Fashion designer Madhu Jain recreated magic on the ramp by experimenting with bamboo silk ikat. For her collection, she combined Indonesian style of bamboo silk ikat and Thai ikat. “This collection has been created by using several world ikat techniques. I have used Indonesian style of bamboo silk ikat and we moved on to Thai ikat and Thai inspiration to develop the textiles for Amazon India Fashion Week 2018,” she said.
Since the techniques used were new, the designer pointed out that it took her 15 years to create the collection. “It took me so long because I was in search of a right weaver. Though the technique combines Indonesian style of bamboo silk ikat and Thai ikat, the entire craftsmanship has been done in India. Finding someone in India was a difficult task,” she added.
The collection included figurative and geometrical patterns. The outfits were crafted with the Thai weft style of Matmi or Mudmee as the main weave. The collection included a few embellishments and embroidered garments that were created in autumnal colours such as soft buff, flamboyant amber, chestnut, burnt umber and cerise. However, the head turner of the event was the showstopper's outfit worn by former Femina Miss India Ruchi Makhni. Jain pointed out that it was created 15 years ago.
“I did the bamboo show in 2003 and Ruchi's outfit was a finale sari that we used at the seventh World Bamboo Congress which was hosted by India. This sari is about 15 years old," she said.
Highlighting about the embellishments, the designer clarified that she still uses textile as a form of embellishment. "For me, weaver is the king. I let the weaves speak for themselves. A few garments were embellished and embroidered like what Ruchi wore but the rest were from my bamboo show which I did 15 years ago,” she said.
Makhni was also all praise for the designer. “I feel very privileged and proud to wear the collection from the lady who has just won the Naari Shakti Award for women empowerment. I feel very powerful walking on the ramp today because I am in an outfit created by a woman who has done so much for the other women,” she said.
This is not the first time that Jain has drawn attention to bamboo fibre. She is one of the few designers who have continuously experimented with alternative fashion. Her discovery of bamboo dates back to 15 years ago, which she has been increasingly using in her collections.