Recently at Mahatma Mandir in Gandhinagar, Textile India 2017 shed light on ‘Make in India’ initiative. So, without digressing much, I’d like to highlight ‘Made by an Indian’ who chooses to use these very same rich woven fabrics on foreign soil.
Handcrafted leather ‘juttis’- an alternate to ballet flats. Incredibly comfortable cushioned sole in vibrant prints; aptly named Fizzy Goblet as it infuses colour in our lives through the goblet shaped shoe, creating a fizz due to their creativity and ingenuity, everywhere you go.
Traversing through the narrow lanes of Shahpur Jat, Delhi’s urban village, I found an old restored haveli as Lila’s studio- a design outfit set up in late 2011 by an architect; minimalistic in appearance as well rich in craftsmanship. Drawing inspiration from contemporary Indian design aesthetics, the brand is an effort to simplify our rich visual culture.
Happy Lohri and Makar Sankranti everybody…… celebrations of these winter festivals gave me a reason to write about a niche brand in wraps and shawls Kashmir Loom; a creation of Jenny Housego and her Kashmiri partner Asaf Ali together with his brothers in Srinagar. Their “Lena cashmere” (commercially known as Pashmina) from the changra goats found only in the high altitudes of Tibet and Ladhak,as soft as a baby’s skin, is wooing the hearts of plenty world over. Their luxurious wraps, shawls, stoles, scarves and capes are handcombed, handspun, handwoven and hand embroidered in Kashmir by local women on the traditional “charkha”– hand wheel spin; finally endorsed with their Farsi logo.
