New Delhi, Jan. 30 -- If there is one fabric that is inseparable from India's freedom movement, it is khadi. Championed by Mahatma Gandhi as the "livery of freedom", the handspun cloth became a symbol of economic self-reliance and resistance in the early 20th century. In the years following Independence, however, Khadi's austere image saw it being driven into a funk - worn mainly by politicians or activists or gathering dust in dated emporiums.

A reinvention, if one can call it that, came about when young Indian fashion designers chose to experiment with it, adapting their creative designs on to this simple handspun and handwoven cloth. Today, Khadi (cotton and silk) has been cut and tailored into contemporary silhouettes like skirts, ja...