Abdul Majid Apparel

Design

“I am an artist by blood and profession both,” says Abdul Majid, who learned block printing and textile design from his father, Abdul Rashid. Their family has practiced these arts for more than 300 years. Abdul is well-known for his striking block designs, sophisticated color palettes and modern clothing silhouettes.

Abduljabbar Khatri, Abdullah Khatri | SIDR Craft

Apparel

Women’s Empowerment

SIDR Craft is a social, artisan-based enterprise established in 1992 and led by Abdullah and Abduljabbar Khatri. They employ approximately 200 craftswomen from eight villages in Kutch. Their handcrafted bandhani

scarves and shawls are composed of highly intricate patterns. No two are the same.

Adil M. Khatri Somaiya Kala Vidya Apparel

Bandhani is a tie-dye technique practiced in Gujarat and Rajasthan. The city of Kutch is the center of its production. “I think anything can be done in bandhani,” says Adil Khatri, who creates his designs along with his wife, Zakiya. “We Khatris are dyers. Traditionally, we all did block printing, batik, and bandhani — three forms of resist dyeing. . . . Taking these as bases, we add new ideas to take our art forward.”

Adiv Pure Nature Textiles

Environmental Sustainability In Mumbai, time-honored methods of producing natural dyes for vibrant Indian silks and cottons were replaced with the ease of using chemical colorants. In 2008, however, Rupa Trivedi, an ultrasonic engineer, set out to reclaim the power of natural plants and flowers with Adiv Pure Nature. Now, Adiv’s hand-dyeing team creates exquisite, naturally dyed fabrics for scarves, garments, jewelry and more.

Anuradha Kuli Pegu Naturally Anuradha Apparel

Women’s Empowerment

The handwoven and naturally dyed textiles that form the basis of the Naturally Anuradha collection of shawls and pillow covers have origins dating back hundreds of years, to the Ahom Dynasty in Assam. More than 60 artisans work together as a family to craft the intricate materials.

Asif Shaikh Apparel

Innovation and Cultural Preservation - Evolving

Employing strikingly elegant designs and meticulously crafted materials, master textile artist Asif Shaikh’s has earned numerous accolades. He has a highly refined sense of aesthetics, with a keen desire for detail and design, and a desire to learn both traditional and contemporary weaving techniques. His creations include fantastically patterned, vividly colored shawls, scarves and wraps, along with other accessories.

Avani Earthcraft Apparel

Environmental Sustainability

Avani Earthcraft was founded in 1997 by Rashmi Bharti. For more than 20 years, Avani has been reviving traditional textiles, many from the Shauka community, a nomadic group known for thulma. Today, Avani Earthcraft works hard to preserve this and other traditional styles while introducing new economically and environmentally responsible products and harvesting natural dyes from local plants.

Dinesh Vishram Siju Textiles for Home

Environmental Sustainability

The Meghwal Marwada community practices weaving art in Kutch, a center of traditional craftsmanship in India. The weavers are known as vankars. To create new concepts in weaving, Dinesh Vishram Siju imagined bedspreads inspired by the shoulder wraps of his ancestors.

Durgabai Vyam, Sarita Dhurve, Rajendra Shyam, Raju Maravi Gaia Tree

2D Art

Durgabai Vyam is one of the foremost artists in Bhopal, creating art in the tribal Gond tradition. Rajendra Shyam’s art is inspired by tales of the Gond tribe that his family shared with him as a child. Each painting is an expression of religious sentiments and iconography, with horses, elephants, tigers, gods and objects of daily life painted in multicolored hues.

Dwaraka Plus Textiles

Environmental Sustainability

Anita Reddy and her father, Dwaraknath Reddy, founded the not-for-profit, artisan-owned Dwaraka (Development of Weavers and Rural Artisans in Kalamkari

Art) in 1998. The artists are experts in the ancient traditional form of kalamkari, a medium native to both Iran and India that involves painting fabric by hand. Historically, textiles are covered with images, from the simple — such as stylized floral motifs and embellished bands or stripes of color — to the highly complex, such as depictions of deities or mythological characters.

Ereena by Jyoti Reddy Apparel

Innovation and Design

The Hyderabad-based collective Ereena makes strikingly beautiful textiles. Using a type of silk called eri, the group produces luxurious, sophisticated items suitable for a range of uses. Additionally, Ereena has provided steady work and income to thousands of talented artisans since its inception while also renewing interest in an age-old artistic technique.

Firdose Ahmad Jan Apparel

The sumptuous textiles of master weaver Firdose Ahmad Jan are beloved for their exquisite patterning and unparalleled softness. Extending a centuries-old artistic tradition,

Jan, who lives and works in Kashmir, believes strongly in the historical integrity and rich background of his artistic practice. His shawls are made on traditional wooden looms, using local wools and organic dyes.

Hemangini Rathore | Sudarshan Apparel

Innovation and Design

In Hindi, the word sudarshan means “beautiful.” In Jaipur, India, Sudarshan is also the name of a thriving artist collective founded by expert textile artisan Hemangini Singh with a goal of preserving and promoting traditional folk textiles. Singh collaborates with skilled craftspeople to create handmade textiles, scarves and accessories. The ever-evolving collection presents a diversity of approaches, including block printing, hand-loom weaving and folk embroidery.

