Unravel

India/UK, 2012. Director Meghna Gupta. 14min.

We speak about fashion’s effect on the Global South, but rarely do we hear from its inhabitants in their own voice. This short film adds nuance to how we’re often asked to perceive the ‘victims’ of geo-politics. In the Kutch District of western India and the northern city of Panipat, a group of female garment workers assess piles of crystal-studded underwear, froufrou polyester wedding dresses and heavy denim jeans with a mixture of suspicion and wonder. Meghna Gupta’s film follows them as they spend their days unpicking and unravelling tonnes of discarded clothes that arrive from America before they can be recycled back into yarn. It offers a new way of understanding the circularity involved in textile production and becomes a vital conduit for a new kind of gaze. With little exposure to Western culture, the workers rely on their imaginations to construct a vivid picture of the West and its people. Gupta deftly inverts the colonial gaze and reminds us that clothes are a kind of inedible costume. 

Past screenings

Grounded: Fashion’s Entanglements with Nature – UK Tour
Saturday 6 September 2025, 15:00 | Watershed, Bristol
Presented as a part of the programme ‘Ready-to-Wear Landscapes’.