Vaishali S explores the intricacies of Indian weaves in her latest collection
For years, Indian occasion dressing has been defined by abundance, be it intricate embroidery, high-shine textiles, or elaborate silhouettes. As a new festive season approaches, a quieter shift is emerging and keeping in line with that, designer Vaishali S too has experimented further with fabrics.
“For me, luxury has never been about how much you can add to a garment. It is about how much depth, emotion, and craftsmanship you can create within it. India has an extraordinary vocabulary of handwoven textiles. When you look closely at a beautiful chanderi, khun, jamdani or maheshwari, there is already so much complexity in the weave, the irregularity of the hand, the movement of the threads. I have always felt that covering it with excessive embellishment can sometimes hide the very thing that makes it precious,” Vaishali elaborates.
So, Vaishali began exploring how the textile itself could become the embellishment. Through cording, pleating, knotting, draping, and sculpting, she could make a fabric move from two dimensions into three and sometimes almost four dimensions. Light created the sparkle; shadows created the decoration.
How do you determine which traditional weave is suitable for structural sculpting versus fluid drapery?
I don’t begin with a formula. I begin by listening to the textile. Every handwoven fabric has its own personality. Its weight, transparency, stiffness, density, fall, and even the small irregularities created by the handloom tell me what it wants to become. Chanderi, for example, fascinates me because it can appear extremely delicate and translucent and yet respond beautifully to cording and sculptural interventions. Other weaves naturally ask to fall around the body, so I allow them to remain fluid. This dialogue with the textile is fundamental to my process. In many ways, I don’t design a silhouette and then search for a fabric. I discover the silhouette inside the fabric.
Can you tell us more about your upcoming collection?
I am working again very closely with handwoven textiles and with my signature cording, but I am interested in pushing the construction further while simultaneously creating a sense of lightness. I am also exploring how traditional Indian textile knowledge can become completely global in its expression.