Fashion boutique Sew in Style recently launched its festive collection that is unique in its own way. The New Alipore-based sustainable fashion store presents a one-of-a-kind confluence of handloom fabric and handicrafts sourced from many Indian states. In an exclusive chat with t2, owner Rajani Kedia Ghosh shared her design philosophy and core commitment to sustainability practices.
Why does your festive collection stand out?
Collecting handloom fabric and hand embroidery from all over India is my passion, from chikankari to Benarasi and ajrakh and even vegetable dyes. I want my client to get flavours of all kinds of Indian handloom and handicrafts in one place. And of course, a lot of customisation goes into making each piece unique in its own right. I curate Kota fabric from Jaipur and get my own karigar to do chikankari work on it. This combination of Lucknow and Rajasthan embroidery is rare to find.
What brought you into the field of design?
I was an inquisitive child in love with fabric and handicrafts. I started to make my own dresses at a tender age. I opened this boutique two years back. Before that, I was involved only in my family business of packaging and paper mills. I started this boutique two years back due to my long-standing obsession with fabric. The designer in me found its true calling as friends and family would love my designs. I started out lowkey but slowly worked my way towards launching my own boutique.
Where do you draw inspiration from for your designs?
Nature is my inspiration. I would constantly pick up things from nature and imbibe them into my creations, mix and match designs, and give them a unique look and feel. I never did any courses on design. The colour combinations I see in nature are enough for me to get design ideas. You pick up ideas from the most mundane things as well.
Who do you design for and how do you operate?
I want to make outfits that would be usable for working women. Today’s women are very smart. They are always looking for new ideas. I do video calls and guide women to take their measurements, all over India. Then I send my stuff to them. Then whatever they fancy, they keep and return what they don’t like.
Tell us about your latest festive collection
Now we celebrate all kinds of festivals. It is not limited to Durga Puja or Navaratri or Diwali alone. I don’t have any particular occasion in mind when I am designing my clothes. All types of consumers will resonate with my collection and can wear it for any occasion they want. The attires are reusable in myriad ways. The same dress from my collection can be worn for casual hangouts and made to look glamorous for an evening occasion by just adding a belt.
Tell us about your sustainable practices...
Instead of investing in new fabric, I would always encourage using old fabric. The same goes for turning a man’s shirt into a woman’s. We work with lots of NGOs across Calcutta where women stitch clothes and pieces of jewellery using fabric scrap generated from our tailoring units.
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This elegant sea-green suit is what you need for a morning occasion. Versatile enough to make you look gorgeous on any occasion, be it a coffee date or pandal-hopping with friends, the cotton outfit has block print all over. The bottom can be stitched in any style and shape of your choice. (left)
Lucknowi chikankari embroidery on block-printed Kota fabric makes the kurta and the dupatta unique.(right)