Let your clothes free your soul

Flaunt your bohemian attitude by sporting Maya's Organic Wear, which includes apparel and accessories made from banana, hemp and bamboo fabric, sourced from rural parts of India and Nepal

City-based designer Sarita Meena has always considered herself a free spirit. That explains why the 24 year-old chose to plunge into textile designing despite having graduated in mass media. Post a short stint in advertising, she enrolled for a diploma in fashion and clothing technology from NIFT and started Maya's Organic Wear to
create her own version of boho-chic apparel.


Bamboo cotton Mul skirt

"Around two years ago, I started blogging on random designs that caught my fancy. I was already stitching bags, wallets and footwear at home and I decided to launch my own label, which would offer clothing that was comfortable, affordable, organic, and basically spelled freedom,"
says Meena.

What followed was months of travelling to the remote corners of India -- from the rural hamlets in Gujarat, Rajasthan and Uttaranchal to the mountains of Nepal. "I met skilled artisans during my journey, stayed behind to learn the ropes and now I source my fabrics from them. Using that fabric as raw material, I fashion my own designs," she adds.

Her colourful product list includes casual wear kurtas, tunics, skirts and pants as well as accessories such as wallets, belts, backpacks and wooden jewellery. Meena's USP: she exclusively works with organic materials such as banana fibre, hemp, nettle and bamboo and only uses natural dyes. "These are perfect for the summer as they allow the skin to breathe and are good for the skin. They don't harm the environment and also help sustain rural communities," states Meena.

We loved the hand-embroidered slit kurtas, dhoti pants made from bamboo fabric, Mul dungarees, cotton jumpsuits, handloom tunics from Nepal and kimono tops. The embroidered umbrellas from Rajasthan and Gujarat are also must-buys and so are the Kalamkari shrugs and Sambalpuri kurtis from Orissa. For men, there are white Mul shirts, pajama pants, Ahimsa silk peace shirts (silk made without harming silkworms), hemp shirts and jute bags. Plus, there are hand-printed, recycled paper diaries, guava wood earrings and hemp wallets on sale.

Meena admits that she has a bias for ethnic motifs and designs from the '60s to '90s era as she found the time elegant and "real". Hence, she has divided her creations in categories such as Dreamer, Worldwide Folk Art and Wandering in Neverland. The brand name is itself indicative of the concept of Maya or the belief that the world is illusory and you need to free your mind and soul to witness the truth.

While she is currently busy with the launch of Maya Organic Caf ufffd on Arambol beach in Goa, she is also planning to introduce a collection of multi-purpose herbal oils and sandals. Also on her wish list is to experiment with abstract and origami designs. Watch this space!

Email: mayaethnicwear@gmail.com
Log on to: www.flowerchildmaya. blogspot.com OR www.facebook.com/pages/
Maya-ethno-organic-wear/ 121173584624629
Cost: Rs 100 to Rs 3,000