SUKETDHIR

I began looking for inspiration everywhere, but was unable to get inspired by anything. Numerous ideas cameflashing, but none that riveted my narrative and the soul of my brand. I looked around and seeing my two-year-old son triggered in me the inspiration for this collection. This made me think of fond memories of my own childhood.
I reminisced about the regular trips to our mango orchards in summer with my grandfather, cousins and neighbourhood children.
The cattle grazing, water in the tubewell, great expanses of mustard fields, saplings waiting to grow into trees, parrots overjoyed at the sight of mangoes; the fragments of a simple life that resonate with the freedom of a bygone era.
The echoing memories of my grandfather and the way he used to dress. An umbrella in hand, he accompanied us to the mango orchards. A man of astuteness with a genteel presence, I realised I found the ideal man for my collection. All this while, I was looking around me not knowing the idea had been there within.

I have worked with Ikat cotton and linen for nearly a decade, and preparing for Woolmark has given me a platform to develop my own designs. I have combined Ombre, in muted shades of blue and mustard, with the Ikat weave, and have chosen to experiment with an intricate surface technique – Kasuti.
A dying craft native to North Karnataka, Kasuti hand embroidery, just like Ikat, is all about mathematical precision with clean lines, and an underlying hint of geometry. The results, however, are organic and relaxed, an extension of my natural aesthetic. The linings have been hand block printed at Sanganer, Rajasthan, with motifs of parrots, clouds and umbrellas that were inspired by this story.