Sustainable pret label Mantra by renowned designer Shalini James known for its transparent pricing, sustainable sourcing, slow consumption, and minimalistic designs, is back with a beautiful spring-summer collection called Mission Malabar. The edit pays homage to the 150-year-old rich history of Malabar’s handloom industry and captures the essence of tradition in a stunning array of ivory and pastel-coloured garments, neatly tailored for the vibrant summer season.
We speak with Shalini to know more about it.
What’s the idea behind your new collection?
Mission Malabar is a textile-focused collection that weaves together the aesthetic lineage, history and textile heritage of this region.
My earlier work with Kerala handloom was in the aftermath of the 2018 floods in which the textile village of Chendamangalam near Cochin was badly affected. As a part of a campaign to save their stock of textiles that was lying rain-drenched for several days, I designed a line of clothing named Marupiravi (Malayalam for ‘rebirth’). Beyond its commercial success and its intended goal, the experience of working with the weaving community in the wake of a crisis was profound and sparked within me a deep desire to work more extensively with Kerala handloom.
Kerala handloom is known for its pristine simplicity, fine weave – it is said to have passed the ring test – and a palette that seldom deviates from unbleached off-white. Working on this premise, I ensured that my experiments with Kerala handloom did not dilute the essence of the textile.
Tell us about the design part.
Historically, the textiles of Malabar, woven mostly for European markets, have a distinct aesthetic sensibility. Borrowing from this 150 years old lineage, the powder-puff pastel hues that we adopted, play hopscotch around ivory; being quietly complementary, but never really taking the limelight from the real star of the palette. The combination of warp stripes and colour blocking provided subtle variations to the design plot. The cuts are classic silhouettes with minimum detailing, leaving all the glory to the textile.
You always stand for minimalistic slow fashion, tell us about that a little.
We work towards achieving zero wastage of resources, especially textiles. We have designed patterns that result in minimum wastage. Even the little that gets pushed off the cutting table is saved and reused later in trims and accessories. Our entire team is geared to design, manufacture and retail clothing in an environment-friendly manner.
My aesthetic sensibility as a designer has often leaned towards minimalism. This is because I let the textile reign supreme in all my designs. I do not clutter it with too many other elements, preferring instead to stick to classic cuts, a great fit and fine detailing.
What are the summer wardrobe essentials?
Layering is a big trend this year. Wardrobe essentials for the textile craft-lover should comprise a fair balance of neutral-shaded handloom dresses and tunics, several stoles from different regions of the country, a few flowy overcoats in vibrant colours and plenty of eclectic accessories to pull the look together.
Your upcoming collection?
My next collection is a collage of textiles in a vibrant palette – Phulia, Mangalgiri and Kota weaves juxtaposed with Sanganeri and Kalamkari prints.
Price on request. On shalinijamesmantra.com