Lakshmi Sujatha Ganguri wins Khadi Designer Award

By

Isabelle Crossley

Published
Jan 8, 2018

Lakshmi Sujatha Ganguri from Visakhapatnam, the largest city in Andhra Pradesh, won the Khadi Designer Award and showcased her designs in the city on Saturday January 6.

A student of Visakhapatnam’s JD Institute of Fashion Technology, Lakshmi Sujatha Ganguri won the national Khadi Designer Award organised by the Ministry of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises after being chosen from a group of 50,000 entrants from across India and then 35 finalists. As part of the government’s “Make in India” campaign and drive for sustainable, home-grown fashion, the award sought a designer who could interpret the handloom textile in an innovative and marketable way.

Lakshmi Sujatha Ganguri won the award with a collection that played with textures and draping which she was presented with on December 30 and then showcased in her hometown on January 6. The collection also highlighted the natural off-white hue of Khadi and used the textile for the embellishments as well.

“I am working towards launching my own label. My focus will be on handloom and handspun fabrics. This award platform has given the much-needed impetus to designers from Tier 2 cities for intervention in the Khadi space,” said Ganguri, who has already received offers to work on films and in the Delhi fashion industry since winning the award. Ganguri, who is 44 years old, has only been designing for a year and this award marks an impressive start to her career.