Inspired-by-grandmom collection by Indian designer wins International Woolmark P

There couldn't have been a better way to kick-start the 2018 chapter in Indian fashion. Delhi designer Ruchika Sachdeva, 30, who runs the cutting edge label, Bodice, became the first female Indian designer to be win the coveted International Woolmark Prize (IWP) in Firenze, Italy, on Tuesday. Suket Dhir and Rahul Mishra are the other Indians to have won the award previously.

Part of a 12-member jury that picked Sachdeva, American womenswear designer Phillip Lim thought Bodice's collection was "completely thoughtful". "From the ingredients and dyes used, all the way to the application and everything in between, her collection really represents a modern woman," he said in a press statement.

Launched in 2011, Bodice is known to reinvent classic staples through modern tailoring and the use of indigenous textiles. And for the IWP capsule collection, which was inspired by her grandmother who upcycled old sarees into quilts, Sachdeva addressed the issue of consumer waste in fashion, with traditional techniques of recycling.

Native elements such as working with weavers in Kullu, and working with dyers in Sawantwadi - a township in Sindhudurg district of Maharashtra - to produce sustainable natural dyes, seamlessly came together to highlight the collection's leading star, the Australian Merino wool. Completing the label's holistic approach, the buttons were sourced from renewable sources like coconut shell, seashell and wood.

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