NARAVASTRA – CURATOR – JDADA2019

“As consumers we have such power to change the world by just being careful in what we buy.”

—- EMMA WATSON —-

Designer Aishwarya Hemachandra’s collection “Naravastra” was created using banana cotton. Due to the less consumption of water by the banana plant, the sturdiness of its fibres and bio-degradable property, could soon pave way as a replacement of cotton.

The origin of using clothes made from banana fibres is age old. It finds a mention in Ramayana, wherein it is mentioned that Sita and Rama wore “naravastra” or clothes made from banana fibres. Reference to cloth made out of banana fibres dates back to
13th century Japan. Apart from cloth, the Japanese currency, Yen too is known to be of made out of banana fibre and is believed to have a shelf life of 100 years.

As per research, it is revealed, that it takes 1800 gallons of water to produce just one pair of jeans. 25 billion gallons of water is used yearly for global textile production and 1.3 trillion gallons of water is used for fabric dyeing yearly. Whereas, a billion tonnes of banana plant stems are wasted every year. According to the Philippine Textile Research Institute, banana plantations in Philippines alone can generate more than 3,00,000 tonnes of fibre. Growing banana plants could be the solution to the wastage of water resources and can cut down on water pollution caused due to dyeing of denim fabrics.

The designer sourced the banana fabric from Tenali, a village in Andra Pradesh which houses a shelter for rape victims and acid attack women who extract the fibres and make products out of it. Banana plants require less water for its growth and could be a sustainable alternative for an eco-friendly choice.

The designer used Ombre dyeing technique to derive the colours of the garments from the banana flower. The shades of pink, yellow, red, orange and purple make it a lively colour palette.