Towards the end of each year when I sit down to design the new collection for the upcoming year, I try to explore new horizons in techniques, skills, artistry, and colors while maintaining the favorites of the current year. This time, my sense and sensibility was filled with inspiration from not only the colors and artistry of India, but from another continent far, far away - South America!
The sights, colors, and essence of this beautiful continent needed to be incorporated in our collection for 2012. As will soon be revealed in the upcoming weeks, you will find the cool yet sensual icy blues of the Patagonian glaciers, the grays of the rocky and surreal mountains, and the spicy and rich fuchsias and Tangerines of the flora, resplendent in our collection. Married with the essence of South America, you'll find the geometric shapes of old Indian architecture and techniques used from ancient times.
During my recent trip to India, I had the immense pleasure of experiencing how block printing is done. This ancient tradition needed its boundaries pushed a little so we threw some very modern patterns and motifs for the skilled artisans to explore. After some trial and error, they came out beautifully! Never did I know that how much bad weather can affect block printing! Waiting for days or hours for the sun to come up or for the steaming of fabrics to be completed (4hrs!) so that we could see how they turned out, took a lot of patience and persistence.
Stay tuned for the reveal of the Rajboori 2012 collection in a couple of weeks!
The colors used for block print need great amount of sunlight and dry weather for the true vibrancy to blossom. Once steamed in this huge steamers, they are washed and dried for the final effect and then finished appropriately as per the textile used. This time we've experimented with some beautiful handwoven linen fabric and I hope you will like them too.
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| block printed fabrics being rolled up to be put into the steamer |
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