Sujit Gulve, Lecturer, MGM IFD
Men and women, two sides of the same coin. The base of any society is the bonding of men and women. The stronger the bond is the longer the society lasts. The social bond between men and women works as a building block of a family. This is my personal opinion. Even we can notice the same thing socially. The cultural bond between them could be the platform to express our inner voice. The aesthetic bond helps to know each other more strongly. So, it’s very important for society to provide men and women with equal opportunities. So harmony will be maintained through the society.
When it comes to equality, numerous terms come in our mind. Equality of education, work, rights, gender and many more. It is usually said that equality of gender is a modern concept. But, not surprising!! The concept was a daily lifestyle of ancient India since centuries. Equality of garments, wearing styles of men and women of ancient India; is what we are going to discuss here. From Harappa and Mohenjo- daro to Satvahana and Guptas, from Mouryans to late Sungas the style of dressing had been evolved gradually. If we observe the draping style of both men and women, we come to know that the style is similar, accepting minute differences. The antariya (a rectangular piece of fabric for lower body), the uttariya (a rectangular piece of fabric for upper body) and the kayabandh (a sash of fabric to tie at waist or head) were the common components of men’s and women’s attire. Their headgears, jewelry, ornaments seem to be inspired by the style of each other. This somewhere shows that we Indian were already aware of gender equality though it was in clothing.
Some designers of this era have introduced some designs inspired by this equality of ancient wearing style of clothes. The designs have been given the name as UNISEX WEAR. The basic idea of this style is, these garments are designed and stitched in such a way so that both men and women can wear it comfortably. Many designs have been inspired by the draping style of ancient Indian culture. Few garments like harem pants, dhoti salwar are the best examples.
A huge range of unisex wear is available in malls and markets nowadays. We can list out some products here like, harem pants, T -shirts, joggers, palazzos, jackets, kimonos, sweatshirts, kalidar kurtas and many more. It seems that the differences of gender are vanished by adopting this style. A different and creative way to establish equality of gender. Isn’t this is a great contribution of fashion designers to society?
Equality is a great idea. It is an individual’s creativity to follow the idea in one’s own way. In this manner designers really deserve to be praised for contributing their little by their work for equality of genders. Their dedication towards the society though it is in a different style, will always get the appreciation and admiration of all.