Inherently Inclusive
Sreyashi Raka Das (SRD)
Shantiniketan-based student Sreyashi
Raka Das, 22, always felt fashion was a language she could express herself best in. “When other children my age were playing with dolls, I was already embroidering handkerchiefs,” she says.
She started out as a fashion blogger experimenting with different looks until she realised that her strong aesthetic sense called for a label of her own. Only six months old, her eponymous label makes anti-fit wearable clothing out of locally woven khadi and khesh fabrics.
She is a firm believer of her own tagline “fashion for all”. Her clothing is meant for not just all body types and all ages but is also gender fluid. Take for example the “ramdhanu jama” a top that she designed as a gender neutral blouse that can be worn by men and women alike. Ramdhanu means rainbow and the top was her way of showing allegiance to LGBTs.
Schooled in Patha Bhavan, the school started by Rabindranath Tagore, she admits that “having lived and breathed Tagore” must have influenced her designs and the poetic and fanciful way that she names her designs—a loose-fit crop top is called aranya or forest and an A-line dress with bell sleeves is called jhaarbati because it reminds her of the shape of a chandelier. Wide khadi pants, cape like kurtis and more blouse cum tops are also part of her oeuvre.
She sources all her fabric from the local weaving clusters and in a bid to stay accessible, all her clothing is priced within Rs 2,000 markq.
Price Rs 750 onwards Details instagram.com/sreyashirakadas