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Young designers – Becoming custodians of conscious clothing

Old age lives on memories, but youth lives on hopes.

Youth is always a period of evolution and transformation. Holding the greatest power to absorb and reform the surroundings, youth carries a strong influential force. In a country like India, where the ratio of youth population is significantly high at this time, it can act as a revolutionary cyclone to flip the entire system upside down. With increasing environmental and social issues, they are willingly offering themselves to take a step forward towards consciousness. Upasana, which is a hub of conscious fashion, has given a lot to the society through ethics. It is moment of pride to watch design students cross and flourish through Upasana.

Conscious calls for young designers

1. How do you think young fashion designers and students look at sustainable fashion?

Uma - The youngsters seem to be far more promising than the earlier generations. Young designers are taking sustainability as a part of their responsibility and moulding fashion around it. "It is such a fabulous opportunity to ride on where we have trend in motion, social responsibility and conscious fashion as a voice." They are very much aware of the fact that a transformation in lifestyle is imperative to move forward. Many young designers and students choose Upasana for the primary reason that they identify it as a centre for conscious fashion.

2. Does it seems that young fashion designers consider traditional unsustainable fashion houses as the only or better means to cater to the market?

Uma - No, it is not so. Young designers are exploring choices. They love fashion, beauty and aesthetics but that doesn’t mean they live in a monotonous space. They know they have the alternative to grab conscious clothes and they go for it. Young designers are imparting skills in this space of opportunity.

Young designers crossing the curriculum boundaries to contribute more

3. Do you think education in fashion schools about sustainable fashion needs to be more serious and focused to hold a stronger grip on fashion ethics?

Uma - Yes, upgradation in the curriculum will align the students to think and experiment according to the prevalent circumstances. "The industry has set latitude for the newcomers but as an educational institution, we are old fashioned and lagging behind." Students have become far more conscious and are leading ahead of the institutions. I have been teaching sustainable fashion in Europe since many years, whereas in India, the breeze has just swiped in. Welcoming open discussions on conscious fashion can create scope to progress.

4. How does Upasana collaborate with design students as a resource for its sustainable business?

Uma - We do not utilize our design students only as a resource in our sustainable business. They are a wave of fresh ideas and energy. Sometimes, they are innocent of the activities happening around the organization. Nevertheless, they carry enthusiasm and creativity that as an organization keeps us on our toes. It has happened recently that we are able to take students on board who can complement the business. Often, it has been Upasana contributing to the education sector through students. "It takes a huge amount of administrative rigour to transform their energy into a business sense. It is a bit challenging but we do make efforts to give them an open chance to collaborate and work on real life social projects that makes us distinct."

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