Twenty five years ago, Ritu Beri chose khadi as a fabric to launch her brand. It was a fabric she was comfortable with as she had seen it right from her forefathers to cousins wearing them. She could easily express her creativity. But there was one more reason for using the fabric, espoused by Mahatma Gandhi, by the then fledgling designer.
“At that point of time the fact that khadi was a green fabric, environment-friendly, is natural and has a unique appeal as every yarn is different were not the factors playing on my mind. I simply could not afford an expensive fabric. So I used khadi because it was affordable. The first two collections were in khadi. Now when I look back I realise that I have always been in love with this fabric. Khadi makes the person stand out. If a bride wears a khadi she immediately gets noticed but now we see the same monotonous look during weddings,” says Ritu, while recounting her experience of using the versatile fabric at The Poetics of Khadi: Cutting across Time and Space, a panel discussion, at Bikaner House.
Noting that khadi evokes patriotic fervour, Ritu feels there is a romantic side to it as well. “The fabric played an important role during the Independence Movement. My great grandfather was a big believer in the significance of khadi in nation building. I remember an unbreakable rule existed in our house that everybody should wear khadi.”
With Diwali festivity round the corner, Ritu has now created a collection of Western and Indian ensembles. She has named it Vichar Vastra.
“Basically I have created a collection around khadi. I thought that Diwali would be an ideal time for people to go khadi and promote it among their friends and families. We are trying to promote it among the youth of India. For me, it is the most luxurious, special, hand spun, handwoven fabric and it has zero carbon imprint. Also, as a designer, it is a fantastic fabric to work with,” says Ritu.
Explaining the reason for returning to khadi in a big way, Ritu, now advisor to the Khadi and Village Industries Commission, says when she was goaded by Meenakshi Lekhi, BJP leader, she decided to give it an impetus and make it relevant for every age group.
“When I saw the amazing collection of maroons, orange, pink, red, indigo, white, my perennial favourite, there was no stopping me. Khadi is such a versatile proposition. It is creative social equaliser and is as much apt for politicians as for students and artists. When I take up something, I go completely into it but I wondered how I could make the idea appealing for college goers. Then I listened to the Prime Minister’s speech when he quoted Mahatma Gandhi saying that khadi was not a vastra (dress) but a vichar (thinking). So I played with words and coined my collection Vichar Vastra.”
Ritu has experimented with different wearable forms of khadi ranging from beachwear to pants. The designer will be unveiling the new collection of ghagras, shirts, kurtas and jackets at her Sainik Farm store this Monday.
Pointing out that khadi could play a vital role on the global scale, Ritu says: “Whenever I travel to Paris I carry plenty of khadi and distribute them among my friends. Similarly, when my French friends come over to Delhi I take them to the Khadi Gram Udyog. The moment they get into the shop, they get into crisp khadi kurtas. The whole intention behind the khadi movement is to make the world understand how beautiful are our textiles. We have unique heritage which we need to take forward.”
On making India a destination for luxury wear , Ritu says: “Importance of fabric in nation branding can be seen in Italy and France which have luxurious, top of the line brands. As a proud Indian I get offended when people talk in high esteem about other countries without bringing India into discussion. I was attending a seminar on luxury and references were made of countries like Germany, Belgium and Vietnam for starting the luxury movement . But there was no a mention of India. I was appalled. We are connoisseurs of luxury. If anyone looks at the hall at Bikaner House, where the Maharaja of Patiala has a heritage car, then they would understand the kind of importance we give to luxury.”