Janmamad Salemamad Luhar Metal

Environmental Sustainability Janmamad Salemamad Luhar belongs to the Muslim Luhar community of Zura, where his family has made sturdy and beautiful iron-coated copper bells for more than three centuries. Many bells are adorned with ancient geometric symbols and floral motifs. The bells are made from carefully selected iron sheets gathered from area junkyards.

Kashmir Loom Company Apparel

Innovation and Design

In Srinagar, the scenic capital of the Indian province of Kashmir, master craftspeople at the Kashmir Loom Company have injected modern soul into the famously beautiful woven and embroidered shawls from the Kashmir Valley. Pashmina, similar to cashmere, comes from the regional Chyangra goat and is handcombed to produce a luxuriously delicate gossamer.

Lai by Puja Bhargava Kamath Jewelry

Puja Bhargava Kamath, a graduate of NIFT, India’s premier design institute, created Lai in 2011. The business makes story-rich jewelry that not only helps preserve traditional skills but also gives artisans market access and sustainable employment

opportunities. Through its jewelry collections, Lai aims to promote the work of Indian artisans and help to revive fading artistic traditions.

Mamta Varma | Bhairvis Chikan Textiles for Home

Women’s Empowerment

Master textile artisan Mamta Varma was born and raised in Lucknow, the traditional home of fine chikan textiles. Though Varma did not initially set out to be an artist, she began making hand-embroidered children’s clothing and later made a variety of embroidered goods. In 1998 Varma opened Bhairvis Chikan, a cooperative textile center that trains and employs women and girls in the art of traditional chikan embroidery.

Meeta Mastani Bindaas Unlimited Apparel

Innovation and Design

For more than 25 years, Meeta Mastani has worked in sustainability and community development.

From this commitment to local communities sprang the company Bindaas Unlimited, which Meeta cofounded as a fair-trade textile and craft business. Meeta works alongside artisans from both her native India and abroad. She especially enjoys collaborating in the realm of printmaking.

Pachan Premjibhai Siju Somaiya Kala Vidya Apparel

Innovation

For centuries, the weavers of Kutch — the nomadic Rabaris and the settled Ahirs — worked together to produce a unique range of shawls, with different patterns and colors reflecting the wearer’s age or marital status, and for specific occasions. Artist Pachan Premjibhai Siju reimagined these shawls and works with his family to weave them according to tradition. His stories are about the impact of climate change on the world as a whole but also on

his tradition of weaving.

Qasab Kutch Craftswomen Apparel

Women’s Empowerment

Qasab, a collective of 1,200 rural craftswomen from 10 ethnic communities from 42 Kutch villages, works to generate income for its members and also strives to preserve ancient art forms and culture. The women use an appliqué technique known as katab to make beautiful and colorful quilts, covers for camel backs, bags, attire, wall hangings and more.

Shanta Bhuriya, Bhuribai Bariya, Ladobai Tahed

2D Art

The Bhil tribe, native to western and central India, is one of India’s largest communities. Its artisans are known for bhil, a contemporary form of the once ritualistic art of pithora — painting on walls with clay pigments. Now painting on paper, Ladobai Tahed, Bhuribai Bariya, and Shanta Bhuriya have brought this traditional art form back to life.

Sufiyan Ismail Khatri Textiles

Environmental Sustainability

Sufiyan Ismail Khatri is a recognized leader in the creation of ajrakh — printed textiles crafted on cotton and silk. This textile legacy goes back more than 4,000 years to the early civilizations of the Indus Valley. Alongside traditional products like saris and scarves, Khatri has recently introduced bedsheets, curtains and carpets.

Thilak Reddy | Kalamshastra Apparel

Kalamkari is a type of hand-painted cotton textile traditionally produced in Iran and India. India-based artist Thilak Reddy is a master of kalamkari, applying it to a range of items, from wall hangings to wearable items like T-shirts. Popular designs include hyper-detailed illustration, such as a vibrantly colored depictions of the Tree of Life and simple chains of flowers alternating with embellished stripes or vines.

WomenWeave Charitable Trust Textiles

Women’s Empowerment WomenWeave Charitable Trust supports women in hand-loom weaving by teaching them how to make traditional art a profitable, fulfilling, sustainable and dignified method of earning income. Handloom weaving has a long history in India and has been used to craft women’s saris and lungi, traditional sarongs worn mainly by men. “We weave to pay for our children’s educations or to feed our families,” says senior weaver Sunita Arande. “We don’t know all the places our weaves go in this world, but we know that people everywhere like them very much.”

Vanita Chauhan Textiles for Home

Women’s Empowerment

The history of appliqué and patchwork can be traced to women in the communities of northern Gujarat, India’s westernmost state. There, women of diverse backgrounds produced large canopies, hangings and friezes with human and animal figures stitched on them. Vanita Chauhan is inspired by the famous appliqué artisans of her heritage and has trained and employed more than 1,500 artists, helping them earn both income and status through their craft.