Mumbai: Bollywood actress and former beauty queen Dia Mirza is concerned about how a large part of today’s generation in India finds western outfits “cool”. She hopes they support homegrown creations for the betterment of Indian textile.
The actress-producer modelled for designer Anita Dongre’s Grassroot show, a brand that pays tribute to the craftsmanship of India at Lakme Fashion Week winter-festive 2015.
“A large part of our generation today is of the opinion that if we are in western garments, we are cool, and if we are not in a western garment, it’s not cool. I think we need to change that,” Mirza, in a traditional outfit designer by Dongre, told IANS.
Bollywood actresses are often for wearing Indianwear at international red carpet events.
Recalling how actress Nandita Das looked “amazing” in a sari at the Cannes International Film Festival earlier this year, Mirza said: “This really is a time for the fashion bloggers in our country to think about what their prerogative of ‘cool’ is. I think when Nandita Das was at Cannes, she looked amazing with her exquisite clothes, but in that sense, everybody is open for their own opinion.”
Nevertheless, she believes that traditional textiles and handloom are “fashionable, cool and beautiful”, and that she “deeply respects the treasures of India”.
Mirza credits designers such as Ritu Kumar and Dongre for “empowering artisans and giving them work” as well as the visibility as they gave to the workers by bringing them on the Lakme Fashion Week stage as showstoppers.
