Indian fashion designer wants khadi and handlooms recognised globally

Singapore: Indian designer Prasad Bidapa wants India’s hand-made khadi and handlooms recognised globally, saying that there are immense opportunities for foreign stylists to work with thousands of weavers across the country.

“We want to expose Indian textiles to the world and show every designer that they can come to India, work directly with the artisans and create something very original,” Bidapa told PTI after the show “Handlooms@75: Celebrating the Fabric of Freedom” here.

The designer urged truly conscious designers to work with Indian weavers at the grassroots level and help them create something new and fresh. “Something that the world has not seen before.” "Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been a wonderful support. He wears so much khadi and handlooms that he has had the spotlight trained on the clothing,” said the designer after hosting the fashion show in Singapore on Saturday.

“We have thousands of artisans working on Khadi and handlooms skilled in block print, leheriya dyeing,” said Bidapa, adding that there were immense opportunities for foreign designers to work with thousands of weavers in India.

"We are trying to sensitise young people all over the world, trying to get them to understand the beauty of the handmade textile,” the designer stressed.

The designer also called on the Prime Minister’s Office to include skills of the hands, weaving, printing and dyeing in the national skilling programme.

Bidapa highlighted how Japanese fashion designer Issey Miyake created the label “HAAT” -- all of which uses Indian Khadi.

The Saturday exhibition was held at the invitation of the Indian High Commissioner in Singapore, P Kumaran, and sponsored by the Global Indian International School, as well as micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) from Karnataka among others.

The Bangalore-based Bidapa has hosted the exhibition in the Middle East and will be travelling with his fashion wears as well as 20 models to Japan and South Korea next.