Cotton undergoes dazzling makeover

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At the announcement of the regional winners of “Let’s design”, a design contest sponsored by Cotton Council International (CCI) in association with Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI), one of the jury members, designer Nitin Bal Chauhan shared, “Each designer makes about ten lines of collection in a year. Out of those ten, two lines are meant to be showcased on the ramp and they are made of any material other than cotton.

But the rest are often cotton-based as we designers know what our customers want”. With this, he agreed that cotton has entered the realm of designer wear.
Cotton is just not limited to T-shirts or everyday wear, according to Samant Chauhan, the co-judge of the contest. “Cotton had always been there. I use lot of cotton and often mix silk with cotton thread to come up with a different material, and it does extremely well. Moreover, cotton suits our climate, so it is always in demand,” says Samant.
Talking about the students’ test on cotton, the designers agreed that the winners managed to come up with some “unique and eye opening” creations. “They not only did some great designing, but also came up with new textiles and knits in the process,” says Samant who was quite impressed with the new weaves and the vibrant colours that were a part of the collection.
Harjosh Singh Gioraya, one of the finalists, said it was very easy to work on this project. “After designing for this contest, I realised how easy it is to work with cotton. It is a skin-friendly fabric and leaves the least carbon footprint,” says Harjosh.
Gurman Singh Chawla, another finalist, says he is confident enough to come up with a bridal collection in cotton. “It may not have the sheen, but a whole bridal trousseau can be easily done in cotton as any embroidery stands out in cotton. Plus, every other material complements cotton which is its unique advantage,” says Gurman, who came up with a jacket in satin-cotton and used twill weave to create the design.
“Fab India, Rajesh Pratap Singh, Abraham Thakore and Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla is the best example of what best can be done with cotton,” ends Nitin.