New Delhi: Actor Kareena Kapoor Khan has joined the Baradari fundraiser project that aims to raise money for craftspersons, weavers and artisans who have been hit hard by the Covid-19 lockdown and cyclone Amphan in West Bengal recently.
The fundraiser is scheduled to run from 7 August to 15 August.
Khan took to Instagram Monday to announce her engagement with the project, saying it was high time people began thinking about what responsible fashion was and went back to the “real makers of the cloth”.
“Everyone knows I enjoy fashion. But I really think it is time we begin to think of what responsible fashion is. India is a country with some amazing textile traditions. We have to go back to the source of our clothing, to the real makers of the cloth, and appreciate what they do for our culture and also our wardrobe,” the actor wrote.
The Bardari project, which seeks to bridge the gap between designers and artisans, has been founded by journalist Namrata Zakaria. Its core team members include Tina Tahiliani Parikh, owner and founder of Ensemble, and Pareina Thapar, co-founder of communications strategy firm Longform.
Speaking to ThePrint, Zakaria said, “The fashion industry has a lot of social inequalities. The source of everything that comes into the fashion industry are weavers, embroiderers and tailors. But they are mostly treated like daily wage labourers. These artisans have suffered a lot due to the lockdown and the Amphan cyclone. So, I started this fundraiser initiative.”
Also read: How young people would like to redesign education and skills for a post-Covid era
‘Artisans are backbone of fashion industry’
More than 100 Indian fashion designers are coming together for the Baradari project. Some reputed names include Sabyasachi, Tarun Tahiliani, Abu Jani-Sandeep Khosla, Manish Malhotra, Anamika Khanna, Rahul Mishra, Raw Mango, Monisha Jaising and Masaba Gupta.
They have donated their signature clothes for the e-commerce sale to raise money for the weaver and embroiderer communities.
Designer Rahul Mishra told ThePrint, “Facilitating employment, inclusivity and empowerment for craft communities remains the true purpose behind our clothes. Baradari, as an initiative, allows us to further our vision and we find it an honour to be part of it.”
Sanjay Garg, textile designer and founder of Raw Mango, said, “The Baradari initiative is more important than ever now in order to support the craft traditions of India and promote a successful socio-economical local and equitable growth model for our community.”
Khan, in her post, also said, “Economic sustainability is when the artisan is empowered to become an entrepreneur, like the designer himself. It’s a new conversation to have with fashion, and I wanted to be a part of it. I want to also thank each one of the fashion designers who has so generously donated their clothes. Our artisan communities are truly the backbone of the fashion industry.”
Also read: Fashion could be going back to basics as Covid keeps shoppers home