Dressmaker Deepika Govind says her entry into the world of trend was fairly unintentional. “I by no means deliberate it. I did my Masters in Economics, and wished to affix the civil companies. It was whereas getting ready for the civils that I heard a couple of design contest being held by the Nationwide Institute of Know-how (NIFT), Bangalore.”
The Bengaluru-based designer just lately got here up with the gathering Fragile Flyers, whichcelebrates the fragile fantastic thing about sustainable materials by way of daring threadwork embroidery.
Crafted from materials woven in affiliation with TENCEL™ Luxe, the biodegradable fibre is derived from sustainably sourced wooden pulp. “The fragility of the material impressed me to maintain the colors pure. A fragile, fairy-like look resonates all through the gathering.”
Saris are the centerpiece of her assortment with female flouncy tops and blouses that may be paired with high-waisted, wide-leg trousers. Like all her collections, Deepika blends sustainability with Indian craftsmanship to create items which might be timeless and but exude modernity.
One sew at a time
“I used to do a number of stitching and tailoring — my mom had made certain I learnt these expertise as a woman. On a whim, I participated within the contest and fell in love with it.”
Deepika Govind
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Particular Association
For the competition, Deepika created a set impressed by Mesopotamian tradition, “The entire course of was lovely and fascinating; studying about that tradition, their technique of design, the motifs. It was additionally fairly a humbling expertise — once you meet the weavers and tailors, you be taught concerning the quantity of labor that goes into creating a set.”
Collaborating within the contest made her realise how designing was her calling. “As a younger lady I used to get pleasure from making outfits and jewelry for my mates. I at all times had that modern spirit, so it got here naturally to me.”
Ever since she began out, Deepika fell in love with Indian craftsmanship and weaving methods, which clearly displays in her collections. “My tryst with handloom started in 1999, as I watched a weaver use a double treadle loom, creating layered materials with checks. Dyeing it proper there in pure indigo and dealing with an artiste to create hand-painted kalamkari, was the beginning of my ardour for weaving.”
Deepika has since experimented with totally different Indian materials and patterns. “The 2000s introduced the joy of working with Khadi blended with one other pure fibre known as Tencel, to create a cosmopolitan material which was later showcased on the 2001 Lakme Trend Week.”
From Deepika Govind’s sustainable trend assortment
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Particular Association
Her 2012 Lakme Trend Week assortment, titled Pop Patola,was a monumental one. Patola is a double ikat handwoven textile that originates from Patan, a metropolis in Gujarat. “It was such an astounding expertise, I even travelled to inside Gujarat at the moment and a number of my work was impressed by the intricate jali darwazas (latticework home windows).”
Deepika has been an enormous advocate for sustainability; for her 2011 assortment titled Eri the Peace Silk: A Traveller’s Assortment, she used softened coarse Eri silk, an eco-fibre the place the silkworm is just not killed, to create a line of stoles, shawls and saris.
Tales from the bottom
Whereas her collections replicate Indian craftsmanship, Deepika believes there may be at all times a narrative behind her collections, tales which might be nothing lower than adventures. “After I went see the Muga silk cocoon farms and weaving centres in Udalguri, a small district in Assam, I used to be shocked to search out myself in a farm the place ULFA members had simply surrendered and plans for his or her rehabilitation had been being mentioned by the officers.”
“One other time, I used to be visiting Eri weaving centres in Kokrajar, Bodoland. We had been on our option to Kokrajhar when insurgent teams stopped the practice we had been on, and everybody needed to stroll to search out alternate transport.”
From Deepika Govind’s sustainable trend assortment
| Photograph Credit score:
Particular Association
Whereas some incidents could be unnerving, Deepika has pleasant ones too. “I get pleasure from my journeys to Gujarat the place I can journey whilst late as 12pm. I stayed at my weavers’ properties whereas creating the Pop Patola assortment and have been part of their features.”
Nevertheless, many conventional practices are fading into obscurity, with the inflow of modernisation. Whereas there was some revival in current occasions, quite a few crafts are on the point of extinction. “In some households, the subsequent technology don’t wish to take up this conventional work; they’d quite work blue collar jobs than take up this craft as they really feel there’s a lack of respect and earnings on this line of labor,” says Deepika.
Regardless of the poor press, one piece of recommendation she provides aspiring designers is, “Consider in your creativity. You should bear in mind there’s a marketplace for each inventive expression — determine these markets and pursue them persistently.”
From Deepika Govind’s sustainable trend assortment
| Photograph Credit score:
Particular Association
Printed – January 07, 2025 12:31 pm IST
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