Ecological conscience direct the Shillong based designer Joyjit Talukdar who is indulged in everything organic to give a new angle to fashion designing in India. Joyjit was drawn to the growing international focus on organic clothing and the plight of cotton farmers in India at a young age. This led him to start a label named Ela, entirely comprised of garments made of organic cotton – cotton that is grown without any chemical or pesticide.
After studying English literature, Joyjit pursued fashion designing at the National Institute of Fashion Technology, Kolkatta. His experience of working with the Creative Group brought in international exposure. He worked with the research and development team for eight years, dealing with international brands.
Joyjit, who worked for eight years at a large Delhi-based apparel unit before striking out last year with his own label, says designing is the easy part of it — the difficult part is getting his supply chain in order. On his absence from ramp, Joyjit says, maintaining supply order is a headache and I have been working hard on it for the past one year. This is the reason I am not showing on the ramp — vendors are still a problem if a buyer puts in an order.
Joyjit speaks through his label harping on harps on minimalist, clean cuts, asymmetric hemlines and lets the soft, organic cotton stand out without heavy embellishment. He introduced an ethical line of organic and sculptural, free-flowing cotton dresses to create a healthy equilibrium between looking.
The designer believes that the future of fashion lies in making it sustainable. His label Ela which means ‘Mother Earth’ in Sanskrit reflects his vision of making the future of high fashion sustainable.
