Anand Dharwar – A sustainable expert at JD Institute

Sustainability, innovation and ethical are the three pillars which JD Institute of Fashion Technology stands for. Since, every year JD proudly presents the collection of its students in the form of a fashion show or an exhibition, students go through rigorous training and knowledge sharing from experts.

To brief the Fashion Design students about sustainability aspects and materials to source for, JD Institute organized a seminar with Mr. Anand Dharwar, a textile engineer.

Mr. Anand runs an NGO called Grama Nirmana, that have been working for the past 30 years with rural women producing hand-woven materials using natural fibers from banana, hibiscus, abaca, etc. He also experiments with organic hydroponics with various plants like buckwheat, black rice, brown top millets, veggies, etc. and cultivates indigo, cotton leaves, marigold for natural dyes.

Mr. Anand enlightened our Fashion Design Course students with his knowledge regarding Lingo Cellulosic Fibers (hard fibers), fixers from plants, sources of Natural Dyes, and the process. The session helped the students to comprehend the different plants from which strands of fibers can be separated. He brought few fabric and textile samples to give a hand on experience to the students and clarified their doubts.

The primary purpose of the seminar was to educate the students about sustainable and ethical practices in Fashion Designing. Thus the session turned out to be fruitful and an informative one.