FASHION /YOGA SPECIAL .................It's the Day for New Organic Yoga Wear too

It's the Day for New Organic Yoga  Wear too   Apparel makers are unveiling more comfortable and fashionable range  to woo enthusiasts as Yoga Day nears As the country prepares to celebrate the first ever International Yoga Day with  mass demonstrations in several cities and towns this Sunday, a handful of Indian  yoga wear marketers are using the occasion to push their chic collections.Brands such as Proyog, Bhusattva, Moral Fibre, Forever Yoga, Do U Speak Green and Urban Yoga have all lined up a range of organic breathable yoga wear that promises comfort and fashion to new-age enthusiasts of the ancient spiritual discipline that involves meditation, breath control and physical postures. “Yoga needs `not too tight, not too loose' garments,“ said Malika Baruah, cofounder and product head of Proyog. The brand, owned by Bengaluru-based startup Ika Yoga Wear, will launch its yoga wear collection in the country on June 21, the International Yoga Day. On the same day, three months old startup Forever Yoga will display its range at UB City in Bengaluru and at Powai Yogafest in Mumbai. Mumbai-based Fusion Clothing has already readied a yoga wear collection under its flagship brand Do U Speak Green, which boasts of being made out of fibres of bamboo and organic cotton to appeal to customers of sustainable fashion. Shalini Sheth Amin, who has founded Moral Fibre in Ahmedabad, said her firm has just delivered a consignment of organic khadi yoga wear to a boutique at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi. She is also targeting thousands of people who are expected to practice yoga at Gujarat Vidyapith as part of the yoga day celebrations on Sunday. Jainam Kumarpal, owner of another Ahmedabad-based organic brand, Bhusattva, has designed “comfortable and breezy“ yoga pants and tops using fibres of bamboo, banana, milk and soyabean protein. Apparel makers like Mumbai-based i Ashapura Intimates Fashion, which owns Valentine brand, and Noida-based intimate wear brand Clovia, too, have come out with yoga wear collections, to cash in on the growing popularity of yoga in India and elsewhere. Globally , an estimated 200 million people practice the 5,000-year-old art form. About half of them are believed to be Indians. Amit Chand, cofounder of Forever Yoga, said international yoga wear options don't fit most Indian users.“More than 80% of Indians who practice yoga are women who dress up in either salwar-kameez or oversized tees to hide their flab. Active wear range offered by international brands do not help,“ he said. Baruah of Proyog feels it's unethical to wear synthetic fabrics while practicing yoga as one should ideally be wearing garments that make one experience freedom during  yoga. Experts agree India-specific yoga clothes brands have a big opportunity. “Yoga wear needs an anthropometric study to design clothes as per Indian requirement. If the brands are able to crack that and market themselves beyond the International Yoga Day, they could create a new space in the total $76 billion Indian apparel market,“ said Prashant Agarwal, co-founder and joint managing director at consultancy firm Wazir Advisors. The Indian yoga wear market could loosely be 10% of the active wear and 5% of the ethnic wear market, he said. Apart from introducing comfort fits and fabrics that are sustainable, Indian yoga wear brands are offering “performance“ fabrics for yoga. Chand's yoga range, for instance, offers comfort as well as functionality of performance wear. “Infused with special finishes like soil release, moisture management and anti-microbial, the garment would let the skin breathe and relax the body,“ he said. Neha Kant, founder of Clovia, said her brand has readied a line of comfort fit for those who are willing to shed pounds through yoga and slim fit for fitness freaks. “Our range  would be trendy, yet not be body-hugging,“ she said. Bhusattva's Kumarpal claimed his “comfortable and breezy“ yoga garments help maintain the body temperature and even reduce skin allergies owing to therapeutic and medicinal properties. Shramana Ganguly ET18JUN15