Strategies for designer engagement with artisans

Fashion Colloquia, 2020

Contemporary conversations on design integration in the craft sector are focused on collaborations between the craftsperson and designer. The paper analyses the strategies employed by designers to engage effectively with artisans while ensuring that they are mindful to the artisans needs while running enterprises, which are economically viable. National Institute of Fashion Technology, a knowledge partner for the USTTAD scheme of the Ministry of Minority Affairs, Government of India, is implementing the USTTAD project. The paper illustrates strategies employed by designers during workshops conducted by them, which are detailed and reflected on. Some of the strategies of engagement that emerge are co-design; developing empathy; building sustainable relationships and understanding the market, craft and product.

Connecting and Building Craft CommunitieS

Fashion Futures, 2018

The story of the maker and the craft adds an intangible value to the product and makes it unique and very desirable to the customer.Using craft as a thread between the designer, artisan and the market is an important approach for building communities and can lead to positive social and economic impact for the artisan and the craft sector. 

An industry audit of two online brands – Matter Prints and IOU Project – that are working with handmade textiles from India is done for this study. Apart from an excellent product idea, the core component of these brands are community building through transparency, an eco friendly approach, fair wages, responsible sourcing and a strong value system for society and stakeholders.

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INDIAN IKAT IN FASHION

Ikat - Ties that bind, World Craft Council, 2017

Contemporary ikat textiles of Telangana produced in India have been adapted in appearance and usage for a continued popularity. An attempt is made to analyse and understand the factors important for a textile to be used in the fashion industry. One of the reasons that Ikats of the region are flourishing in the fashion scenario today has been the ability of the weavers in the region to adapt and innovate for the evolving needs of the fashion business. There is a wave of revival in Indian fashion and all stories are leaning towards revivalism. 

CO-DESIGN STRATEGIES: DESIGN EDUCATION FOR CHIKANKARI CRAFTS WOMEN

Rediscovering culture: Transforming Fashion. New Delhi: National Institute of Fashion Technology, 2018
Co-Authored with Jaspal Kalra

The challenges faced by craftswomen in Chikankari and the impact of design education is studied for re-positioning craftswomen as co-creators of high valued innovations. This which would earn them recognition and would lead to their empowerment. The interaction of Chikankari craftswomen with designers, craft experts, design academicians and buyers during and post completion of design education has led development of various co-design strategies. The designer and craftswomen co-design partnership as a tool for knowledge sharing during the education programme formulated the first strategy. The design empowered craftswomen’s interaction with other embroiderers created second strategy of co-design. The third strategy was formal and informal association of craftswomen with a designer to co-create Chikankari products. 

IMPACT OF FAIR TRADE ON LIVES OF WOMEN ARTISANS

Rediscovering culture: Transforming Fashion. New Delhi: National Institute of Fashion Technology, 2018

Fair trade is considered as a business model that generates and delivers value with a socially conscious approach. The role of fair trade in development and sustenance of artisans working with handicrafts in different parts of India is well recognised. 

Impact of adoption of fair trade practices by Sadhna, a craft based organisation in Udaipur, Rajasthan and the role of fair trade in enhancement of skills, economic sustainability and overall well-being of women artisans who are engaged in hand work such as embroidery and stitching is analysed through this study. 

NAMVALI TEXTILES OF RAJASTHAN: CULTURE AND COUNTERCULTURE

16th Biennial TSA; The Social Fabric: Deep Local to Pan Global, 2018

Namvali literally means an object, which is inscribed with a name. These names were often religious in nature and in the context of textiles could be printed, painted, woven or embroidered. They were considered sacred and used during the Hindu worship ceremony as offerings to the deities along with other ritualistic products. In different forms they became an integral part of the Hippie movement and were used as an expression for counterculture in the 60’s and 70’s.From the artisan who carved the block, to the printer and finally the end user these textiles were considered to be a medium for devotion.

The Interplay of Fashion and Culture: The role of designers in Bollywood Films since 1950

International Conference on Fashion and Textiles, 2015
Co-Authored with Vandana Jaglan

The film industry-Bollywood- in India is one of the biggest and oldest in the world in terms of production and viewership. Designers, with formal design education, started doing costume production by the 1950s. Neeta Lulla, Manish Malhotra, Sabyasachi Mukherjee are some designers who have maintained independent fashion careers along with their costume design assignments in films.

Zero Waste Fashion: A Field Research on Design with Chikankari Artisans

Cumulus: in a planet of our own. Mumbai: IDC, IIT Bombay Publications, 2015
Co-Authored with Jaspal Kalra

Indian traditional garment use fabric optimally and many variations exist within the dresses of different regions. Zero waste fashion which focuses on creating garments with little or no textile waste is in sync with this.Traditional linear cutting methods of India were near zero waste, as geometric pieces were used, leaving no negative space around the patterns.

The synthesis and experimentation of Incision Cutting technique, its sustainability and adaptability to Chikankari, as reported during the ten-day modular workshop based on this technique for artisans in Lucknow is discussed here.

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Fashioning Tradition for Iconic Business

International Foundation of Fashion Technology Institutes, 2013

In a world of excesses, rapid globalization and fleeting fashions, several iconic fashion businesses have chosen to reinvent conventional notions of luxury, trends and fashion by going back to their heritage. By creating fashion that honors the past yet breathes in the future, they are selling more than just a product – they are selling a story, a legacy and ultimately, authenticity.

Operating a business while crusading the cause of tradition has made for a thriving business model for the fashion brand – ‘Sabyasachi’. The design philosophy and focus on India’s supremacy in crafts and its longstanding traditions is reiterated time and again in the collections presented and in all public communication. 

Languishing Crafts of India

BIFT-ITAA Joint Symposium, 2012

A research project was undertaken for the purpose of defining the parameters of a craft, which is languishing, and to study 30 crafts in India, which belong to this category to enable accurate classification of such crafts. An exploratory approach was adopted for the study, which was done across six regions in India - North, South, East, North-East, West and Central India. 

Many of the crafts studied had deteriorated in terms of raw materials used and quality of processes and products. Only a few artisans were practicing some of the crafts. A detailed analysis of data obtained from studying all the crafts was done and parameters were formulated which define a languishing craft.

TALE OF THE PHAD

10th Biennial TSA; Textile Narratives and Conversations, 2006

Decorative cloth has been used in India to portray folk epics as a means of entertainment and as a substitute for theater and other types of performing arts. The paper describes the making of the phad and  discusses the itinerant storytellers, known as Bhopas, who use the Phad, pigment painted large rectangular cloth scroll, in,Rajasthan, western India. The word phad is possibly derived from the Sanskrit word patt, a flat surface for painting. 

The phad performance transmits the religious ideals and provides entertainment to the spectators. These recitations are considered auspicious and sing of the triumph of good over evil and allegedly prevent disease and misfortune for the listener of the tale.These narrators play a role in preserving and continuing a tradition as they move from place to place and link communities together. 

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EMERGING TRENDS IN BLOCK PRINTING

World Eco-Fiber & Textile (WEFT) Forum, 2006

Literary evidence from the 5th century mentions the usage of coloured and patterned cloth in India. Block printing is a popular hand printing technique, which is employed to create unique design on small yardages. Emerging trends in block printing are presented through this paper.