CONSE-CREATE – CURATOR – JDADA2019

“There is no such thing as ‘away’. When we throw anything away, it must go somewhere.”

—- Annie Leonard —-

Designer Divya Sunil’s collection ‘Conse-Create” was inspired by the sacred threads known as mouli/kalava/charadu worn at the beginning of a religious ceremony. However, the threads are worn for duration of 3 months and then discarded. This leads to not only the wastage of yarn, but, the effort of the cotton to form a yarn, then thread and dyed into beautiful colors is also wasted. The designer has used these discarded threads and gave them a new life by creating business casuals for her collection.

For the collection the designer has retained the original colours of the thread. Thus, showcasing the vibrancy of the yarn, while, maintaining the authenticity of the rituals. The colours of the threads represent the 5 elements of nature: Green representing earth (Bhoomi), Yellow for sky (Akash), Purple for water (Jaal), Red for fire (Agni), Saffron for air (Pavan).

The designer collected the discarded threads and with the help of weavers has given the threads a new life by converting it into fabric. The threads were woven by weavers who live in a remote village in Rajasthan and are the only ones, who know how to weave these threads into a fabric. Since their source of income is minimal, projects like these help garner attention to their expertise and give them an additional source of income. The designer wants to solve 3 social aspects through the usage of these discarded holy threads: innovation of new fabric style, financially benefit the weavers and serve as a bridge for them to connect to the fashion industry.