Reviving The Dhoti

Goa-based slow fashion entrepreneur Praful Makwana is turning the spotlight on India’s dhotis and its infinite variations

- Murali Menon

Praful Makwana has been into dhotis and the different ways of draping them for as long as he can remember. Makwana, a Gujarati who grew up in the Mumbai suburb of Borivali, says that even as a seven-year-old child, he would take a keen interest in dhotis. “No one in my family had the remotest interest in dhotis, but I’d always wear them. I wore one on my last day at school, on my graduation day from fashion college, I’d wear regular outfits to work, but at home, it would always be dhotis,” says Makwana.

The 45-year-old worked with fashion companies in Dubai for over 20 years before setting up organic clothing brand, Sepia Stories, in Goa last year. But three years ago, spurred by his nephew’s perception of dhotis as a piece of clothing worn by “oldies”, Makwana decided to tell the story of India’s numerous dhotis.

“I started working on a book of drapes, informed by my travels across the country. But that’s a long-term plan, so I decided to complement it with documenting the dhoti on social media,” says Makwana.