Cinderella had her fairy godmother to get her dressed but all you need are buttons and fabric or an old garment. And you can create not one but at least three possible garments out of them. “You don’t need a pair of scissors or a machine either,” says Anuj Sharma who started his label Button Masala in 2009. His technique is simple: he uses buttons and rubber bands to hold two pieces of fabric together. And Anuj is more than happy sharing the know how of this method. He believes, no technique should be exclusive. Which is why, the designer will be conducting a virtual workshop this Saturday.
Titled Button Up with Anuj Sharma, the hour-long online session will take participants through the philosophy of the brand and teach them how to create fuss-free garments without sewing. It is open to anyone (kids and adults) who is at home and wants to learn something creative. If there are more kids then he plans to jump straight away into the fun part of creating rather than talking about philosophy.
The idea is to make design democratic so people can create rather just buy, says Anuj. “This is sustainable and cheap and since you are not cutting the garment, you can open the buttons or rubber band and reuse the garment in its original form or create something new out of it again.”
Anuj, who has showcased at the Lakme Fashion week multiple times, says that it is important to educate people about design. There are numerous design possibilities but we have created a market scenario where people opt for the same style over and over again. For example, if it’s wedding wear, they want embroidery, otherwise they do not consider it appropriate for the occasion. They have lost simplicity and forgotten that a fabric has value by itself; its own beauty that they just can’t seem to see,” he says. His workshops, that he conducts all over the world, attempt to show people myriad possibilities and teach them this simple technique.
The workshop is on April 4, at 4 pm. To join, log on to gormeitravel.com/hive02 or send an email to booking@gormei.com
