A SLICE OF FRANCE is a part of the Hooghly Heritage Hub project. The focus is the River Ganges, whose waters presently are loaded with garbage and pollutants.
Alliance française du Bengale and the French Institute in India / Embassy of France in India with fashion designer-artist Abhishek Dutta collaborated to create a sustainable textile collection to inspire people to be eco-conscious consumers who think twice before they discard. The fluidity of the Hooghly inspires the collection as the river flows by the French colony of Chandannagore in the Hooghly district of West Bengal.
French motifs form an integral part of this collection of hand woven textiles and the traditional craftsmanship of India, to be showcased on Sunday, 9th December 2021 at the iconic Kolkata Railway Museum in Howrah. The event includes a fashion show on railway tracks and alongside the vintage steam engines from a bygone era with Patachitra and Baul music presented by British Council, Kolkata and coordinated by Banglanatak dot com.
Over three months, artisans worked on digital prints with French motifs and water-pollution-inspired custom prints to put together this collection. It will showcase 30 ensembles (21 women wear and 9 menswear) using hand woven 100-count spun silk, Chanderi silk, linen (80 count), cotton denim, all woven in Nadia district of West Bengal. The collection will showcase an array of western wear ranging from dresses , jackets and seperates with asymmetrical cuts with both fluid and structured elements.The colour pallette is inspired from the aqua colours but going in monochromes of grey to show the polluted water exquisite handembroidery and cutwork is done to show the craftmanship of Bengal The season depicted is for the forthcoming Spring Summer 2022.The designer also uses waste leather for appliques and cutwork in his western wear pieces.A special collection of accessories made from reworked leather and fabrics will be showcased for the first time with this collection.
The ramp setup is also set to capture a vintage railway station with Chandannagar lighting coming into play .Built on the railway tracks it with age old engines it plays a perfect backdrop for the evening.
Top models from India shasyed the ramp wearing the collection .The event was attended by who’s who of Kolkata consisting of diplomats of different countries, beuracrats, celebrities, artists and many more.The presence of Italian consulate general Gwanluka, Nutt and Venus from Thai consulate , Risa from Japanese consulate and many more .
The showstopper for the evening was Didier Talpain , the consulate Genral of France who walked the ramp on the Indian tunes in a French inspired printed bandhgala.The project was headed by Nicolas Facino , director of Alliance Francis du Bengale , who said …”A “Slice of France” is a bridge woven between tradition and modernity thanks to the artistic talent of Abhishek Dutta. A true passer, he takes up the patterns of local craftsmanship by using sustainable materials that awaken our eco-citizen consciousness. The fluidity of the Hooghly inspires the collection as the river flows by the French colony of Chandannagore in the Hooghly district of West Bengal”
The event is co-organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). The Hospitality Partner is Hyatt Regency Kolkata, the luxury partner is OSL Prestige (BMW) The celebration partners are Zobet, Greater Than, Antares Chile.
The sustainability partners for the evening are Earth Day Network-India and HPL, Exide Industries and Nouriture