Ms Mary Jean Hunter
TBA
Clothes in Khadi - a Fashion and Life Journey
My paper reflects upon a career of developing and selecting handcraft ranges for international aid and charity organisations; 30 years of working with Indian textile craftworkers; 20 years of direct association with co-operatives auspiced and run from a Ghandian perspective. It also reflects my experience in fashion design and retail from Flinders Lane in the 1960s to a chain of shops, Ethnic in Melbourne specialising in wearables in Khadi. My practice moved from Euro-centric models of "aid" into alternative approaches to intercultural economic development, a growing awareness during my work of the constricting, dictatorial and neo-colonial outlook of "aid agencies", especially the constant seasonal variation and demand for novelty imposed by western markets and the damage that such forces exert upon local production and economic structures and aesthetic values. My values transmuted when working with the All-India Handcrafts Board - regenerating traditional designs and colour/dye technologies. In partnership with the Ghandian co-operatives, I assisted in developing an economically viable trade which delivered secure, constant employment /commissions minimising exploitation and cultural imposition, to develop a production loop that operated on local terms (rather than Western markets and retailers), informed by Ghandian belief.
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