Indian fashion designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee is endeavoring to bring back the use of khadi, homespun fabric, into contemporary Indian fashion. Khadi is made from cotton, silk, or wool which is handspun into threads and then woven by hand. Due to the way it is produced, the fabric has a rougher feel than machine-made fabric.
One of the enduring images of the 20th century is that of Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948) seated beside a spinning wheel. Throughout the 1920s during the Indian struggle for independence, Gandhi advocated a return to the making and use of khadi, which symbolized self-reliance and a rejection of foreign machine-made textiles. Moreover, Gandhi believed that the separation of production and consumption of consumer goods resulted in the exploitation of workers, another reason for his promotion of khadi.
According to Mukherjee, khadi is "refined, sophisticated, eco-friendly and comfortable" although it "has too long been regarded as the poor man's fabric." In order to bring khadi back into fashion, he is reaching out to Bollywood stars and international celebrities who wear his designs out in public, often to great acclaim. He has also established cooperatives of craftswomen in rural areas across India. Nevertheless, due to the handmade nature of the fabric, his designs are extremely expensive. But the price may be worth it in order to preserve traditional textile-making techniques in India.
An article about Sabyasachi Mukherjee can be found here:
Photograph of Mahatma Gandhi by Margaret Bourke-White, 1946, Time-Life
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