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Rashid Khan walks the ramp for jute
India Blooms News Service
Kolkata, Feb 23 (IBNS) Indian classical singer Rashid Khan walked the ramp here to promote jute as a fashion fabric.
A first-timer on the ramp, Khan was the showstopper for city designer Agnimitra Paul’s Spring Summer Collection at “Earth Couture”—a jute fashion show organized by Jute Manufactures Development Council (JMDC), Ministry of Textiles, Government of India.
From formal to avant garde, classic to futuristic, Agnimitra’s offering encompassed everything.
Kolkata’s top models including Jessica, Neeraj, Madhabilata, Preeti and Suchira walked the ramp in her collection.
The patterns, layers and colors of the designs accentuated the inherent qualities of the jute fabrics.
While a segment of the collection boasted the natural color of the fabric, some were steeped in exuberant pastel hues. The texturization varied from the strictly minimalistic to gorgeous machine embroidery and appliqué.
The jute industry, despite its potential, has suffered due to the common perception that jute is only used to make sacking. This is only a fragment of the diverse spectrum of jute products.
Today, jute is popular around the globe not only for its strength and versatility but primarily for its eco-friendly qualities. In the lifestyle segment alone, jute is used for products from designer apparel and accessories (bags, belts, jewellery, footwear) to soft furnishings and wall hangings. Jute is bringing about a revolution in the fashion industry.
Fashion designers today are creating great designs with this indigenous raw material. In fact the best of Indian haute couture is being crafted from it. The European fashion industry is also waking up to the possibility of using jute in apparel designing. Even a decade ago, the use of jute was restricted to the making of mundane objects. But now it has become an essential part of avant garde fashion.
JMDC experimented with a new idea at the Chennai Jute Festival last week, where the versatile virtuoso Shankar Mahadevan performed during a fashion show. They have now brought this concept to Kolkata with a live performance by popular Bangla band ‘Chandrabindoo’.
Models strutted on the ramp to the music and beats of Chandrabindoo’s Bangla rock numbers from the plaintive to the satirical.
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