Design Institute in India, Arts and Design Colleges and Schools in India -IICD

February 27, 2019

RENA MEHTA

Her love for arts, crafts and creativity since childhood pushed Rena Mehta to make the journey from ‘Rena’s summer club’ to Indian Institute of Crafts and Design (IICD). Here she discovered the marvels of material handling working in close synchronisation with the principles of design and aesthetics. Industry welcomed her zealous imagination and originality with open arms. But her untamed creativity, free flowing soul and limitless inventiveness could not allow her to abide by the restrictiveness of the Industry and thus ‘Pitara unboxcreativity’, her label, came into existence. At Pitara, mundane is beautifully and efficiently transformed into aesthetically pleasing. It deals in Lifestyle and accessories, and works towards making day to day life gorgeous. Fashionably luxurious and traditional in spirit, Pitara creates exquisite leather, jute and fabric bags and accessories that are quintessentially handcrafted.

(https://www.instagram.com/pitara_unboxcreativity/)

(https://www.facebook.com/unboxcreativity.pitara/)

Rini’s liberated outlook and focussed manner of working is a source of inspiration for many. Young dedicated entrepreneurs like her create a reflection of an uncompromised and constantly evolving future for the world of crafts and design.

SWATI JANGIR KOTHARI

Swati Jangir, the founder of Label Kasturi, is an alumnus of IICD Jaipur. Holding true to its identity, IICD instilled inside Swati the technical and design knowhow of Soft Materials, delicately and passionately balanced with pure love and intense care for the indigenous creations and creators, the crafts and the Craftsperson. The Birth of Kasturi resonates perfectly with her core inspirations and ideology. Kasturi works with several different techniques of traditional Indian handicrafts, such as Handloom Weaving (Durrie Weaving, Tangaliya Weaving, Pachhedi Weaving), Hand Block Printing (Ajarakh) and Tie and Dye, in the Kutch and Saurastra region of Gujarat, India. Kasturi designs for home and you and her each product reinforces the principle of an all inclusive sustainability, with an unadulterated concern for environmental, social, cultural and economical sustenance. It is a great fortune for the planet and all her children, that our young are blessed with such empathy and such care; that our young are aware and value protection and preservation; that they cherish the ideal of shared existence and existence of all.

By – Nivedita Narayan

(Asst. Professor, IICD, Jaipur)

BHAAVYA GOENKA

Since times immemorial, curiosity, the ever youthful and immortal enchantress, has been invoking the ballet of inquiry, and churning out a “happily ever after” for an answer, for a thousand shining Cinderellas. A drop of this magic, and dreams are crafted and transfigured into actuality.

Bhaavya, another young Cinderella, a textile designer by occupation and an alumnus of IICD, was touched by this charm very early on in her life. Her soul, ever awaking to the aches of environment, guided the conception of a numerous questions…..Do we have to injure the nature to grow? Does something as organic, as natural as clothing and fashion has to pollute the air, ail the water and contaminate the earth? Have we as a race really become the emperor of all maladies?

Fashion has always been a celebration of the universal unity in diversity, of humane aspirations and spirit of humanism, which inspires a peaceful, empathetic and happy coexistence of all living forms and all life elements. So by all the fortunes of this world, the answers to these questions cannot be and shall not be affirmative. This silver hope, illuminating the silhouette of a cloudy future motivated her to embark upon a pursuit to find happiness that was all inclusive.

The genesis of Iro Iro is a fruit of this quest. A 100% up-cycled fashion, designed carefully to produce zero-waste and hand-woven with love and care by the many weavers from Indian villages make up the persona of Iro Iro. It not only rejects the idea of breathing fresh and continuing life into already sky-high landfills, but also labor towards reviving the dying craft traditions of India’s social and cultural geography. It narrates the tales of the elderly wisdom resonating across the walls of Indian museums, reflected in the zero waste ancient costume patterns, and translates them into novel aspirations. Every product sold supports a family of weavers and empowers it to remain in love with the profession it is so eternally attached to. Iro Iro is a synthesis of constructive inquisitiveness, environmental sustainability, craft preservation and artisan upliftment. This unique ideology and responsibly gorgeous effort brought Bhaavya recognition nationally and internationally and her brainchild won the best project award at Crafting Luxury & Lifestyle Businesses at Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.

This is the story of Bhavyaa’s adventures in this land of wonders……and wait, it does not end here….next chapter will be out soon.