Tree Of Life and a Give Away!

Excuse me while I lust after these clothes. You are free to join me, and join me you would, for the clothes by Tree Of Life are just so beautiful. The motifs, the colors, the prints, the fabric, the styling and design - I bet that you can't choose just one! 

Tree Of Life is a label, that brings to you a fusion of India's rich textile heritage, local skills and contemporary sensibilities. The distinctivness lies in the adaptation of traditional aesthetics into everyday lives of modern women. The ease and comfort of the natural fabric used for the apparel, complements the fine detailing inspired by traditional costumes.

Nargis, the lovely designer behind Tree Of Life, is a fashion graduate from NIFT. Her formative years spent in Gujarat echo and resonate in her designs. She works mainly traditional techniques and fabrics like with block prints, ajrak, tie & dye, khaadi, mangalgiri etc. Her designs and silhouettes are simple and classic and appeal to women across age groups.

The label is available at at Neemrana Shop (Delhi), Kilol stores, Artisans Cottage (Ahmedabad), Indian August (Noida), Cinnamon (Bangalore), Anonym (Hyderabad) and estores like Jaypore and Indian Roots. 

~ Give Away ~

And what do we do when we find gorgeous stuff? We share! An Indian Summer & Tree of Life By Nigarish would like to do exactly that and would like to giveaway this gorgeous skirt to one lucky reader, anywhere in the world! This bohemian skirt is perfect for summer soirees and lazy lunches. Read on to find out the easy peasy way to enter the giveaway..

Here's what you need to do to enter:

1. Tell us where would you like to wear this skirt to, in a comment here, on An Indian Summer's facebook page. Make sure you are logged into facebook to do so.

2. Leave a comment on this post too, to double your chances

3. That's it! Winner will be announced here next Wednesday, on May 14th .

Thank you Nargis! And, All the best girls! 

[All images: Tree of Life By Nargis. Creative Storyboarding: An Indian Summer]

Kismet

ˈkɪzmɛt,-mɪt,-s-/

destiny/fate 

It's kismet  that Kismet Jewell Nakai and I 'met' each other in the virtual world. Like the face that launched a thousand ships, an absolutely ethereal photograph shot by Kismet, that was part of my diwali inspiration mood boards, launched a full fledged post!

 Kismet and her stylist friend/partner April Sher Bhaika, conceptualize, style, create and capture magical moments via The Unreal Bride. Not limiting themselves to just wedding photography, they have experimented with a bunch of other conceptual shoots and also offer to make any moment that celebrates love and life, into a memorable one.

What I love love about The Unreal Bride was just how thoughtfully styled each shoot is. There is a certain elegance, an old world charm, opulent yet subtle accessories and props, without it being too stuffy. You can see and feel from the pictures that the photographer, the stylist and the subject had fun while shooting! With rich heritage saris and textiles, combination of modern and heirloom jewelry, the would-be and the already brides caught candid in various moods, the color and the lush setting that is so Indian in its mood - each shot is a visual delight!

Take a look at Kismet's photography portfolio here, and take a stroll through the stories and gorgeous imagery from the The Unreal Bride photo shoots right here.

In Kismet's own words:

"I started as a photographer back in 2008 officially. I chanced upon my love for photography rather late in life and went through a number of jobs before actually realizing that I wouldn't mind taking photos all my life. Sitting with a friend, we started talking about the wedding industry and how it would be a fun idea to do different photo shoots of brides - something atypical. You see it a lot in fashion but not with real brides, so we thought the combination of my photography and April's styling - we could do some real fun stuff. The blog - The Unreal Bride, was meant to be a way to advertise what we did, but instead we started blogging a lot more and we enjoyed it! From there we have done loads of fun projects, which have varied from wedding stuff to food photography to all sorts of things!" 

[Kismet and April]

You can connect with The Unreal Bride via email or through their facebook page.

[All Images Copyright: The Unreal Bride. Creative Storyboarding: An Indian Summer]

Things that make you go

Aah!

~ Pradeep Pillai ~

Pradeep Pillai graduated from NIFT in 1999, and since then has been associated with the hand-spun, hand-woven and hand-crafted sectors. Pradeep believes in creating pieces that are timeless classics, by experimenting with traditional textile techniques and contemporary designs. He is fully committed to support the indigenous craft sector, and is currently working with artisan clusters specializing in different forms of supplementary weft weaving techniques, in tussar silk from Nalanda and fine cotton and silks from Venkatagiri and Chanderi.

See more of Pradeep's beautiful textiles right here.

~ Purple Patch ~

Tejashree Joshi was inspired to start her cozy little store called Purple Patch in Pune, India, when she decided to make quilts for her young son. Purple Patch, a small and exclusive brand, specializes in hand made patch work designs for adults and kids. She works with marginalized women with basic sewing skills and up-skills them to create high quality hand made products.

You can find Purple Patch on etsy, craftsvilla and on facebook.

~  Example Clothing ~

Example, a collaborative design-led clothing brand was conceptualized by Moutushi and her business partner in 2012. With the backbone of Indian textile tradition, Example's clothes aim to showcase this craft heritage and strive to use natural components and materials, keeping machine usage to a minimum. Moutushi has been associated with international brands like Anthropologie among many others, and has dabbled in photography, film making, graphic design, craft research - all leading to a well rounded approach to design. The products are aimed at the quintessential girl in every woman; the spirit being lighthearted, aware, curious and forever young at heart.

Find more of Example Clothing here.

~ Nomad ~

Harshita Gautam's Nomad is a riot of colors and celebrates the spirit of being a woman. Inspired by the nomadic tribes of India, Nomad's skirts (known as ghagra) don't follow the fashion trend of the season, but are cult attire in themselves. The fabrics used are the fabrics that are worn by these tribes, and are perfect for the woman who is a gypsy at heart!

Many more gorgeous ghagras by Nomad right here.  

~ Wildflower ~

Rinkal Bagadia's Wildflower creates handcrafted home decor and lifestyle products in wood and fabric. Working with artisans and crafts like blue pottery, rabari applique, kutchi leather craft, mata ni pachedi to name a few, Wildflower is gradually building up it's repository of beautiful handmade products. 

See the range of wildflower's products here.

[All images: Respective designers. Creative story boarding: An Indian Summer]