‘Rangila Dhaga’ Weaves Emotion into Humble ‘Gamcha’
Fashion designer Kalpana Das & Divya Malik, a visitor, at Delhi Crafts Museum (Image credit Bhawna Malik)
Designers Trend Humble Garment into Fashion Statement
By Bhawna Malik
New Delhi, March 10: Kalpana Das, hailing from West Bengal, turned the focus of her fashion designing talent on humble ‘gamcha’. With Jaya Jaitely as her mentor, Das experimented to turn ‘gamcha’ into fashion accessories.
She makes earrings, necklace, dupattas, sarees, stoles and bags from ‘gamcha’. Through ‘Rangila Dhaga’ that she launched in 2006, Das began her entrepreneurial journey under the guidance of Jaya Jaitly, the founder of ‘Dastakari Haat Samiti’. She experimented with ‘gamcha’, adding glitz and glamour to the humble garment.
“Gamcha is not just a garment. It is a sentiment, an emotion, that weaves a story of a person weaving or using it,” said Das. She is showcasing her craft in an exhibition titled ‘Gamcha’ organised by Dastkari Haat Samiti in the Delhi Crafts Museum till 10th of March.
“In 2014, when I started, Gamcha was just a hand towel, or a head band worn by people in Odisha, Bihar, West Bengal and Assam. But by 2025, it became trendy, and I realized that ‘gamcha’ can be style statement,” she said.
The fashion designer stated that the “material is soothing for summers and good for winters as well”. “Easy to carry, light weight and the colour palette is vibrant light, as well as dark shades of Red, Royal Blue and Black add an ethereal look. Earrings, small necklaces, stoles, sarees, blouses, and bags appeal to all, especially college students,” said Das.
The designer also stated that she “played with an Indo-western look of ‘gamcha’. Motive of ‘Rangila Dhaga’ is not just reviving the humble garment but providing weavers a platform to showcase their work and help them earn,” added Das.
Divya Malik, a visitor at the exhibition, adorning a ‘gamcha’, was fascinated by the garment. “The rich handicrafts from our tradition must be preserved and the younger generation must be educated and sensitized towards the heritage,” Malik said.
She also said that the “notion that a ‘gamcha’ cannot be a designer garment or cannot be worn fashionable is a myth. This exhibition indeed is an eye opener,” she said.
One of the exhibits of ‘Rangila Dhaga’ contains an embroidered ‘gamcha’ that has images of a woman, a rickshaw puller and farmer all wearing ‘gamcha’. “This is a narrative of ‘gamcha’. It speaks to all of us – mother, farmers, and a rickshaw puller – for protective garment. It’s a journey of ‘gamcha’ that unites all though in different parts and roles,” Das added.
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