Elle India – July 2019

Photographs: Sagar Ahuja

FIRST LOOK

ROOTED IN

Lecoanet Hemant seamlessly brings

wellness to sustainable fashion through

its homegrown collection, Ayurganic

Kerala. Here, encompassed

by 15,000 square feet of land

rich in medicinal trees and

plants, lies Rajan K’s family-run

Ayurvastra factory—the source of

Ayurganic’s fabric.

The fabric is created over 15 days

through a handmade process, that

involves seven steps of purifying,

dyeing and bleaching. The fabric

—made with 100 per cent organic

cotton is permeated with various

oils and recipe combinations made

with over 1,200 herbs. According

to Sagar the garments have been

created to shield the body from

the toxic environment that people

are surrounded by. “If you regard

your body as a temple, it’s (wearing

these clothes) a way of coming

home,” he says.

This quality comes through

perfectly in the loose silhouettes

and comfortable fit that Ayurganic

has to offer. “Everything about

the fabric is ecological. The label,

the threads, to even the buttons,

everything is recyclable. I encourage

people to bury it in their garden, if

they don’t want to wear it anymore

or when they have worn it enough.

It’ll decompose. That’s how I would

imagine these clothes to finish their

life-cycle.”

Ayurganic is available to shop

on ayurganic.com

— TATIANA DIAS

A

label synonymous with
haute couture, it was
Lecoanet Hemant’s east-
meets-west aesthetic that
put it on the international
map back in the ’80s. And designers
and co-founders Didier Lecoanet
and Hemant Sagar didn’t just stop
there. With a strong desire to go
back to the roots and create clothes
that truly made a difference, they
started researching on Ayurvastra,
a forgotten branch of Ayurveda
that infuses wellness in the making
of fabrics.
Two decades later, Lecoanet and
Sagar brought this vision to fruition
through Ayurganic, the brand’s
recently launched sustainable spa
line. “Everything we had done until
now was all about image making. It
was about being bombastic,” says
62-year-old Sagar. 
Their extensive research led
them to Rajan K, a textile expert
who comes from a rich lineage of
Ayurvastra experts. The designers
worked with him over several
years to create the perfect blend
of fabrics that would not only make
the wearer feel comfortable but
also have a therapeutic effect.
We are at
Balaramapuram, a small town
near Thiruvananthapuram in

The treated fabric is washed

in fresh river water The fabric is boiled in water

containing medicinal herbs

Hemant Sagar explains

the process of Ayurvastra

A selection of herbs used in

the permeation of the fabric

The final product

ELLE.IN 55 JULY