Hand spun khadi morphs into fashion fabric

21 Aug '12

4 min read

The age-old fabric Khadi, which used to be the preferred fabric for the elderly people and politicians in India, has now morphed itself into a fashion fabric. The demand for Khadi has increased in leaps and bounds over the years and has become the most favoured fabric material amongst fashion designers all over the world.

Seeing the growing craze for Khadi, the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) is increasing its production and sales by 20 percent per annum. It has also tied up with the Asian Development Bank, which will provide funding through the Indian Government for the overall revamping of the sector.”

Mr. AK Dwivedi, Director of Economic Research, KVIC, spoke to Fibre2fashion over reasons for the rising popularity of this eco-friendly fabric material. He said, “Khadi fabric gives warmth in winters and is cool when worn in summers.

“The craze for Khadi fabric is spreading across the globe because of its high intrinsic value of hand spinning. In today’s times when only mill-produced fabric is found everywhere, Khadi’s popularity is increasing because it is hand spun and hand woven. That is why, designers are using it extensively,” he says.

Talking about the extensive use of Khadi by designers, fashion designer Gaurang Shah says, “Many designers are using Khadi in highly trendy avatars giving a tough competition to other fabrics. The material continues to rule the fashion scene and will do so in the future as well. This flexible and eco-friendly fabric can be designed to suit any individual personality – both old and modern.”

Mr. Shah mentions that Khadi has established itself as a fashion fabric and designers are constantly adding new dimensions to its look and feel. Moreover, it is skin friendly, lighter and can be beautifully draped, which makes it the best suited fabric for summers.

“Khadi fabric is a perfect blend of formal and informal wear and is fast becoming a new fashion statement as it brings a lot of versatility to it. Most importantly it is hand-woven and therefore supports the fading weaver community,” avers Mr. Shah.

When quizzed about the evolution of the fabric over the years, he responds, “Earlier Khadi cloth was very coarse and it used to come in typical small borders with rustic dull shades. But, today Khadi is crafted to be as soft like any other mill fabric. It has a completely new look in terms of colors, designs and textures.”

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