Come April, the women behind some of the Bollywood’s best costumes will host a course on how to do glamour without taxing the environment
Bollywood costume designers Manoshi Nath and Rushi Sharma are known for their sustainable costume designs for films like Thugs of Hindostan
Crafting costumes to draw the audience into a storyline is an art, but also a responsibility. Fashion has earned the disrepute of being a high polluter—about 7,800 kilotonnes of textile waste accumulates in India annually; the largest share of which, an estimated 51 per cent, originates from Indian consumers, factory waste and offcuts. India’s textile waste accounts for 8.5 per cent of the global total; and 59 per cent of the national textile waste finds its way back into the textile industry through reuse and recycling. So the edge to get into the industry would naturally be certification in how to create and design carefully.
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Award-winning costume designers Manoshi Nath and Rushi Sharma teach a costume designing course online that teaches how to source materials ethically, as well as eco-friendly production practices. The duo has designed for over 40 movies, the notable among them being PK, Queen, The Railway Men, Detective Byomkesh Bakshy, Khosla Ka Ghosla, Dhoom 3, Thugs of Hindostan, and Talaash.
Sootori is a culmination of over 20 years of experience, and teaches students to recognise environmental challenges posed by their work. “Behaviour and trend change needs to take place for consumption to be controlled,” says Nath. “Measures such as buying local from handloom artisans and ready-to-wear homegrown brands that work with natural and sustainable fabrics is the first step in lowering carbon footprint. Next is purchases of clothing and accessories from grassroot craftsmen.” The course also covers how small production practices such as protecting the craftspeople you work with by providing employment opportunities through small-scale tailoring units or providing work to homemakers can lead to skill development and sustainability.
Nath and Sharma build costumes by sifting through pre-loved stock from old films, export rejects, surplus fabrics, and second-hand godowns; and recommend their students do this when they work on project themselves. “We always put a word out to producers to sell their old stock to us or carry it forward from our films. In the end, we donate whatever is unusable,” says Nath.
Rushi Sharma and Manoshi Nath
Then there is paying close attention to the materials used even for transport and packaging, switching to vegan leather or plant-based leather. “Producers have to be convinced to use biodegradable, non-polyurethane/polystyrene materials, even though initially they may not be cost effective. In the long run, with an increase in demand, the prices will become comparative,” Nath says.
The year-long course hopes to make these standard practises with more informed stylists and costume designers entering the workforce to help create an ecosystem normalising the use of recycled fabrics and costumes. A one-day workshop in April will give a taste of the longer course. “We are constantly educating ourselves on new innovations in textiles and fashion to incorporate sustainability into the process of design. And teaching it is our way of paying forward,” Sharma signs off.
WHAT: Sustainable costume design
WHERE: Online
WHEN: On demand
TO BOOK: sootori.com
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