As Raw Mango celebrates 15 years in the industry, its founder, Sanjay Garg, continues to push the boundaries of handwoven textiles and traditional Indian crafts. With his latest collection, Children of the Night, he explores the interplay of darkness and light, translating the concept into innovative handwoven textiles that dance with elasticity and sculptural forms.
In this exclusive Handloom Day feature, the designer takes us through the inspiration behind his collection — from the powerful release of energy in the darkness to the experimentation with new motifs in Chikankari embroidery. He shares his vision for imagining textile futures, rather than simply reviving traditional Indian textiles, and his passion for innovation and technique.
With a deep understanding of India’s rich textile heritage, Sanjay’s designs convey a message of preservation through wearability, making traditional crafts consumable for the modern world. As he looks to the future, he envisions a continuation of his brand’s contribution to the promotion of India’s textile legacy, with a focus on creativity and envisioning the future of tradition.
Join us as we delve into the world of Raw Mango, where handwoven textiles meet innovation, and tradition meets modernity.
What inspired the Children of the Night collection, and how did you translate the concept of darkness and light into handwoven textiles?
Children of the Night draws from that special release of energy that comes from the darkness, the powerful release of movement and flickers of light. In this collection, garments are viewed through a lens of object-making and appear to dance with the ebb and flow of elasticity. Welded sculptural forms take shape to highlight continued innovations and explorations within handwoven textiles.
Can you walk us through the innovative techniques used in this collection, such as welded sculptural forms and metallic brocades that mimic knitwear?
One of the ideas was to look at what handwoven knitwear might look like as a starting point. It’s the first time we’ve explored lycra on the handloom, alternating between silk and lycra. The result has multiple effects, including the palla being treated as a fluid blouse. We have also woven gota with silk; the former is conventionally used as surface ornamentation in traditional wear. This gave us fabric with a heavier weight allowing us to experiment with draping more sculptural forms. We used welding in our garments to create metal frames and circular rings to showcase the elasticity of handloom lycra and allow for sculptural forms.
Does this collection reflect your brand’s commitment to reviving traditional Indian textiles like chanderi, mashru, and Banarasi?
Raw Mango is not about the revival of textiles, as much as imagining textile futures. With this collection, we wanted to explore what a handwoven knit might look like and were able to create that technically through skill and technique. Innovation in textiles remains at the heart of our garment collections.
What drew you to exploring new motifs in chikankari embroidery, and how do you see this traditional craft evolving in contemporary fashion?
Typically, chikankari is focused on florals; there is limited innovation in terms of motifs. We tried to bring in cross-cultural references across crafts with this collection. While also innovating and trying to do something new in terms of motif, we also wanted to go back to the root of the craft. As a result, whether you call them angels, farishtas, paris, or winged messengers of God, farishta is a common motif shared among cultures, across continents, and religions. From Chintz and kalamkari (within the Indian context) to biblical iconography, we spotted them in multiple contexts. In our view, a craft remains a craft if it evolves with the culture, while also staying true to its roots, and essence.
What role do you see handwoven textiles playing in contemporary fashion?
They say fashion tells the story of time, but I think textile does more so.
How do you think travelling to new places influences your design aesthetic?
Regardless of where I travel, it always comes back to India for me.
Have you ever been fascinated by the rich textile heritage of Tamil Nadu, particularly the Kanjeevaram saris or the Chettinad cotton fabrics? Does the state’s textile legacy reflect in your collections?
I joke that I must have been a South Indian in my previous life. I feel at home with the aesthetics of the South, whether it’s the culture of flowers, music, or textiles. Kanjeevaram is fascinating to me, I love the sensibility of a coloured Kanjeevaram with a gold border, and we have been experimenting with it for some time internally. In our Three Shuttle collection, we have saris woven in Telangana with three-shuttles and attakatam techniques.
Are there any destinations on your bucket list that you’re eager to explore for inspiration?
I don’t seek inspiration through travel. Of course, there are a lot of places that I would like to go. On top of the list are Iran, Pakistan, the Philippines, and across Africa.
How do you see your brand contributing to the preservation and promotion of India’s rich textile heritage, and what message do you hope to convey through your designs?
Preservation and promotion are a Western way of looking, as seen through collections and museums. In India, it’s on the street; everything is on the street, from baskets to textiles and pottery. You almost have to try not to see it. I make it more wearable or consumable; that is how I intend to preserve it.
As Raw Mango completes 15 years in the industry, what’s next for the brand, and how will you continue to push the boundaries of handwoven textiles and traditional Indian crafts?
Push and pull are needed for anything. Meaning, that we have to look at the past, the present, and the future as one entity. In our work, the pallu becomes the blouse; the textile future, and creativity lies in envisioning the future of tradition.
— manuvipin@newindianexpress.com
@ManuVipin