Khadi to be theme-line in LFW

For the first time, the core principle of the signature fabric of India Khadi – sustainable development – will be at the centre-stage during the 14th edition of the Sustainable Fashion Day at Lakme Fashion Week on August 23 in St Regis Hotel, Mumbai.

Incidentally, it is also the first occasion that the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) would be collaborating with Lakme Fashion Week, in which collections made by four designer labels with hand-spun and hand-woven Khadi fabric – hand-spun in sleepy cluster areas of Elgandal (Telangana), Kanjarpur (Madhya Pradesh), Bastar (Chhattisgarh), Hoshiarpur (Punjab), Malda, Burdwan and Murshidabad (West Bengal).

KVIC Chairman Vinai Kumar Saxena – who would also deliver a keynote address on 'Khadi and Sustainable Development' in the inaugural session, said that showcasing Khadi on this ramp would definitely change the common man's perception about Khadi being a stereotype fabric made for a particular class.

"Khadi is a perfect example of sustainable development as it comes from humble processes of hand cropping, hand spinning, and hand weaving, which are completely sustainable because they are based on individual level competencies and skills. Similarly, the market process generates employment and income for the rural masses as it is not machine intensive or technology intensive," he said.

"The products are completely recyclable and biodegradable. Khadi represents a new model of self-reliance, where the artisans depend completely on an indigenously produced resource, avoiding imports and generating sustainability of the individual as well as the society and nation as a whole," he added.

Expressing his gratitude to Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi for catching Khadi's latent potential, Saxena said, "With its diversified canvass, Khadi's principles of sustainable development reverberate from all directions: from helping terrorism affected families to find life support to giving economic freedom to tiger attack victim families and from rehabilitating poaching affected communities to self-employing displaced people the Narmada valley."

The season's most coveted designers would come under one roof and work their magic with styles and trends that make the fashion and beauty nothing less than a splendour.

Many facets of Khadi will be showcased by renowned fashion designer at the LFW.