Modern Indian women must own handloom: Anita Dongre

Known for her classic trousseau and rich handcraft, India's leading fashion designer Anita Dongre says modern Indian women today should have hand-woven fabric in their collection.
"Every modern Indian woman today must own few pieces of handloom and handmade in India, she must do that," Dongre told PTI in an interview.
Emphasising the use of handmade textiles, the designer said handcraft plays a huge role in her designs.
"My brand Grassroot creates western silhouettes in handlooms for Indian woman and the young Indian girl. Under bridal wear, we create occasion Indian wear where we use handloom. So, as designers we have to make fashion accessible and make a conscious effort to use handloom in our collection."

From lehenga-cholis to maxi tops her collection, that she showcased at Vogue Wedding Show's fourth edition here, had shades of pink, orange and red as the designer believes colors play an important role at the Indian weddings.
Speaking about her favourite trend for this year's wedding season, Dongre revealed that she liked long tabard kurta and open jackets with gotapatti embroidery as they are versatile.

Dongre is also promoting Indian handloom in collaboration with the government. She recently met Union Textile Minister Smriti Irani to discuss ways to promote Indian weavers.
"We are going to start working with some weaver clusters all over the country so we were identifying which clusters we could start work with and how the government would enable that to happen."

When asked about her plans of taking this initiative forward, she said, "We have done a very successful initiative in the village of Charoti in Maharashtra where we have trained over 50 women.
"So we are hoping to recreate the same model in village clusters that the textile ministry will identify. My team will go there and work with skilled craftsmen and also ensure that the next generation of craftsmen get trained so it will be a two-pronged programme.