Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Moving beyond basic tailoring, domestic violence survivors will now be trained in fashion designing to help them use their creative skills to set up small enterprises.
The initiative is meant for women and girls with no family support who approach or are brought to the One Stop Centre in the city. Instead of only producing predefined items, the women will be mentored to imagine, design and develop products reflecting their experiences, aesthetics and local cultural influences.
Till now, such women were trained only in basic tailoring. However, most of them ended up working as employees in boutiques, while others bought sewing machines and stitched conventional items such as blouses and petticoats from home, with customers supplying the cloth and paying only labour charges.
The National Institute of Design (NID) and the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) in the city are being approached to allow their students to help train the women. Other professionals will also be invited to collaborate.
We will train them in designing and marketing products that are in demand in the local market so that they can launch their own enterprises, said Soumya Saxena of Gauravi One Stop Crisis Centre, Bhopal.
Initially, the women will also be provided raw material and equipment. They will be trained to design products such as pouches, tote bags, purses and handbags using their creative skills. Zari-zardozi, Bagh print and beadwork will be used to decorate the products.
With support from ActionAid India, the women will also be taught how to align their products with market trends and market them effectively.
After a year, they will be expected to launch their own enterprises. Through collective learning and collaboration, women will be encouraged to experiment with colours, fabrics, patterns, embroidery and product ideas, transforming tailoring from a skill into a form of creative expression and entrepreneurship, Soumya said.
The focus is on enabling women to participate in the entire creative process, from ideation and design to production, branding and market engagement, Saxena added.
