DESIGNER SPOTLIGHT
DESIGN DERIVATIVES
After studying fashion design, Gunjan started
working at an export house. However, she
was not fulfilled by her work as a designer, and
found the process “mechanical and increasingly
divorced from human experience”. Drawn by
the beauty of the textile heritage of Odisha, she
decided to set up a base in Bhubaneswar and
travel across the state to collaborate with textile
artisans and weavers with a view to preserve and
revive their traditions.
“The move and travel led me to appreciate
culture in all its facets as I experienced the
collective spirit of the community—the culture,
crafts, and people—which created a solid
foundation in textile-creation. These weavers
became my gurus. As I met weavers and saw
their skills, I made a switch from fashion to
textiles. It meant de-learning a lot and then
picking up new ideas,” says Gunjan.
A CAREFUL PROGRESSION
Eventually, Gunjan established Vriksh, a design
studio in Bhubaneswar, working solely with
handloom weavers and artisans, to craft
ft textiles
with a contemporary aesthetic. She aimed
med to
achieve this by reinterpreting traditional des
designs
sig
gns
in a way that they retained their original value,
yet added a fresh perspective to each piece.
Since the founding of the studio, Gunjan
njan
has been researching and travelling
extensively, and collaborating with
textile artisans and handloom weavers.
She has primarily been working with two
o
traditional textile techniques, namely ikat-
at-
and jala-weaving. The harmonious meeting
ting
GUNJAN ESTABLISHED
VRIKSH, A DESIGN STUDIO IN
BHUBANESWAR, WORKING
SOLELY WITH HANDLOOM
WEAVERS AND ARTISANS.
of the designer’s inputs and artisans’ skills, of
tradition and design, has resulted in exquisite
textiles that showcase the treasured textile
heritage of the state. Whenever possible, Gunjan
has been using natural dyes—pink from lac, rust
from manjistha (madder), golden-yellow from
palash flowers and jackfruit barks, and brown
from catechu.
Gunjan works with weavers (both women
and men) in villages across Odisha. As weaving
typically involves many members of the family—
with each working on different aspects of
the p
process including
APPAREL
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December 2019
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