Thread Bare

So,how does an accomplished fashion-designer duo deal with waste threads generated by their textile factory? Designers Gunjan Arora and Rahul Jain tried using the threads for embroidery but in vain. After mulling over various possibilities,they assembled the threads in a fashion peculiar to them,and the result was a work of art,which the duo displayed in the city at an exhibition titled “Threadarte” at Malaka Spice. “The works are made from threads sourced from different locations,but they largely comprise threads dismissed as waste by our factory,” says Arora,adding,“Therefore,we thought we could make something out of the waste and the result was this fabric we created.”

The fabric in question is a network of threads. “We started experimenting with threads in 2004. And within a couple of years,we had created something new,” recalls Arora,adding,“So,in 2006,we got the fabric we had created patented.” The process of creating the fabric is interesting too. “This mesh of threads has got no base. We trace the pattern we want to work with onto a table top or the floor. We then proceed with placing different shades of threads in their respective positions on the design,” says Arora.

But the final stage is quite tedious. “Each individual strand of thread is knotted to the other and the yield of labour is this patterned fabric we get.”

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As fashion designers,their first impulse was to craft apparel out of the cloth. “We started crafting clothing,stoles and scarves out of our creation,which did well. But soon I noticed that patrons started hanging them on walls or on windows like an artwork. I think that can be attributed to the abstract patterns we work with,” says Arora.

The duo had struck upon gold. “We then began looking inwards for the designs we wanted to work with. We didn’t want to borrow popular symbols and motifs,so we began relying on inward journeys to devise the abstract patterns,” says Arora,who plans on restricting the technique to achieving artistic ends. “We don’t plan on crafting couture — partly because incorporating art into fashion is often considered as trivialisation of the former by art puritans,” says Arora.