"Muse Of Manali"- A Sustainable Fashion Project

Being a textile design graduate myself, I know the repercussions that fabric production processes have on the environment. The dyeing process alone leads to harmful chemicals being released into the environment. As a part of my final graduation project for my Bachelor's degree course, me and my group decided to acknowledge, and suggest sustainable and circular solutions to the problems of fabric production.

India is a country with an abundance of traditionally woven textiles in store. Each textile with its unique weave pattern, use of natural fibres, and selection of naturally sourced dye particles used for colouring. We wanted to hero one of the traditional weaves from India, to show that its the beautiful and intricate weave patterns that make the textile beautiful, not the use of bright coloured chemical dyes.

We began this journey by taking a trip through the beautiful hills of Kullu-Manali in India. Kullu Shawls are made from sheep wool woven into beautiful and bold geometric patterns. These amazing patterns are also used to make the well-known 'Kullu Hats'.

Kullu Textiles

Originally, only natural dyes were used to dye Kullu textiles, but now because of the increased demand, Kullu textiles are being woven on mechanised looms, and dyed in chemical dyes.

Fashion as community is now heading more towards a natural vibe with dominance of earthy tones, pastels and neutrals. Keeping this trend in mind, we created a collection using wool only in its neutral shades. To go along with our circularity factor, we used the theme "Peace In Our Time". This theme signifies the need to amend our actions, as a customer and a maker. It is important to choose products that are kind to the nature, and this includes the environments, animals, as well as the factory workers who made your products. This theme encourages the creation of products that induce positivity, not only within the consumers, but also within the producers.

Our aim was to create a collection that focuses on the weave, and provides labour for the local spinning and weaving communities. We hand-picked the wool fibres, as we only wanted to use wool in its natural white, black, brown, and grey shades. The spinning of the wool was then done by the local communities, and so was the weaving. We created weave patterns and designs, that would make the natural colours of the wool stand out. The weave patterns were carefully mapped out on the graphs according to the loom setting. We decided to experiment more with the existing geometric patterns of Kullu shawls, and add text within the weaves.

These weave patterns are a perfect representation of the desired theme. These graph designs were painstakingly perfected down to every square inch , in order to avoid mishaps and confusions with the weavers, as well as to avoid any yarn wastage.

Fashion Illustrations & Spec Sheets

Final Garments

The beautifully woven wool was then used to created a stylish AW collection. Experimentation with the silhouettes and patterns can be seen in the final garments.

The main theme of this collection was circularity and sustainability, hence even the after-stitching fabric waste was used to create beautiful hand embroidered accessories like handbags and hats, that complimented the main garment. The left over borders and fabrics were hand-embroidered with peace motifs, to match the theme.

We as designers have the ability and the power to create positive change within the industry. This collection was created in the hopes of starting a ripple effect for sustainability. We wanted to prove, that beautiful products can be created with completely ethical and sustainable production processes too, and we were successful in doing so.