‘The Khadi Movement - Assam Edition’ –the Assam edition of the North East India Fashion Week (NEIFW), is an event is conceptualized to inspire and encourage the upcoming handicraft artisans and designers of the region who are working exclusively towards the promotion of north east fabrics and culture. The Assam edition witnessed the participation of over 50 designers and indigenous weavers.

The organizer of the premiere fashion event is Affluent Ray of Light (ARL), a non-profit organization dedicated to globalize the social and cultural aspects of the different tribes of north east India. ARL’s motto is to promote and support the yarn makers, weavers, designers and craftsman will help the northeast culture tourism industry.

ARL believes that it is very important to preserve the north east region’s rich fabrics, traditional handlooms and handicrafts, and very few of the designers from the region are making an effort to do so.

Their mission is to promote and preserve the vast variety of indigenous textiles and crafts that are slowly losing popularity amongst the younger generation, through fashion shows and help create business and branding opportunities for industries directly or indirectly engaged in retailing handloom, textile fashion and life.

Speaking on the occasion, chief operating officer and founder of Affluent Ray of Light, fashion designer Yana Ngoba said that ARL is committed to support upcoming and established talented designers from the region. They , along with their partner NGOs, aim to help the weavers and designers from the region to create a niche for themselves. They are working in the field of training, marketing, skill development, capacity building, cluster development, and promotion of handicraft artisans of the region for the last 7 years. The North East India Fashion Week is a reflection of this journey.

Highlighting about the Assam edition of the fashion week, Jack Taniya Budh, chief operating officer for the Assam edition, said that the event is a prelude to the grand showcase that awaits fashion enthusiasts in Itanagar later this year.

He added that the NEIFW is a movement to provide a congressional platform to tell the stories of nature and connect the world through tale-telling clothes and creations. It helps to witness the nature's stories through yarn and beads in Guwahati.

Talking about the relationship of fashion with tourism, Yana Ngoba said that they desire to make a unique and positive contribution through fashion design. Tourism has vast potentials in the north east India region and if fashion can be integrated with tourism the overall industry will see a lot of positive change. They at ARL are trying their best to promote fashion tourism or culture tourism and explore the possible role the fashion industry can play in North East tourism sector.

The event was held on August 26, Saturday at the Assam Engineering Institute Field, Chandmari, Guwahati.