Monday, February 23, 2009
Monday, December 29, 2008
Regularly blogging is obviously never going to be my thing! So i'm going to do a brief overview of our visits to each city and the kind of people we met, and experiences we had.
Continuing our stay in Delhi we visited renowned designer David Abraham of 'Abraham and Thakore' (see image below) who creates clothing and furnishings mainly in cottons and silks using lots of indigo colours and subtle hand appliqued and embellished techniques, followed by Sanchit at 'Sarita Couture house' who makes incredibly ornate wedding sari's and dresses as well as producing garments for other designers via his own factories. Sanchit is a fellow young entrepreneur having taken over the business from his father and grown the business. Next we visited Gaurav Gupta a creative textile designer who focuses on experimental scarves and trend forcasting, and works with a couple of highly skilled weavers to create his designs. His studio set up is lovely set in a creative collective with other creatives including potters and furniture makers. They also have a great showroom, displaying work from all of the studios. During the trip to India we were surprised by just how many people export and supply to UK companies, particularly Conran and Habitat when it came to furnishings.
Another day in Delhi included a visit to Sunil Sethi (President of the fashion design council of India, entrepreneur and promotor of the 'Made in India' mark) and Samant Chauhan (emerging highly regarded fashion designer) where we were greeted with a truly Indian warm welcome, including flower garlands and a welcome candle lighting ceremony which really made us feel special!! It was facinating to hear about Sunil Sethi's entrepreneurial career and great to hear some of his business philosophies. It was inspiring to hear how he went from selling t-shirts and beehives to finally selling his company to a US multinational. He was also very open with offers of support and suggestions for all of us finalists. Samant Chauhan also told us about how he started out and progressed his business as well as showing us through his latest collection. Collaborating with craftspeople from his hometown and area he helps to support people working in villages whilst combining crafts with high tech digital printing, and using raw silk produced without harming the silk worm and without any waste being produced. A modern and truly beautiful collection, he has shown at Indian fashion week as well as Paris fashion week.
A visit to an artists community for lunch and an afternoon of talks was a welcome escape from the hussle and bussle of Delhi, set in an leafy and lawned area with communal buildings nessled amongst the greenery. We met a whole host of artists and designers who all work and share in this artists community. They also help to set up design residency's, exhibitions and help different craftspeaople, artists and designers to collaborate. The people we met included Nitin Bal Chauan, Siddartha Das and Anju Modi as well as many other creatives.
Continuing our stay in Delhi we visited renowned designer David Abraham of 'Abraham and Thakore' (see image below) who creates clothing and furnishings mainly in cottons and silks using lots of indigo colours and subtle hand appliqued and embellished techniques, followed by Sanchit at 'Sarita Couture house' who makes incredibly ornate wedding sari's and dresses as well as producing garments for other designers via his own factories. Sanchit is a fellow young entrepreneur having taken over the business from his father and grown the business. Next we visited Gaurav Gupta a creative textile designer who focuses on experimental scarves and trend forcasting, and works with a couple of highly skilled weavers to create his designs. His studio set up is lovely set in a creative collective with other creatives including potters and furniture makers. They also have a great showroom, displaying work from all of the studios. During the trip to India we were surprised by just how many people export and supply to UK companies, particularly Conran and Habitat when it came to furnishings.
Another day in Delhi included a visit to Sunil Sethi (President of the fashion design council of India, entrepreneur and promotor of the 'Made in India' mark) and Samant Chauhan (emerging highly regarded fashion designer) where we were greeted with a truly Indian warm welcome, including flower garlands and a welcome candle lighting ceremony which really made us feel special!! It was facinating to hear about Sunil Sethi's entrepreneurial career and great to hear some of his business philosophies. It was inspiring to hear how he went from selling t-shirts and beehives to finally selling his company to a US multinational. He was also very open with offers of support and suggestions for all of us finalists. Samant Chauhan also told us about how he started out and progressed his business as well as showing us through his latest collection. Collaborating with craftspeople from his hometown and area he helps to support people working in villages whilst combining crafts with high tech digital printing, and using raw silk produced without harming the silk worm and without any waste being produced. A modern and truly beautiful collection, he has shown at Indian fashion week as well as Paris fashion week.
