NIFT, Bhubaneswar Takes A Green Step To Bring Farm To Fashion

NIFT, Bhubaneswar Takes A Green Step To Bring Farm To Fashion

With rising pollution levels, the ‘go green’ mantra is fast gaining currency the world over. And now National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), Bhubaneswar has also joined the eco-friendly bandwagon.

The premier institute has decided to set up a Centre for Sustainable Fashion on its campus to encourage students to experiment with different plants to create new natural fibres and dyes.

“We want to establish Odisha as the natural fashion capital. Once the centre becomes active, NIFT would become the first institute to promote natural fibres and dyes,” said, Binaya Bhusan Jena, director of NIFT, Bhubaneswar.

Sharing about the initiative, Jena said, “Odisha is known for making varieties of handloom and the good thing is that most weavers still prefer to use natural dyes. They use natural ingredients like flowers, bark, soil and stone among others to prepare natural colours. So we have decided to experiment with different plant species to prepare new colours to be used for different fabrics.”

Both the teachers and students at the institute have started making dyes from mango barks and leaves, onion skin, henna leaves, natural indigo and various trees, including Aal. “Instead of using synthetic and manmade colours, natural colours from plants are the best option,” the NIFT director said.

He informed that the demand for clothes made from natural dyes and fibres in the international market has been increasing recently. “Odisha is lucky in this sense as weavers in the state have been using natural dyes since ages. In Odisha, we find a variety of handlooms in different clusters. So involving all those weavers to promote natural dyes would be helpful. Moreover, the forests in Koraput, Kalahandi and Mayurbhanj have a variety of plant species that we can experiment with to produce a vast range of natural colours,” he added.

To help students get the raw material for making natural fibres and dyes, the NIFT authorities have planted different varieties of plants on the campus, including Indigo, Jute, Aal, Mango, Bamboo, Pomegranate, Jamun Kaincho, Khiaro, Babool, Kanta Jati, Bela, Aprajita, Nirmuli, Sunari, Pita Aalu, Haldi, Paldhua, Heena, Champa and Ganga Siuli among others.

“We have identified 60 plants for extracting natural dyes. Of these, we have 48 plants on the campus. We have also planted plants that could be used to produce natural fibres like Jute, Sesaal, Pineapple, Bombax, Bhindi and Banana. How many of us know that pineapple and bhindi could be used to make fibres? Similarly, Pomegranate, Jamun and Bela can also be used to produce natural dyes,” Jena informed.

With the new initiatives on the campus, Jena is hopeful that the students would come up with innovative ideas and explore new things to boost their creativity. “With our initiative, a student will be able to see from farm to fashion. It would help them to understand the procedures of making a garment. Our purpose is only to demonstrate what could be done and not production. We could give training to interested persons, who could implement our experiment and research. This would benefit everyone,” he added.

Soon varieties of silk-like Eri, Mulberry and Tasar could be reared on the campus as the NIFT authorities are also planning to set up a laboratory for this purpose. “We planted around 200 Mulberry plants on the campus. The laboratory would become operational in a few months. It would help students to learn the procedure of rearing silk from Eri, Mulberry and Tasar. Moreover, it will be done without harming the insects and so the silk produced from the laboratory would be Ghicha silk,” Jena said.

Besides this new eco-friendly initiative, the teachers and students of NIFT have taken measures to make their campus plastic-free. “We have removed all the plastic dustbins from our campus and replaced them with bamboo dustbins. We have also banned the use of plastic bags and promoting the use of cotton bags made on the campus. These steps will help to keep the campus clean and also help artisans to earn money by making bamboo baskets, cotton bags and other eco-friendly products,” the director added.