Kalaa at the Lakme Fashion Week: RElan Circular Design Challenge
Kalaa was recently selected to present at the Lakme Fashion Week RElan Circular Design Challenge in partnership with the United Nations in India. Our application to the challenge was a petition to bring the local Indian woman to the forefront of the global conversation on sustainability and to learn from her rooted practices of circular design to rethink our systems.
Our capsule collection of carefully handcrafted garments drew inspiration from stories of the Kalaa Sakhi sisterhood. Sprawled across three states in North India, this growing sisterhood of 1,000 women is connected by their love for craft, or ‘Kalaa,’ and their common zeal to break gender norms and construct a new reality for women in India.
The Story of Kalaa Sakhi
Beyond their love for craft and ability to balance compassion with resilience in their daily lives, we noticed a tangible common thread that ties this sisterhood across state borders. Visit Kalaa Sakhi’s homes in the state of Rajasthan or another’s in Haryana, and you will see colorful rugs and doormats (or ‘Paidaans’) scattered across their hutment floors. These rugs are woven through different techniques using end-of-life saris, giving the materials multiple lives and use cases.
This practice embodies the values that Kalaa Sakhi holds close, and it reflects our worldview of what sustainability truly means at Kalaa.
Fashion as Activism
For us, fashion is a form of activism, and the Paidaan served as the inspiration for our capsule collection presented at the global challenge. Our statement piece was created using post-consumer waste by converting end-of-life saris into yarn, which was then handcrafted into a new dress using a crochet technique.
We hope this presentation has given a voice to the true custodians of sustainable practices, who show us that we don't have to completely reinvent the wheel.
Partnerships for Sustainable Fashion
Through our collection, we partnered with Shahi Exports Pvt. Ltd. to demonstrate the power of democratizing pre-consumer fabric factory waste for utilization at a decentralized village level. This initiative creates income generation opportunities for rural women in India by linking them to the market for sustainable fashion.
This partnership is one example of how factories can collaborate with village-level artisans and micro-enterprises, who often find it difficult to access high-quality material in low order quantities. Such partnerships serve as a channel to prevent pre-consumer waste from entering landfills.
What Does Sustainability Mean to You?
At Kalaa, sustainability is more than a concept—it’s a way of life inspired by grassroots practices and the power of collective action. What does sustainability mean to you?