A visit to an artists community for lunch and an afternoon of talks was a welcome escape from the hussle and bussle of Delhi, set in an leafy and lawned area with communal buildings nessled amongst the greenery. We met a whole host of artists and designers who all work and share in this artists community. They also help to set up design residency's, exhibitions and help different craftspeaople, artists and designers to collaborate. The people we met included Nitin Bal Chauan, Siddartha Das and Anju Modi as well as many other creatives.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Saturday, December 6, 2008
The trip so far........
My blog is starting a little late! We are already a week through our action packed industry tour and it has been non-stop. We have met so many interesting and talented people and everyone has been so incredibly welcoming and helpful. Nothing seams too much trouble and everything seems possible. We have met highly regarded designers, leading industry figures, manufacturers, crafts people, embroiderers, networked with our Indian counterparts from the creative entrepreneur awards, fallen in love with incredible jewels at Jaipur’s Gem Palace, shopped till we dropped at Dilli Haat craft market………and even talked our way into a Bollywood awards ceremony !!!! There is such an incredible fashion industry in India, and therefore so many people to meet, that what little free time we do have we spend in it style!!!
…..rewinding back to the beginning……….
Flying into New Delhi, jumping into the car and driving along their roads was like being thrown in at the deep end! I saw a car ad in the paper with a tag line saying ‘stop thinking, start driving’! That pretty much sums it up. The dust and smog in Delhi is intense and the atmosphere on the streets feels pretty uninspiring. However behind the scenes there are some amazingly talented people, incredible artisan workshops, a wealth of crafts and serene artists colonies that I would never have found by myself.
The first meeting we had was at the Institute of Apparel Management in Gurgaon just outside of New Delhi. After a look around the college and meeting a few students we met with Dr Darlie Koshy, a dynamic person who gave us a great overview of the industry to get us started and was very insightful. After each of we finalists had given a quick introduction about our individual work Dr Koshy gave us each some great advice and contacts to follow up.
Next stop was Dilli Haat an incredible craft market where the crafts people are able to sell their work directly to the public, cutting out the middle man and allowing them to make enough profit so that they can stay in their villages without the need to move to cities and find work. This also ensures the continuation of age old crafts and family traditions. Dhirendra Singh, another fashion entrepreneur, gave us a tour around the market, telling us about these crafts people, many of whom he works with directly. We could have shopped all day but the next meeting was upon us so back in the car and off to the Ministry of Textiles – Handlooms………………………
…..rewinding back to the beginning……….
Flying into New Delhi, jumping into the car and driving along their roads was like being thrown in at the deep end! I saw a car ad in the paper with a tag line saying ‘stop thinking, start driving’! That pretty much sums it up. The dust and smog in Delhi is intense and the atmosphere on the streets feels pretty uninspiring. However behind the scenes there are some amazingly talented people, incredible artisan workshops, a wealth of crafts and serene artists colonies that I would never have found by myself.
The first meeting we had was at the Institute of Apparel Management in Gurgaon just outside of New Delhi. After a look around the college and meeting a few students we met with Dr Darlie Koshy, a dynamic person who gave us a great overview of the industry to get us started and was very insightful. After each of we finalists had given a quick introduction about our individual work Dr Koshy gave us each some great advice and contacts to follow up.
Next stop was Dilli Haat an incredible craft market where the crafts people are able to sell their work directly to the public, cutting out the middle man and allowing them to make enough profit so that they can stay in their villages without the need to move to cities and find work. This also ensures the continuation of age old crafts and family traditions. Dhirendra Singh, another fashion entrepreneur, gave us a tour around the market, telling us about these crafts people, many of whom he works with directly. We could have shopped all day but the next meeting was upon us so back in the car and off to the Ministry of Textiles – Handlooms………………………
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