Experiences only help one refine their artistic and creative practice. However, for Sheikh Sarai-based textile designer Riddhi Jain (33), observing her mother a Kolkata-based “self-taught designer who majorly works in the field of traditional bandhani and bridalwear” work with artisans, and accompanying her to craft clusters helped Jain “generate an interest in fashion and textile” at an early age.
However, it was while pursuing her bachelor’s degree in fashion design at the National Institute of Fashion Technology, Kolkata that Jain realised how intrigued she was by textiles.
“I was deeply intrigued by materiality,” she shares, adding, “and by the fact that textiles are so sensorial; there is so much that you can do. I also used to feel that it [textiles] is unexplored when it comes to designing garments.”
This curiosity prodded her in taking up a master’s in textile design at the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad. Eventually, Jain launched Studio Medium— apparel and home textile design studio with both workshop and studio in Neb Sarai, in 2016.
Tactile explorations
Given how she’s always been drawn toward materiality, ‘Medium’ definitely seems like an apt name for her studio. Jain elaborates, “I have been intrigued by touch and tactility. Before this, I was working with clay, and I worked with paper.
So, I wanted the studio name to be open-ended; one that talks about mediums, explorations in mediums, and materiality in general.” Adding to the explanation, she divulges how she plans to launch a home decor range in December.
Explaining how the decor range (yet to be priced but will probably be between Rs 3,000 and Rs 10,000) will go beyond textiles, she shares, “It is clay-based; it is paper-based; etc. I always saw our work evolve in that manner.”
Textiles lead the way
Browse through Jain’s social media pages, and you will notice how her visual imagery is nothing like the series of identikit impressions you notice in contemporary sartorial labels online. Textiles (mainly jamdani and bandhani) and hues (through multiple Shibori techniques) come to the fore.
There is also a knack for experimentation—as is evident in the hands-free sari, a shibori experiment of “about over a year” that started from a sleeve to a cape and eventually metamorphosed into a sari; and in her collection ‘Jamban’ (jamdani and bandhani). In addition, there’s a clear vision for sustainability. Jain will be showcasing zero-waste collections ‘Bor(r)o(w)’—they work with textile cut-pieces that come out of their design process; and ‘Re-’—they work with the thread discards that comes out of their bandhani processes; at Vienna Fashion Week on September 14.
Mentioning that moving to natural dyes completely (right now they also use azo-free dyes) is just one of the many ways she plans to move forward. Jain concludes, “I think one of the most important things that I would like to do is to open the doors to other studios to send us their scraps and discards and be able to produce textiles that are aesthetically beautiful.”