weaving was the second best profession in India, not it has come down to eighth. And the fault does not only lie with the weavers, but we are to be blamed, too. We seldom buy handloom products and that affects their economy,” he said.