Lakmé Fashion Week: Indian designers collaborate with Usha Silai

By

Maverick Martins

Published
Feb 2, 2018

Four Indian designers collaborated with the Usha Silai project to showcase collections to highlight four different regions of the country at the Lakmé Fashion Week Summer/Resort 2018.
 

The designers worked with rural women from Usha Silai Schools in four identified creative hubs in Rajasthan, Bengal, Gujarat and Puducherry for the collections.
 
Designer Soham Dave showcased a collection titled "The Black Machine" inspired by the Black Usha Machine for the Dholka cluster Gujarat while designer duo Amit Vijaya and Richard Pandav for the Kaladhera cluster Rajasthan presented a design called "Rani'sthan".

Sayantan Sarkar for the 24 South Parganas Mastikari cluster in West Bengal showcased a collection called "The girl from the pages of the diary" and Sreejith Jeevan for Puducherry cluster closed the show with his collection "Window to the World".
 
All the collections included unique pieces that have the essence of the particular region and have been created under the ‘Label Usha Silai’. The collections will have credits of the rural women workers. 
 
Dr Priya Somaiya, Executive Director, Usha Social Services in a statement said, “We are delighted with the debut of label Usha Silai. The brand has created a platform that has the power to impact and change the lives of many. Making use of local stitching skills and modern techniques, we will create an umbrella that caters to sustainable fashion in a modern language."
 
Jaspreet Chandok, Head of Fashion, IMG Reliance said, “This is a powerful narrative of empowerment and inclusivity in fashion. It establishes the principle that for Indian fashion to be forward, it needs to think local and leverage human potential at the grass root level for the development of a sustainable livelihood.”
 
The Usha Silai collection showcased at the show will be launched at Ogaan, the official retail partner for the prohect in April 2018 at its Hauz Khas flagship store in New Delhi.