Ethnic Chic

It was about two years ago that Shani Himanshu and Smita Singh Rathore first visited the rural pockets in Kutch,Gujarat. The time that these designers spent in observing the craftspeople at work was such an eye-opener for them that it changed the course of their fashion label,11: 11. “We have always wanted to further the cause of sustainability and we have never really looked at fashion from a seasonal perspective. So,it made sense for us to feature the work of these people in a contemporary way,” says Rathore.

The collections that followed the trip drew liberally from the Kutch craftsmanship. Their fourth and latest instalment in this design story — titled “On the road/ Into the wind” — was launched at the Mumbai store Atosa last week. This too,celebrates the association beautifully. “We have been working with bandhini for some time now. This time around,we have fused both bandhini and jamdani with block printing and dyeing techniques of marbling on silks and khadi. So there are several layers of workmanship on show,” says Rathore. The colours used are vegetable dyes,with pastel shades of rust,green,pink and grey dominating the line. The silhouettes are easy,flowing and wearable — with flared trousers,jumpsuits,shirts,drapes and dresses making up the collection.

A Delhi-based label,11: 11 was launched by Himashu and Rathore — founders of the design collective CellDESGN — in 2008. The label has since grown and showcased at several international platforms,including the 2012 exhibition “India: Fashion Now” at ARKEN Museum of Modern Art,Denmark. Their last big event in Mumbai,however,was in 2010 when they showed at the Lakme Fashion Week. Rathore stresses that it’s part of their conscious decision to maintain a distance from the hype that often comes with the territory of fashion. She adds that what she is keen to highlight is how the label makes handcrafted clothing — right from the shearing of fibres to weaving,vegetable dyeing,constructing and detailing. And if that is not enough,recycling is also on their priority list.

“We value our fabrics and from that thought stemmed our idea of using leftover fabric scrap to make accessories,including bags. There are some bags in this line and more such items in the autumn/ winter collection that Himanshu will present at the Tranoi trade fair in Paris this month,” Rathore says.