Of beautiful fabrics...

...and talented women

It's showcase time folks! Time to bring to you a selection of design goodness that I have been getting in my inbox. And what better day to present these to you than a friday? Browse through these lovely designs and stores, in this post and next, at your leisure over the weekend!

~ Taan Bann ~  

Saumya Nagar, a consultant textile designer and a long time reader of the blog, shared with me the wonderful design studio she is currently working with. Taan Baan is a brand started by Rta Kapur Chishti, the author of the immensely popular 'Saris of India'. Taan Baan works to promote handspun and handwoven textiles by developing scarves, sarees and home furnishings. Taan Baan has also started the innovative Sari School, where the traditional sari wearing styles are taught and promoted.

[Connect with: Taan Baan; The Sari School]

~ Saffron Hue ~

What began as a casual conversation between two friends, Ruchi Sharma and Pinal Maniar, Saffron Hue brings a fresh new perspective to the traditional textiles and techniques of India by using them for baby bedding and accessories. Saffron Hue's products reflect the changing times and are an amalgamation of skilled craftsmanship, tradition and modern design sensibilities. 

Ruchi is a corporate-refugee-turned-entrepreneur holds an undergraduate degree in Finance from University of Houston and has more than seven years of extensive experience in both finance and marketing. Pinal has an advanced diploma in Textile Design from the prestigious National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad. Backed with a sound design studio experience she has been working as an independent textile and surface designer and consultant since 2003 exploring different avenues and techniques in the field of home furnishings, handicrafts and quilting. 

Saffron Hue would love to offer An Indian Summer readers a whopping 30% discount till April 7th, 2013. Just use the code SPRING at checkout while shopping here.

[Connect: Saffron Hue; On facebook] 

 

~ 11.11 ~

Based in Delhi, Paris and Berlin, 11.11 is strongly rooted in the Indian heritage of techniques and textile aesthetics. This eclectic fashion brand was started by Shani Himanshu and Smitha Singh Rathore, who graduated from Domus Academy in Milan in 2003. Having worked with Italian brands and being exposed to their craftsmanship, they strongly believe in cross over of cultures and aim to retain and enhance the inherent quality of fabric and craft in their designs. 

11.11 is available at The Grey Garden, located at the Hauz Khas village in New Delhi. Just mention An Indian Summer at the studio to get a 5% discount on purchases above INR 10k.

[Connect: 11.11; The Grey Garden]

~ Pappadum ~

Pappadum is a cozy little children's store in Chennai conceptualized and run by Priyanka Raghunath and Harini Lakshminarayan. Harini and Priyanka collaborate with independent artists and designers, who specialize in sustainable alternatives for families with children between the age of 0 & 5. Their store houses a mixed bag of products that range from clothing to room decor, bed linens, accessories and the likes. Since a majority of these designers are parents themselves, they're inspired to make their products as eco-friendly, organic and fair-trade as possible. They also take great pride in their book section that is painstakingly put together by researching children's authors, illustrators and independent publishers, whose creativity amazes and inspires them, everyday.

Priyanka Raghunath is an Architect by profession. She, admittedly, draws her inspiration from Bijoy Jain, Kevin Mark and Geoffrey Bawa amongst other architectural greats. Professionally and personally, she likes things simple and has a green thumb that is some thing of a legend! Harini Lakshminarayan comes from an Advertising & Film background. Is a BIG design, graphic novel and indie cinema buff and can, predictably, be found indulging in one of the aforementioned pursuits when not at Pappadum.

Harini and Priyanka would love to offer a 15% discount specially to An Indian Summer readers. Just mention An Indian Summer when you walk into their store in Chennai to avail the discount!

[Connect: Pappadum on facebook] 

~ Ichcha ~ 

The concept of Ichcha, a wish to encourage conscious living, was conjured in 2010 by sisters Ruchika, Rachna and Monika. Leaving their corporate careers, the three launched into the off beaten path of India, striving to forge friendships with the people closer to the land.

