Kokrajhar, Feb. 19: The fashion scene in Assam’s Bodo heartland is making way for trendy outfits with contemporary lines created from muga and eri. The fashion show organised by a local co-operative society, Roje Eshanshali, in association with the Central Silk Board and directorate of silk here yesterday points to how ingenuously muga is being used to create outfits in tune with the times.
The show was organised as part of a two-day workshop on “Development of muga and eri silk industry” and an exhibition-cum-sale under the aegis of the United Nations Development Programme.
Titled “Fashion Parade of the Silk Board of Assam”, it was an exposition of the potential that lay in muga and eri silk in creating new outfits by designers like Minerva Basumatary of Kokrajhar and Sanjita Phukan from Guwahati.
In the first round, 12 female models traipsing down the ramp redefined the traditional dokhna gwmgra, while their male counterparts were equally resplendent in dhoti-kurtas with ethnic collars.
The co-operative society has been popularising outfits made of muga and eri.
In the second round, the models wore an exclusive line of churidar and salwar-kameezes created by Minerva Basumatary, who also designed the mixed traditional round comprising dokhna, saris, and dhoti-kurta.
The fourth and fifth rounds showed the models in western outfits and casual dresses designed by Sanjita Phukan.
“It is a new and nice experience as I am holding the show among my people. I always wanted to do it here,” Basumatary said.
Malati Narzary, a member-convenor of the organising committee and founder of Roje Eshanshali, said the show marked the beginning of a process which will popularise muga and eri clothes. She said every Bodo woman was an expert weaver.
The show was attended by J.V. Krishna Rao and P. Joy Oommen, joint director and member secretary of the Central Silk Board based in Bangalore, respectively.