Bequest Folklore - Award winning Apparel Range
Bequest Folklore - Award winning Apparel Range Inspired from the Legends of the Lepchas
*This collection was awarded first runners-up at Design Sutra, NIFT Mumbai 2016.
Find the full project here:
https://www.behance.net/gallery/36503357/Bequest-Folklore
The Lepcha or Róng people are a scheduled tribe of India and consider themselves as aboriginals to the region, currently falling under the state of Sikkim, Darjeeling District of West Bengal, eastern Nepal and the southwestern parts of Bhutan.
The word Lepcha(Myal kup) is considered to be the anglicized version of the Nepalese word lepche meaning "vile speakers" or "inarticulate speech". This was at first a derogatory nickname but is no longer seen as negative.
Traditionally, Lepcha women produce cloth on Back-strap loom for non-commercial domestic use and not only created striped patterns that are present over the entire Himalayan areas are but also produced supplementary-warp-patterned cloth which was outstanding and unusual.
Over the years, the Lepcha cloth has lost its place of pride and identity due to availability of cheaper look-alike machine-made fabrics and as markets have got inundated with limited range of products (mainly souvenirs meant for tourists visiting this region) in inferior quality made with those fabrics.
Lepcha fabrics reminds us of a forgotten craft-reality; originally made with locally grown cotton and nettle, the fabrics carry an intangible imprint of the culture which is perhaps hundreds if not thousands of years old. We would ideally like to reverse the decline of this craft and would like to encourage more women to take it up professionally on a regular basis. We hope to generate more awareness and buzz with our unusual range where the Lepcha Fabric takes the centre-stage.
Usually, made in different sizes of rectangles, lepcha fabric is sturdy and beautifully vibrant with various stripes and other motifs. We would like to retain the identity of the fabric as much possible and have thus designed a range of outerwear incorporating the “rectangular” as much as possible. Traditionally, Lepcha attire was only based on draped items and thus did not waste any fabric during the production. We have tried to follow that principle while designing and making the pieces in our collection.
Bequest Folklore is a collection of urban outer-wear comprising of classic structured capes and jackets lovingly made with hand-crafted authentic Lepcha fabric for a highly individualistic, discerning, confident woman who is not afraid to experiment and stand away far from the madding crowd.
Designed by:
Anish Prakash (Student -NIFT Kolkata)
Kusumika Roy (Student - NIFT Kolkata)
Smriti Bordia (Student - F&LA, NIFT Kolkata)
Ms. Anamika Debnath (MENTOR) (Faculty - FD NIFT Kolkata)
Find the full project here:
https://www.behance.net/gallery/36503357/Bequest-Folklore