DESIGNER SPOTLIGHT
environment with all their senses and heart, and
have had many interesting responses to this
approach!” One such response was a surprising
suggestion from a weaver named Govind, who,
when bathing in a river, was mesmerised by the
effect of the reflection of the clouds on the waters
that created an undulating pattern. He later told
Gunjan that he wished to recreate the effect in an
ikat weave with tussar yarns. Gunjan was taken
aback upon hearing this as weaving with tussar is
difficult in itself, and to create an ikat sari with the
said pattern would be all the more challenging.
Yet, Gunjan asked him to go ahead. After
five years of undying effort, the result was an
extremely eye-catching sari, aptly named ‘Badal’
(clouds), which has been rendered in multiple
versions since the pioneering piece. “This goes
on to show that if we encourage them, they will
blossom,” Gunjan says.
FUSING TECHNIQUES
To build on time-honoured traditions, Gunjan has
continually thought of melding age-old techniques
with newer ones. One such experiment was
fusing the Japanese hand-stitched shibori
technique with tussar jala-weaving. Inspired
by the work of American textile artist
hibori
Catherine Ellis, Gunjan crafted shibori
m,
pieces using the Odisha jala loom,
and the result was an instant hit.
The textiles featured beautiful
shibori patterns in vivid colours,
combined with fish motifs, which
h
were indicative of the vast
coastline of Odisha.
A heartwarming
amalgamation of cultures is
manifest in Gunjan’s latest
TO BUILD ON TIME-
HONOURED TRADITIONS,
GUNJAN HAS CONTINUALLY
THOUGHT OF MELDING
AGE-OLD TECHNIQUES WITH
NEWER ONES.
collection, titled Bali Jatra, named after the Bali
Jatra festival in Odisha that commemorates the
state’s ancient seafarers who sailed to Southeast
Asian regions. In doing so, it links the shared
textile traditions (especially of ikat) of all these
regions.
After extensive research on the motifs,
patterns, colours, and references of textiles
that were traded during that period, Vriksh's
new collection was developed. “The Bali Jatra
collection offers a contemporary twist born out
of this beautiful cultural exchange, reflecting
distinct characteristics from every region. It is
a combination of Odisha’s curvilinear ikats with
subtle hints of Andhra’s chintz, Indonesia's
spiralling layouts, Laos
Laos’s extra-weft
patterns, and Thaila
Thailand's beguiling
colour p
palette. It is an
explosive
explos amalgamation
of vari
various design
v
vocabularies,
combined
with innovative
ideas, all
hand
handwoven
in
silk, Gunjain says,
silk,”
sum
summing
it up.
APPAREL
I
December 2019
I
67