Needle, Thread and a Splash of Water: A platform for Beraid’s women community
The exhibition at Alliance Française de Dhaka’s La Galerie by Piran Bangladesh and Rafid Al Zahur features Beraid’s marginalised community
This was probably the most inclusive fashion show I have ever seen in my decade-long life as a fashion enthusiast and writer for local and global brands. The youngest model, named Aniruddho, was 5 years old, and the oldest model was Charan Das, 50, a rooftop painter turned cobbler due to urbanisation as tin roofs are slowly becoming extinct in a city of brick and concrete.
Along with them joined young women and men, all from the Beraid marginalised community. Everyone shone brightly on the ramp including Lata Rani Das, a pregnant artisan turned model for the evening.
The show titled 'Needle, Thread and a Splash of Water' presented works by Piran Bangladesh, an online fashion boutique, and documentary photographs by Rafid Al Zahur, featuring the underprivileged dwellers of Beraid, a suburb situated on the eastern side of Dhaka.
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
The Business Standard took a peek into the exhibition and spoke with the creative minds behind the endeavour that provided a platform to the marginalised people.
Piran Bangladesh is the brainchild of two sisters: Zarin Tasnim Reza, a textile engineer and fashion designer, and her sister Nazifa Tabassum, an architect cum co-founder. The sister duo wanted to approach the problems of fast fashion and urbanisation from a design process perspective.
Piran Bangladesh's founders firmly believe that while designs cannot solve problems, including people in the design process can give birth to sustainable solutions, creating options like skill development, employment creation and livelihood enhancement.
Uncontrolled and unplanned urbanisation, like fast fashion, creates a plethora of problems. One of those problems is people with age-old skills being uprooted from their homelands and looking for a lifeline.
The artisans who participated in Piran Bangladesh's initiative from the Beraid marginalised community faced the same issue. From the Piran Team, funded by the Sajida Foundation, lead designer Zarin Tasnim Reza dedicated eight weeks to teaching 22 women about the design process, colour therapy, applique techniques, hand stitching and sewing.
The result was a collection of 15 dresses for everyday women's and men's wear, with modern cuts and patterns, enriched with upcycled used fabrics.
Zarin Tasnim Reza said, "We wanted to throw a lifeline to the marginalised group of people, many of whom, due to stigma, cannot go outside their houses and engage in a profession that can provide a livelihood for a better life."
Her sister Nazifa Tabassum, an architect by profession, further elaborated, "Now that these marginalised people are trained, we want to facilitate business matchmaking for them, where other boutiques or fashion houses employ them and create opportunities for them to enjoy the benefits of a dignified life."
Alliance Française, the exhibition venue was decorated in a fitting manner, with lots of sarees hanging like curtains on the outside of a house to dry after being washed as often seen in a slum. The exhibited dresses were projected against rusty wavy tin sheets, frequently used as roofs of houses in the slums.
While many of us romanticise the pitter-patter of rain on those corrugated sheets, the reality is far more optimistic. This aspect of their living was unveiled through a series of photographs by Rafid Al Zahur. Many of the artisans modelled for the photographs, wearing the very dresses they stitched or sewed.
Two photos stood out: one showed a girl holding a dead baby's body in almost knee-deep water, and another depicted a broken plastic doll in the same dirty water. When asked, Rafid said, '"Death by drowning is a common phenomenon among the kids, and we wanted to remind everyone of the fragility of life that these newborns face while growing up in a slum."
Now, regarding the fashion show, where these artisans and family members got to wear the clothes they made and walked on the ramp, what made this show memorable was the attitude of these people on the red carpet. One of them was Ratna Rani Das, a seventh-grade student at a local school who dreams of becoming a doctor someday.
Initiatives like those by Piran Bangladesh will certainly instil more hope than ever in the minds of the marginalised people and make them believe that they too can overcome challenges, provided someone trains them, enhances their skills and gives them confidence.
The dresses they wore had lots of applique work, and the patterns were mostly irregular, much like the uncertainties in their lives. The collection featured many earthy tones, making it relatable for those who appreciate slow and down-to-earth fashion.
However, according to SK Saifur Rahman, the general secretary of the National Crafts Council of Bangladesh and one of the speakers at the show, not all pieces from the collection are wearable. The use of fabrics, cuts and stitches will need to undergo more mature inspection if they genuinely want to break into a competitive market.
He said, "Engaging the artisans in sewing nakshi kantha could be a good business model for this initiative since kantha still has a high demand, both locally and globally, as handcrafted quilts never go out of fashion or demand."
The Piran Bangladesh team has successfully completed the workshop but the most challenging part of this journey now begins. The founders need to find the right opportunities for these amateur designers and artisans.
The profits from the sales of those 15 dresses at the exhibition will go to the designers but this revenue is undoubtedly limited. What they need is regular employment, where they can use their skills and dedication to work towards a more dignified life.
Otherwise, dreams of young girls like Ratna Rani Das to serve humanity as a doctor will be thwarted.
