At the Sustainable Fashion Event, on at Alliance Française, city-based designer Ritu Kochhar emphasised the need for upcycling

Armed with a pair of denims, trousers and a dress, psychotherapist Nikita Charan stepped into Alliance Française on Thursday with a resolve. As she walked out, she had a light trousers in hand. Many like Nikita joined Ritu Kochhar, a renowned Chandigarh-based design mentor, academician, entrepreneur and fashion curator for the Sustainable Fashion Event, on at Alliance Française Chandigarh-36, for ‘cloth swap’.

Keeping in mind sustainability, people came forward to swap the clothes they didn’t intend to wear anymore. Ritu’s initiative, ‘Rope With Me’, emphasised the 3 R’s of fashion — Reimagining, Recreating and Reusing. The idea germinated through the pandemic. “Sitting at home, I looked at pieces lying unused in my wardrobe and to give them a new lease of life,” said Ritu. As she shared her upcycled pieces on Instagram, it led to her enthusiastic friends and family joining her for Sunday workshops online.

The free of cost ‘clothing swap’, the live upcycling workshop and creating Christmas tree ornaments using waste materials aimed at educating people on strengthening the upcycling economy in India, reducing their fashion footprint and embracing circular fashion. The event emphasised the beauty of slow fashion and how it fosters community-building.

(Open from 11 am to 4 pm at Alliance Française till today).