Rina Dhaka is a veteran designer. She spoke to us about fashion trends, the problem of sustainability of and her next line for plus-sized people.
Q. What is your personal style statement?
A. My go-to clothing in the day is very comfortable and minimalistic. I live in my son’s leftover t-shirts and track pants, which are soft on the waist and give me a lot of freedom of movement. I wear sneakers in winters and personally
Q. What do you think is the fashion industry’s biggest challenge today?
A. Though sustainability is an interesting topic, are we really sustainable? I don’t think we are. Weavers are using Chinese yarn because it’s cheaper and readily available, even in handloom products. There has to be a trade-off between being completely sustainable and enabling people engaged in making these clothes to earn a living. I work with Kota and Bhuj weaving centres allotted to me by the government. Also, very importantly, there is a mafia of weavers that needs to be removed.
Q. You are about to launch a plus-sized line. Tell us more.
A. The fashion show will be held on 25 August at Lakme Fashion Week and I recently held auditions for my plus-sized brand and around 360 people turned up for 30 places. These women and men were beautiful and confident in their own skin and were even wearing tight-fitting bodysuits. Size doesn’t and shouldn’t come in the way of one’s confidence.