Textile Swatches

Making of our Textiles: A visit to the Dyer

We are in the midst of getting our new collection 'Bombay Glitz' ready for launch.

One of our new fabrics-  Colaba, is a handmade clamp dye. More to come on this process in the next post.

We went to visit the dyer in an old part of Bangalore while making the prototypes. Here are some images of what we saw along the way...

This was the entrance to the street. A beautiful archway made of flowers and plantain leaves. Probably a wedding or celebration in the community. And we captured a flower vendor entering the street!

Each home had beautiful Rangoli designs hand drawn at their entrance.

We encountered these calves!

The things we take for granted. Water is in short supply and running water is not a given for most people. So we saw their matkas and buckets waiting to be filled when water does come in the neighborhood tap.

Patterned and brightly colored buildings.

 

CHANEL Paris-Bombay Pre Fall 2012

'The mix of English chic with Indian influence is something very elegant', Karl Lagerfeld when explaining the idea behind his Paris-Bombay Metiers d'Art 2011/12 shown earlier this week at the Grand Palais in Paris.

The Metiers d'Art show is Chanel's annual show that is a tribute to the gifted craftspeople that produce the amazing workmanship apparent in Chanel products. In 1997 Chanel acquired 7 craft workshops or ateliers including- Maison Desrues (buttonmakers), Maison Lemarie (feathers and plumage), Lesage (embroidery), Massaro (couture shoemaker), MaisonMichel (hatmakers), Goossens (jewellers) and Guillet (floral presentations).

The collection exemplified the elegance and savoir faire of Parisian fashion and Chanel's ateliers combined with the rich, artisanal works of India. Combinations of classic Chanel tweed jackets with Nehru collars with raw silk tunics; metallic evening gowns cut to look like saris and Parisian tailoring all heavily decorated with intricate embroidery. The collection displayed true qualities of design and craftsmanship.

Here's a short video of the atelier of embroidery Lesage and button-maker Desrues working on the Paris-Bombay collection.

 

While in New York

Last week walking around the streets of SoHo in New York, I came across the very fun windows of the store and cafe, Nespresso on Mercer and Prince streets. They were created by Indian designer Manish Arora. Manish is best known for his flamboyant, avant garde and fantastical designs in vivid colors.

The windows are intricately detailed- embellished in sequence, glitter and embroidery. They feature skyscrapers, Lady Liberty, taxicabs and the best of art deco NY.

Manish has recently taken the helm as creative director of womenswear at, Franco-Spanish brand, Paco Rabanne. His first collection for Spring-Summer 2012 will show in Paris in October 2011... stay tuned!

To learn more about the designer, check out his website here

ALETA artisan fabrics for Interior Design

Aleta Bartel-Orton, a Canadian living in London, founded her fabric company Aleta in 2003. She is best known for specializing in fabrics inspired by the decorative arts of 17th century Mughal India, from the finest reproductions of ancient textiles to contemporary reinterpretations of classic motifs. The 'Aleta' line consists of 100% natural fiber fabrics- cottons and linens and is manufactured in England. 

                        

                                                

In addition she distributes the renowned block printed floral textiles of Brigitte Singh and she has a specialty paint collection with bespoke paint company- Francesca's Paint. The colors coordinate with Aleta's fabric collection. Colors such as Mughal Spring, Indian Summer and Monsoon Rains.

  

Hand Block Printing

One of my favorite textile processes of applying a pattern onto a surface of cloth is Hand Block printing. It is a process where one repeat of the design's motif is carved by hand on teak wood blocks. It can take up to 80 hours to carve a single block. The fabric to be printed is stretched across a large wooden table. The printmaker applies dye to the carved block and then stamps it on to the fabric, repeating the process across the entire cloth. Patterns generally require multiple colors, which are applied one at a time, using a different block for each color. Block printing requires precision. A printer must know exactly where to place the blocks so that he does not break the continuity of the design. Registration marks are used to help align the patterns. Because it's all handcrafted, no two pieces will be exactly like each other.

Some of my favorite blockprint resources are-

Galbraith and Paul handcrafted in Philadelphia. Fun, contemporary designs.

Muriel Brandolini- a collection of fabrics by this New York based French-Vietnamese interior designer. Produced in Jaipur, India. Beautiful, saturated colors.

 

John Robshaw produces textiles and home furnishings in South East Asia. Traditional prints in refreshing colors.

 

Anokhi based in Jaipur, India... has been block printing for 30+ years. They do clothing and home furnishings. Anokhi has about 20 retail stores in all the major cities of India.

 

Anokhi has a great museum in Amber, Rajasthan, depicting the blockprint process. I was lucky to tour the museum a couple of years ago when it first opened.

Here is a link to a video tour of the museum (2:38)

Lastly... my first collection has been created using handblock printing combined with other processes... will keep you posted on the launch!

Anek Taanka... infinite stitches

Anek Taanka means infinite stitches and is run by Varsha Sharma, based in Ahmedabad, India. They do a line of home furnishings and textile wall art- all based on embroidery and stitching- using traditional motifs and skills with a contemporary twist. 

I particularly like the fun playfulness of colors and motifs.