Go green with your wardrobe

Eco-friendly fabrics are all the rage now. As such, green clothes don’t necessarily refer only to ethnic wear. There’s a wide array of western and fusion options to choose from

This season, fashion has gone green with a vengeance. A trend, which started with Stella McCartney’s sustainable clothing line that wowed style pundits and won her Britain’s Designer of the Year award has spread across the world, including India, where individual designers as well as corporate fashion houses have created green lines made from sustainably-sourced fabrics.

Designers like Anuradha Ramam, Anita Dongre, Paresh Lamba and others have combined organic, hand-woven cotton, silks and khadi with traditional embellishments, especially exquisite thread and mirror work, and natural dyes and prints to fashion the perfect festive attire that is high on style and totally eco-friendly.

Glam green clothing first grabbed eyeballs on international runway with McCartney’s designs. Our desi couturiers, too, have been experimenting with homegrown handlooms ever since the Ministry of Textile has decided to specifically focus on reviving ancient weaves. Top designers like Ritu Kumar, Ritu Beri, Tarun Tahiliani, Sabyasachi Mukerjee, Anita Dongre, Anuradha Ramam, Paresh Lamba and others have made it their mission to promote eco-friendly fabrics.

Bengaluru designer Paresh Lamba, who specialises in men’s wear, emphasises, “Organic cottons and sustainably-sourced materials cause minimum harm to the environment. Synthetic materials often require the use of many chemicals and pesticides in production, which damages the local environment.”

Anuradha Ramam, a self-taught fashion designer, who seamlessly merges the traditional with the contemporary and is passionate about keeping the old textile crafts of India alive, too, recommends going green all the way. “Even juxtaposing khadi kurta with a silk churidar and bandhani silk duppatta or going in for a Chanderi lehenga with a khadi blouse will give your attire the oomph factor.

Alternately, wearing a monochrome silk or mulmul sari along with a jacket blouse in khadi silk and some chunky silver or bead jewellery will definitely ensure that you have everyone’s undivided attention at an evening puja or party,” advises Ramam, who has been supporting over 350 weavers and artisans of Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal through her work.

Like Ramam, fashion diva Anita Dongre is known for working with grassroots weavers and crafts people, particularly from Gujarat and Rajasthan. Her ‘Grassroot’ organic label that follows a “Revive Sustain Empower” philosophy showcases ‘ahir’ embroidery from Kutch, ‘ikat’ from Karnataka and Hyderabad, ‘gotta patti’ from Rajasthan, weaves of Banaras, Warli and hand block prints.

As such, green clothes don’t necessarily mean only ethnic wear. There’s a wide array of western and fusion stuff to choose from. Fab India, the largest private platform for products made from traditional techniques, skills and hand-based processes, has been one of the forerunners of sustainable fashion. Over the last couple of years, it has been introducing various collections of western wear made from hand-woven materials.

Rangriti from Biba, a popular brand for women’s ethnic wear, has come out with collections that have a wide colour palette. Cheerful floral prints are playfully arranged with neat patterns of “Dabu” prints to give a different touch.

Rajesh Jain, Business Head and spokesperson for Rangriti, suggests, “Colours like deep maroon, mustard, brown, white, off white, dark blue are pleasing and give a nice look. Ultimately, your colour choice should depend on your skin tone. Mix and match the colours, style and fabric to look dressed for the occasion.”

Truly, green guarantees glamour, good looks and certainly, some great karma!