New Delhi, Sep 30 (UNI) Australian creativity and style will take centre stage at the Lotus Make-Up India Fashion Week (IFW) in association with NEXA Spring Summer’19 this October as part of Australia Fest.
The dazzling design showcase will be presented in collaboration with Ministry of Textiles, and is an outcome of the MoU between the two countries that was signed at ‘Textiles India 2017’ in Gandhinagar.
The show will feature the collections of five Australian designers - ‘Romance was Born’, ‘We are Kindred’, ‘Brother’s Earth’, ‘Cassandra Harper’ and ‘Roopa’– created using Indian handloom textiles.
Australia’s High Commissioner to India, Harinder Sidhu said fashion has a strong potential in the expanding trade and investment relationship between our two countries.
“We are proud to present this project as an outcome of Australia’s MoU with India on cooperation in the textiles, clothing and fashion sectors. It is an exciting project that promotes collaboration and exchange between Australian designers and Indian artisans,” she said.
“I am looking forward to viewing the collection, which demonstrates the richness and versatility of Indian textiles interpreted in a contemporary Australian design context,” she added.
“We are pleased to showcase Indian handlooms with design interpretations from five Australian designers. This collaboration will highlight the versatility of the Indian textiles, opening gates to the foreign intervention,”said Sanjay Rastogi, DC (Handlooms), Ministry of Textiles.
As part of this project, developed in partnership with Australian social enterprise Artisans of Fashion (AOF), Australian designers worked closely with Indian artisans to develop their collections.
The show comprises collections developed by Romance Was Born and We are Kindred with brocades from Uttar Pradesh, Brother’s Earth in collaboration with Indian designer Naushad Ali with natural Indigo dyed handloom textiles from Tamil Nadu, Cassandra Harper with Ikats from Telangana and Roopa with silks from West Bengal.
Australia first partnered with FDCI and AOF in 2013 with a showcase at India Fashion Week Spring Summer 2013.
This new project, which has been supported by the Ministry of Textiles through the Handloom Export Promotion Council, takes the collaboration between Australia and India to another level.
“I would like to thank the FDCI and its President Sunil Sethi for unstinting efforts in support of deeper India-Australia fashion links,”Ms Sidhu said.
"We are delighted that we have this partnership with Australia again this year, and like last time I hope it will bring forth engaging ideas. It will be interesting to see how these designers give us a new algorithm of style using Indian handlooms and use their innate prowess to display a fresh outlook,” FDCI president Sunil Sethi said.
“Crafts have always been a focal point for us and the Ministry of Textiles has embarked on bringing to life the strength of four clusters – Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and West Bengal, with designers engineering these handlooms into their collections to tell a story,” Mr Sethi said.
“It is an honour and a pleasure to have worked with the Australian High Commission and the Ministry of textiles on this important collaboration between Australian designers and India’s textile artisans,” Caroline Poiner, founder Artisans of Fashion said.
“This to me is one of the most exciting opportunities to promote the traditional crafts and demonstrate the magic that happens when designers and artisans work together in a truly collaborative way. It is our hope that we will see more designers seeking the beautiful work of India’s crafts people and help to keep these skills alive,” Caroline said.
The Australia-India Fashion Showcase will be presented at the Lotus Make-Up India Fashion Week at 1930 hrs on October 10.
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