Kinley Tshering

Ever since thirty-nine-year-old Bhutanese fashion designer and founder of CDK Gyencha, Chandrika Tamang, returned to Thimphu from Melbourne, Australia two weeks ago, she has been burning the midnight oil with her team of weavers and assistants at her studio, preparing her latest collection for the Fabric of Multicultural Australia (FOMA) fashion show in Sydney this October.

FOMA is a premier platform for sustainable, indigenous fashion and design labels in Australia. The 7th Annual FOMA Runway and Exhibit will be held in Sydney on October 12 this year.

Chandrika Tamang founded CDK Gyencha, a sustainable fashion brand, in 2014. Her brand is renowned for merging traditional Bhutanese craftsmanship with contemporary designs to create unique, eco-friendly clothing.

A mother of two daughters, Chandrika Tamang will be the first Bhutanese designer to feature at the FOMA fashion show. She will be showcasing her collection ‘Ballads of Nomads’, which is inspired by the vibrant culture and costumes of Merak and Sakteng communities in Trashigang.

Speaking to Kuensel about the opportunity, Chandrika Tamang said that FOMA is one of the biggest platforms for indigenous fashion and hand-woven clothing, unlike other fashion shows. “I feel that I am opening a path to international market for our younger generations and for Bhutanese contemporary fashion,” she said.

Leading up to the FOMA fashion show, CDK Gyencha will also be presenting its designs at pop-up stores in Sydney. A pop-up store is a temporary retail space used to introduce new fashion lines and raise brand awareness.

“Doing pop-ups in high-end stores in Sydney would give us better visibility and broader opportunities for brand promotion,” Chandrika Tamang said.

CDK Gyencha will also be organising pop-ups in Melbourne between November and January. “In future, we will be doing pop-ups around the world to promote Bhutan, our brand, and our culture,”  she said.

Chandrika Tamang’s journey in fashion began as a hobby during her school days.What started as a sideline activity transformed into a passion and profession. She quit her banking job of six years to pursue fashion design full-time.

She created CDK Gyencha, a sustainable fashion line that gives a modern interpretation to traditional Bhutanese designs.  Currently, she collaborates with 20 female weavers in the country.

Bhutanese fashion designer, stylist, and illustrator, Karma Wangchuk, popularly known as Lhari Khampa, will also be presenting an exhibition on photography and illustrations on Bhutanese street fashion at the FOMA Show.

The duo is collaborating together. “Lhari will be showcasing his artwork about Bhutanese street fashion and side by side styling my collection. We are working together as a team to promote Bhutanese fashion in our own different ways,” Chandrika Tamang said.

The Royal Bhutanese Embassy in Canberra, in collaboration with Honorary Consul of Bhutan in Sydney and the Department of  Foreign Affairs and Trade of Australia,  is supporting the two fashion designers.

FOMA is showcasing the cultural diversity of more than 15 local and international artists this year.