Clothes of Nettle
Japanese Trousers - Met Museum https://www.business-standard.com/article/current-affairs/how-a-fabric-with-a-hoary-history-was-rediscovered-by-fashion-designers-118030200625_1.html Ramie is a fabric made from the nettles that grow wild by the roadside in rainfall rich states like Meghalaya. The fabric is so old that it was used to wrap ancient Egyptian Mummys and burial shrouds in China over 2,000 years ago - long before cotton was introduced to the Far East. So it’s fascinating to see this centuries-old fabric find its way down from Meghalaya into the lexicon of 17 of India’s most avant-garde fashion designers. “It’s visually very appealing”, enthuses Alan Alexander Kaleekal, the young Kochi based modernist designer. “It’s woven by the silk weavers of Meghalaya so it has silk-like qualities and it’s easy to touch. And it acts like linen, without the crumpling“. At a recent exhibition at the French Ambassador's residence in New Delhi, he showcased the deconstruction...