‘People in Chennai value and understand craft’

Next year I will complete three decades in the fashion industry and have always veered towards textiles and natural fibres. When I entered the industry in 1987 handloom was not really in vogue and embellishments like zardozi and chikankari were prevalent. But I being a textile person wanted to focus more on it and worked towards making the weaving on the textile itself an embellishment. 

I have always loved kalamkari because of its organic nature and the figurative motifs. Ikkat has so much diversity. There are three regions within India that have different varieties of ikkat and then there is ikkat from Indonesia, Guatemala and other countries. I love blending all these varieties and working on them. 

I realised at the beginning of my career that for the textile industry to retain its supremacy in urban markets, the key was to contemporise textiles while being true to tradition. This meant relying on the dexterous skills of master weavers, whose craft has been handed down to them through generations. I work closely with them for years now. 

People in Chennai value craft and understand it well. Unlike cities like Delhi and Mumbai where fashion has become more westernised, Chennaiites are drawn towards the traditional textiles and flaunt them with elan.