Interview with Fashion Designer Payal Jain

YOUR VIEWS

Recognizing the role traditional handlooms and designs play in contemporary fashion, in January we started a series of interviews with fashion designers. We ask a set of questions to which the designers send their responses. We will intersperse these with interviews with the crafts persons to get both sides of the process being examined.

As a designer do you employ craft techniques and processes in your art? Yes, I work primarily with Indian crafts & textiles. Which crafts have you worked with? In Embroidery I work with Chikankari, Zardozi, Tanka, Suf, Kantha, Rabari, Kashmiri, Resham, Daraz, Parsi and Mokaish on leather. The craft processes I employ are Daboo printing, Bandhini, Shibori, Sanganer block vegetable printing, Block batik, Ikat, Brocade, Jamdani and Tanchoi.

Do you employ crafts persons or do you work through commissions? We work directly with craft persons or with NGO's which coordinate with craft persons. We never work through commissions. Do you give them the designs or do you work with the existing traditions and then modify them within your creations? We do almost always give them designs as far as possible. We also ...