Traditional Textile-Based Contemporary Fashion: A Roadmap to Cultural Sustainability
摘要
Cultural sustainability is a crucial pillar of sustainable goals and principles impacting the social, economic, and environmental aspects and primarily focuses on rectifying the biases of the past and reforming the current system for diverse, sustainable discourse in fashion. Cultural sustainability pertains to the access, usage, and adaptation of cultural heritage ensuing that communities who owe the flagship of indigenous and pristine craft and artforms are not deprived of their due rights and do not face any exploitation in the process. It thus becomes crucial to shift the narrative focusing on the skill and labor that goes into fine craftsmanship and continued craft innovation. Endorsement of cultural heritage particularly traditional textiles in the context of textiles can enable amplification of cultural knowledge and practices and passing the legacy to the future generations. Undoubtedly, textile craftsmanship plays a pivotal role in preservation of cultural legacies and shaping distinct cultural identities with designers proactively involving artisan fine workmanship in their design collections. Traditional garments of different communities and indigenous people worldwide are a testament to the scope of traditional textiles in endorsing and adapting cultural sustainability. Needless to mention that the traditional textiles go beyond the realm of design, symbolism, and storytelling with the actual creations being torchbearers of sustainability. In the Indian context, each state has special identity for its unique traditional and handcrafted textiles diversified talents, interests, and inspiration. Most of the traditional techniques are performed on handloom fabrics; however, a range of raw materials can be experimented with to bring out the magnificence of traditional artforms on textiles. Apparel and accessory designers take inspiration from the lively, mythological, and colorful motifs of these beautiful artforms and have been extensively using these motifs for design and development of a gamut of high-end artifacts, apparels, home textiles, and accessories using a range of textile raw materials apart from conventionally used handlooms fabrics. This chapter shall discuss the roadmap followed by designers to work in association with artisans on traditional textiles and reviving the pristine forms via contemporary and modernized makeover of attire. Furthermore, the methodologies adopted by various fashion brands and designers for endorsing the traditional textiles and artisans’ masterpieces on a global platform shall also be discussed explicitly.