As Bhutan Fashion Week comes to an end, an exhibition has opened at the Royal Textile Academy in Thimphu, showcasing designers’ runway designs. The exhibition, which will run for three months, will provide designers a platform to promote and sell their creations. His Royal Highness Prince Ugyen Jigme Wangchuck graced the opening of the exhibition.
Each of the 20 designers stood by their stalls, displaying their runway outfits and other pieces from their collections. This time, they shared the story behind every stitch, woven into each design.
They said that the exhibition is unique, unlike the previous fashion shows, as it gives their runway creations a dedicated space for display and sale.
“I think that both this exhibition and Bhutan Fashion Week help our designs a lot. All the Bhutanese designers are able to display their beautiful work, their talent and I think that’s very precious. It is a very big hand to give because in other countries fashion industry is very difficult to get into so giving the Bhutanese local designers this hand is giving them an opportunity to go more international and showcase their work around the world,” said Ida Ghaley, Designer.
“Bfw have really came up with a good idea. They not only focused on the runway or fashion shows, but then they focused on how to help all the designers to sell their products, so this is a very good platform. At the same time, designers are very excited to sell what they have worked for. In the past, customers had to call designers to get their product; what they have seen in the runway, but now they can just watch the fashion show, come here and directly buy the product from the designers,” said Dorothy Gurung.
The exhibition is expected to provide a market for the designers and make the fashion industry more sustainable.
“The main reason we have this kind of exhibition is that most of the designers are home-based; most of them don’t own a studio, so they don’t have a proper place to sell their products, which is very challenging for them. I feel like when we conduct this type of exhibition, we are providing them a safe space for their products to be sold,” said Anuja Nepal, Assistant Collection Manager, Museum Department, RTA.
The exhibition will be open every day during office hours except on Sundays. The prices of the collections range from as low as Nu 1,000 to nearly Nu 60,000, offering something for every budget.
Devika Pradhan & Singye Dema
Edited by Sonam Pem
