New Delhi (10/05/2022): “Khadi spirit means the fellow-feeling with every human being on earth” – Mahatma Gandhi.
Handspun and hand-woven, Khadi fabric became a tool to collectivize people and unify them at the behest of Mahatma Gandhi thousands of people formed collectives to create Khadi fabric and dress themselves in comfortable Khadi. Many such collectives formalized into institutions that went on to be certified by Khadi Village and Industries Commission (KVIC) from 1957 onwards. These Khadi Institutions are the custodians of the legacy of Khadi .
With the desire to travel with Khadi to newer place, a Centre for experimentation, innovation and design has been conceived by the Ministry of MSME for Khadi Village and Industries Commission to empower Khadi Institutions. The Centre aspires to design apparel, home and fashion accessories that appeal to people across generations. The Centre of Excellence for Khadi has set out to make Khadi a universal, classic and value driven brand.
Union Minister for Micro Small and Medium Enterprises Narayan Rane will inaugurate the first Centre of Excellence for Khadi on 11th May 2022 in New Delhi. The event will be graced by the presence of Minister of State MSME Bhanu Pratap Singh Verma, Minister of State for Textiles Darshana Vikram Jardosh, Secretary, Ministry of Textiles U P Singh and Secretary, Ministry of MSME B.B Swain.
The Centre of Excellence for Khadi is setup at National Institute of Fashion Technology as a hub in Delhi and spokes in Bangalore, Gandhinagar, Kolkata, and Shillong. The objective is to design apparel, home furnishing and accessories for people of all generation and creating benchmarked design processes of global standards of quality, design, and merchandising.
Centre of Excellence for Khadi is in the process of developing Knowledge Portal for Khadi to disseminate design directions to reach out to all the Khadi Institutions. Knowledge portal entails design directions on—colour, silhouettes, weave, surface, textures, prints, closures, size chart and trims and finishes.
