For Bengaluru-based fashion designer P.E.L.L.A or Priyanka Ella Lorena Lama, a dream inspired her idea to interpret a new fabric Ramie. Bastets or cat goddesses from ancient Egypt prodded and nudged a friend of Lama's in a dream, asking her not to lose hope. This head trip in deep slumber made Lama interweave hand-crafted Ramie (fibre crop used for fabric production) with Darjeeling rice paper, along with eri silk yarn from Jharkhand. The Ramie fabric block was cut in the shape of a woman and patterned with hieroglyphs. The soft, dreamy ensemble with no boundaries is a depiction of the unconscious realm, where dreams segue into reality. "It has the significance of hope, that things will work out," says Lama of her work displayed at the exhibition From Fibre to Fashion.
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White and gleaming like silk, the Ramie fibre is native to China and is derived from a nettle family. Some say the textile fibre is as old as the Roman period and could have been used by the Egyptians for wrapping mummies. But, on our side of the globe, Ramie was grown for the first time in Meghalaya last year. The first batch of the new harvest was given to 17 contemporary designers across India in December, and the couturiers parsed and played with the naturally sterile fabric to unleash an eclectic array of designer-wear, art installations and furniture.
A baroque chair with peacock feathers; jewellery with metal wires and earthy hues; an intricately patterned gown inspired from the life of an urban tribal princess from Meghalaya; a bold, black statement of a dress which defies the impossible body standards women are subjected to in a patriarchal system; a fun, "deconstructed" version which represents a garment at the cutting table—all of them have used Ramie as the underlying canvas to highlight the possibilities of the "new Meghalaya fabric".
"I just made the proposition of showing the textile industry how to use Ramie so they could pick it up. Ramie is like linen or raw silk or Tussar silk. It's organic after all. It's a welcome new addition," says Hemant Sagar of the Indo-French fashion house Lecoanet Hemant. Sagar learnt of the Ramie project in Meghalaya on a visit to the state last year. To celebrate the introduction of Ramie in India, the French government, under the aegis of Bonjour India, collaborated with the government of Meghalaya and Sagar to realise this project with fashion designers.
High rainfall is conducive to the growth of Ramie, which is a sister fibre of linen and flax, and can be harvested four times a year.
The exhibition 'From Fibre to Fashion' was held at the French ambassador's residence in New Delhi on Friday.