Saree Soirée: A Panel on South Asian Fashion & How to Drape a Sari

An afternoon of discussion and activity, beginning with a conversation on the history of the sari, three women’s evolving relationship with South Asian fashion and their current practices exploring identity and sustainability through the lens of fabric. 

Followed by a sari draping workshop - an interactive, an embodied continuation of the conversation. 

Panel: A conversation on the history of the sari, three women’s evolving relationship with South Asian fashion and their current practices exploring identity and sustainability through the lens of fabric.

Each has built a practice rooted in the belief that South Asian cloth is not static heritage, but a dynamic, living thing - shaped by the hands that made it, the bodies that wear it, and the borders, real and imagined, it has crossed. The conversation weaves together Huda's exploration of pre-partition textile histories and the shared South Asian clothing culture that borders later fractured; Priya traces the sari through every chapter of a woman's life and refuses to let us forget the hands behind every thread, and Srishti's radical proposition that owning a cultural garment matters far less than being moved by it, wearing it, and passing it on. 

Together, they will explore how Partition reshaped how we see ourselves through clothing. What does it mean to grow up in Australia and find your way back to yourself through fabric? How do we overcome the stigma of second hand clothing in South Asian communities? Can a sari be an act of resistance in a boardroom, on a commute, at a gallery opening? And perhaps most tenderly: whose hands made this, and what do we owe them?

Workshop: Take part in this sari draping workshop - an interactive, an embodied continuation of the conversation with a live demonstration of multiple regional variations of sari draping. Led by Haffsah Billal.

You’re invited to bring a sari you have, whether inherited, purchased, or borrowed. If you do not own a sari, we will have a sari for you to borrow during the event. 

This program features three Melbourne-based women in fashion Huda Cadekiwala, Priya Ravindra Kalyanimath, Srishti Nagpal and moderator Devni Wimalasena. The program is curated by Daizy Maan, founder of Australian South Asian Centre 

Panellists  

Huda Cadekiwala 

Huda Cadekiwala is a Melbourne-based creative & founder of Qaim, a fashion practice grounded in upcycled South Asian textiles & diasporic storytelling. A Pakistani, working between Australia & India, she collaborates with artisans to reimagine deadstock & heritage fabrics into contemporary forms that honour tradition while resisting static notions of cultural identity.

Her work explores transformation through materiality, viewing textiles as living archives that carry memory, migration, & intergenerational narrative. Huda’s practice examines how clothing becomes a site of negotiation between preservation & evolution, sustainability & resistance, heritage & modernity. Through Qaim she sees fabric as something that predates borders & outlives political division, a reminder of cultural continuity across separation. In this way, her work gestures toward connection rather than fragmentation, using material culture as a quiet means of bringing histories & people back into conversation.

Priya Ravindra Kalyanimath

Priya Ravindra Kalyanimath is an entrepreneur, speaker, and the Founder and CEO of Punar, a multi-award-winning ethical startup transforming fashion textile and gifting industries through sustainable production. Priya is committed to creating safe jobs for makers while reducing textile waste through upcycling, circularity and conscious design.  

Moving alone to Australia as a teenage student from India, Priya is proud of her cultural heritage and shares stories of makers in her platforms. Her mission is to build businesses that advance gender equality, support dignified livelihoods, and embed sustainability into everyday business and consumer choices worldwide.

Srishti Nagpal 

Srishti Nagpal is the founder of Veira Boutique, a Melbourne-based fashion rental and upcycling platform redefining how South Asian garments are worn, shared, and reimagined. Through Veira, she challenges the idea that cultural value lies in ownership, instead creating a circular model where heirloom-quality lehengas, saris, and occasionwear are accessed, re-worn, and reinterpreted across communities.

Accessibility: This is a free, seated program, with some standing. There are some steps to access the seating bank. Some level-entry seating is also available.