Designer Yesha Sant’s first brush with handwoven weaves happened during her childhood when she saw her mom and grandmother create handcrafted blouses. She says, “I was fascinated with my mom’s stories where she used to help my grandmother every day early morning to get the handmade blouses ready. I have grown up watching them practising their craft and that inspired me to make my career in textiles.” That’s perhaps where the seeds of her two-year-old eponymous label were sown. Her latest collection called Organic Loungewear was created recently after the Bhopal-based designer’s patrons texted her that they really needed comfortable clothing to work from home. The aesthetics that was rooted in her since she was young can be spotted in this collection as well.
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Quarantine self-expression
We agree with Yesha when she says that alternating between sweatpants and pyjamas day after day quickly lost its appeal. Most of us started looking for newer things to wear, even in the lockdown as everyday clothes is very much an element of self-expression. “In quarantine, the self-expression of clothing has been somewhat lost. For some, they are trying to hold on to their past identity by dressing up.” One can expect boxy cuts with minimal use of embroidery with silhouettes like tie-up lounge pants, boxy anti-fit crop tops, shift kurta, exquisite hand-embroidered bralette and cord sets. Although it certainly feels highly wearable you might have to accessorise it right if you intend to wear them for an outing such that the boho-chic look is retained. She designs both for men and women, however, the variations and diversity available to the ladies is way more than that of men, we notice. The colour palette remains nude colour palette for this collection consisting of colours like beige, olive, and off-white. The fabrics used are organic cotton, khadi ikat, handwoven in Kutch, Murshidabad and Orissa.
Upcycled measures
The best bit? After every collection they make a tiny batch of crop tops, kitschy bomber jackets and bags using all the production waste fabric using techniques like weaving, patchwork and embroidery thus following a circular design process where the waste that we create to make clothes has been reused, recycled and repurposed. All the outfits in their repertoire are crafted using artisanal techniques, from plucking the cotton from the fields to weaving the fabric. Yesha also employs the technique of hand-dyeing with natural substances like iron rust, madder root, marigold flowers, onion peel to finish the piece with embroidery. “Our motive is to bring back the old charm of making clothes by hand from the first step to the last,” says the designer in her early twenties who earlier worked with the likes of Anita Dongre after graduating from National Institute of Fashion technology. During her last semester, she spent 6 months in Kutch, Gujarat exploring the crafts and visiting the artisans in remote villages where her connection with indigenous handlooms was further solidified.
“The next collection I am planning to include Recycled Plastic Project that will be launched shortly. We have picked up waste polybags from our surroundings and made bags out of them with weaving technique, handmade by the prisoners of Palara Jail, Gujarat,” says Yesha, signing off.
Available online.
Rs 1,199 onwards.