First-year students of the School of Fashion Design & Technology at Lovely Professional University researched the dresses of all the Presidents of India, by staying at the Rashtrapati Bhavan (the President’s Palace) in New Delhi. Under a three-day Khadi fabric project, students surveyed top Indian leaders’ typical style and attire in relation to the grandeur of India. This project will indeed be a unique salutation to the topmost Indian leaders by not only using Indian cotton (Khadi) as a textile medium but also recreating unique wears of elegance. Thus, LPU designers’ collection would reflect the distinct style of each of the Indian Presidents and their individualized sartorial sophistication.

Inspiring the creative students, LPU Chancellor Dr Ashok Mittal shared: “In today’s fashion & textiles industry, designers are always expected to be creative on the cutting edge. On these lines, our students have always played an important part in the world of fashion.” Dr Mittal also informed that celebrating 75 years of India’s Independence; and, keeping up with the ‘Father of Nation’- Mahatma Gandhi’s dream to let ‘Khadi’ be an internationally recognized fabric, LPU students have opted this unique way of designing.

LPU fashion design students standing outside Rashtrapati Bhavan New Delhi during their visit to study on style and dresses of all Presidents of India

LPU team is now all set to complete the design process, and to further create a complete range of garments, including “Achkans, Sherwanis, Nehru jackets”. All of these will be created from Khadi fabrics to make a mark on the khadi day-the 2nd October. The range will be developed by the students at the modern labs of the university, and an outstanding presentation will be supposedly made before an elite gathering, in New Delhi. Head of the Schools, Prof. Bhaskar Mitra shared that LPU’s fashion design programmes are comprehensive, vocationally oriented and innovatively focusing on the specialized area of designing within a practical environment.

The 2nd October, the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi, is also celebrated to promote Khadi products. It is felt that by creating demand for Khadi, many weavers and fashion designers will be able to get work throughout; and, it will also help retain the next generations in Khadi productions, creations and businesses.  As such, Khadi quality, comfort and suitability will be propagated more and more to draw a large number of customers and export processes.

In fact, India is the largest producer of cotton in the world accounting for about 22% of the world’s cotton production. So, to fully utilize the natural resources in abundance in the country, LPU students are determined to make the most of it. Illustrative, LPU’s fashion school guides its students to achieve their full potential, and nurtures free expression of diverse perspectives through related discourses and activities.