Interview | Artist Kanika Ranka Adani on finding her calling to customising luxury wearables and more

Artist Kanika Ranka Adani
| Photograph Credit score: Chinmay Shah

On her return to India in 2016, after pursuing a bachelor’s diploma in wonderful arts from the College of the Artwork Institute of Chicago, US, Mumbai-based artist Kanika Ranka Adani labored in a graphic design company, adopted by a stint with a dressmaker. Nonetheless, neither of those professions stood out to her. Whereas Kanika desired to work with “one thing she might paint”, the traditional profession path of artists limiting themselves to artwork collections and reveals didn’t enchantment to her.  

In the end, Kanika’s quest for a distinct segment commerce, which was additionally the proper amalgamation of her love for portray and style with luxurious, resulted within the formation of The Studio Mission. The design agency specialising in luxurious wearables with over 100 purchasers a 12 months, since its formation in 2016, converts objects equivalent to jackets, sneakers, wallets, passport circumstances, skateboards, guitars, luggage and plenty of extra into personalised hand painted designs in accordance with her consumer’s calls for. Amongst her purchasers are celebrities equivalent to Virat Kohli, Nita Ambani, Sonam Kapoor, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Ayushmann Khurana, Dinesh Karthik amongst others. She has additionally labored in collaboration with manufacturers equivalent to Ferragamo, Versace and Dior together with her customisation.

“Individuals have been solely doing initials, stripes and so forth which luxurious shops have been offering. However there was nobody to assist a buyer categorical their creativity on their product. That’s the place I jumped in,” Kanika says. 

The method, Kanika says, includes a continuing backwards and forwards with the consumer, with step one being them reaching out to her with a selected merchandise in thoughts. The article to be painted on is distributed to the artist. It’s photographed and a digital structure of the design with this photograph is distributed to the consumer for approval. As soon as the consumer offers the suggestions and the design is finalised, Kanika units out to color on the merchandise. 

The artist, who believes it’s her position to assist individuals categorical “their persona and elegance” by their luxurious merchandise, affirms that her craft helps them inform their story by the merchandise they already personal. She says, “For instance, if somebody has travelled to 5 locations and so they needed to speak about their story, I assist them create journey stamps on their luggage with their experiences. Or, if somebody has pets, I deliver that facet on that accent.” 

She provides, “It’s a satisfying and humbling course of to have the ability to assist somebody rework one thing they have already got and are excited to make use of it once more, as an alternative of giving it away or shopping for one thing new.”

Nonetheless, Kanika admits that it will get difficult typically to translate the emotion of a consumer, when she has not gone by them herself. She mentions how one among her purchasers complained they might not see the identical twinkle within the eyes of their pet canine within the design. “It will get difficult in these conditions. I ask for extra photos. I speak to them extra. I try to perceive in regards to the relationship they shared and attempt to deliver all of that by the portray.”One other problem she faces is adjusting her artwork with respect to the utility of objects equivalent to skateboards. 

A skateboard designed by Kanika Ranka Adani
| Photograph Credit score:
SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Kanika, who has labored with Virat Kohli twice says, “They‘re iconic figures and we see them from such a distance after which whenever you get to work with them it’s a positively an expertise.” The artist created over 40 designs for Virat’s Louis Vuitton leather-based duffel bag, earlier than he picked one with olive inexperienced and brown brush strokes on the perimeters of the bag. She remembers, “It was a traditional bag, however he needed to deliver a twist to it. We interacted for a few month and a half earlier than we finalised the design and I feel he actually favored it.” Kanika has additionally designed the passport circumstances for Virat Kohli, his spouse and actress Anushka Sharma and their daughter Vamika Kohli. 

Bag designed for Virat Kohli by Kanika Ranka Adani
| Photograph Credit score:
SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Kanika Ranka Adani’s passport circumstances for Virat Kohli, Anushka Sharma and Vamika Kohli
| Photograph Credit score:
SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Kanika was enrolled into weekend artwork courses when she was at school by her dad and mom once they observed her penchant for artwork and craft. Later, throughout her days in Chicago, she was uncovered to artwork on an “interdisciplinary stage”. She factors out how she couldn’t restrict herself to only portray, sculpture or glassblowing however needed to do a mixture of every part for 4 years. The artist says, “The college and the services there helped me harness this ability of pondering out of the field and creating work on surfaces that individuals won’t often create on.” 

“I used to all the time say I’m majoring in experimentation,” she provides. 

Shifting ahead, Kanika says, “I need to continue learning and rising as an artist,” whereas expressing her want to deliver out her personal vary of merchandise sooner or later.