Melissa Randhawa gets superb insights from designer Sonali Raman on why her designs of Indian natural fabrics were heating up the runways of the New York Fashion Week this September.
The New York Fashion Week is on the right track for empowering women to design and wear sustainable and slow fashion that walks the talk on the ramp and off of it, thanks to the debut of Summer Sorbet by designer Sonali Raman.
She is one of the few small designers to be featured by NYFW to showcase traditional handwoven natural fabrics and her Indian heritage through jewelry which incorporates the 17th century craft form Zardosi. The slow fashion line called Summer Sorbet is intrinsically linked to India’s rich repository of crafts and textiles. Happy with the reactions after the NYFW show, she affirms that all her collections are made from cotton and other natural fibers that are soft, breathable and very very comfortable to wear. Most of all, the silhouettes are comfort fits and not high maintenance, they are modest styles appropriate for the Middle East region.
The main appeal… I feel, is our approach to fashion: sustainable, slow fashion, yet stylish and relevant. The brand and its products are rooted in the culture it represents yet is relevant in a very contemporary way with its modern silhouettes and cuts. In today’s environment, being truly inclusive is really important and my brand stands for that as well as ensuring that all our products are ethically made with minimum impact on the planet.
The Middle Easter consumer in the region… has started to become interested in slow, sustainable fashion and has always been very chic and up to date when it comes to fashion trends. So they will definitely find my ready-to-wear lines very suitable.
In terms of luminaries… I admire Sheikha Moza Bint Nasser Al-Missned for her inherent sense of style immensely and Sheikha Al-Mayassa Bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani for being a woman achiever and a patron of the arts and all things creative. I would love to see them wearing my designs! I would also love to have Ms. Kamala Harris and Livia Firth, a fierce advocate of eco-friendly fashion, wear my creations. I would also love to dress someone like Lieutenant General Madhuri Kanitkar who is the third female Lieutenant General in the Indian Armed Forces, and PV Sindhu, India’s star badminton player.
The message we want to convey to the world through our apparel and jewelry lines is… that being fashion-conscious goes beyond being fashionable and trendy; it is the act of being conscious about consumption, mindful about waste and the footprint that we leave behind.
We are particular about… each of our products being created keeping in mind its impact on our earth. Choosing fabrics that are a blend of natural and biodegradable elements, using leather scraps discarded by the leather industry for our jewelry that would otherwise reach landfills. We offer new collections at a slow pace, with limited lines for each style.
Fabrics that we use are… mostly handloom and hand spun the traditional way. The embellishments in our jewelry hark back to the ancient artisanal crafts of zardozi. In our own small way, we are sustaining our cultural traditions and crafts as far as possible by bringing it to people in a contemporary way.
We strive to be… truly inclusive in everything that we do. This means that our apparel is meant for every single woman out there.
We only see women… women who want to be consciously fashionable and comfortable with who they are. Our jewelry line is for the contemporary woman who enjoys wearing something quirky that carries an intrinsic piece of our cultural history.
Sonali Raman is designing clothes for… every single woman who wants to feel good in what she wears without having to conform to the ‘traditional definition of fashion’.
That means… not having to squeeze into sizes and styles that promote a certain body shape.
We do not endorse… form fitting and bodycon styles that exclude all those women who do not fit the traditional definition of the ‘perfect’ body shape.
We do not ‘see’… color, race, age, or body shapes.
My path has… been directed by Indian designers working in the realm of sustainable fashion like Rina Singh of Eka, Chinar Farooqui of Injiri, Abraham & Thakore. Powerhouses YSL, Christian Dior and Balenciaga have influenced the designer as much as the traditional craftsmen, artisans and small weavers have, in order to build upon the core pillars of the brand: Mindfulness, Inclusivity and Cultural Sustainability. Other influences include Miranda Kerr and Lili Cole who are amongst the models who have stood up for protecting the environment in the world of fashion
Post the event… I am expecting it to translate to expanding the market for the brand and being able to spread the message to a wider audience about sustainable and slow fashion.
The Good: Indian fabrics that are changing the way we dress.
The Bad: Not being able to recognise the importance of slow fashion today.
The Trendy: Styling your wardrobe choices with slow fashion pieces.
Sonali Raman is an Indian designer who is committed to sustainable fashion and works
to revive old techniques in textiles, embroidery and embellishments. Her collection of
jewelry and apparel is elegant, effortlessly stylish and contemporary, yet with a timeless
appeal that reflects the ethos of Indian handcrafting and fabrics.