Ichcha, as a result, is a combination of aspirations to explore and the idea of sustainable living. The three founders aspire to work with good people, aspire to encourage the traditions of the land, aspire to do justice to earth and it's offerings. Their products are a direct offspring of their design values, merged with the hands who know the bends of each thread, the fold of each fabric, the color of each flower. Ichcha works to continue the age old tradition of block printing with natural dye, and also working with inspirational women whose hands know the importance of each stitch that contributes to the beauty of a whole design. 

[Connect: Ichcha, Ichcha on facebook]

[All images: An Indian Summer]

Through the lens of

Thiru S

One of the best things about writing a blog is that you get to know and meet exceptionally creative and interesting people. Thiru and I connected late last year and he shared his impressive portfolio with me. I was thrilled to see many of my favorite images from various residences and boutique design resorts in his portfolio - Thiru has been photographing for some of the top design and travel magazines for years now. His photography portfolio not only covers interiors but a wide array of editorial, travel, food, street and personal photography. Apart from photography, Thiru also runs the creative design agency, White Light Design, that he co-founded in 2004.

 

In Thiru's own words: 

There are certain places and moments in life, which transcend beauty, as we know it. Most of my photos are grounded in these instances. I look for the unguarded moment, the inner beauty. My genre of photography intends to show different spaces within the world, sometimes vast and unending, and at other times microscopic. I’m excited about life, travel and photography. I have been taking pictures for the past 12 years. In all these years there were times when I thought I had something extraordinary. Sometimes I was fooled that what I thought was great turned out to be not so great and there were other times when the not so great pleasantly surprised me.

Photography has taught me to be patient but more importantly to apply myself. The more I applied myself and interacted with the world around me, the better I got. It has taught me to let go of the preconceptions of what I was expecting to get, or want to get, and just react to the natural world. In other words to let those things that are on the inside come out. To me photography draws upon who we are and the life views that we hold. It’s an interpretation of our sensibilities and our relationship with the world. It is a mirror to what we love and fear, and it provides opportunities to explore subjects one might be too timid to explore without the excuse of a camera.

 

View more of Thiru's beautiful images right here. Also, take a look at the brilliant, The Deconstruction Project, a spatial experiment using photo art installations, designed and curated by Thiru and Vikrant Sharma.

Thanks Thiru, for sharing your work with us! 

[All Images Copyright: Thiru S, Elle Decor India, Styling by Sonia Dutt]

~

Coming up later this week and next, showcase posts featuring new designers and stores, and a bunch of lovely giveaways!  

Keep reading An Indian Summer! 

 

One fine day in March

At An Indian Summer's home

  

On a beautiful spring day last week, there was a photoshoot at my home, for an iconic women magazine. It was a fun day and I had a great time styling the home and discussing angles and frames with the excellent photographer. When the team left, I took advantage of the late afternoon sunlight filtering in and took some pictures, just for you :)

Southern light in the entry foyer

The mellow bedroom

A corner in the living room, with marble urlis and madhubani painting

By the bedside

My boy cat finally finds the time to sit and relax after a hectic day of knocking off flower heads, pawing little knick knacks off the shelves, streaking across rooms to creatively (dis)place rugs and other such sundry activities. He ensured that I do, and redo, and then again do up a room, till the time he got bored of the room and sauntered away!


Will let you know when the magazine hits the stand next month folks! Do pick it up for more pictures from our home and a story feature on how I went about doing it up.


[All images taken by me. Kindly credit and link back to this post if you use them anywhere]
   

Beautiful Chobhi and a giveaway

A picture speaks a thousand words. And now a picture also keeps you warm and fashionable! Meet Chobhi - the creative collaboration between two friends, who have come together to capture the form and patterns found in nature, blending photography and fabric made from organic and natural fibres, into absolutely gorgeous wearable art.

Chobhi, a bengali word that means 'picture', features their own photography onto scarves made from natural and organic fabric.  Using the beautiful colors and patterns found in nature as inspiration, Chobhi's woolen scarves are handwoven by artisans from the northern part of India.

Both Indo-Canadian founders, Ronjiny and Tanima, always dreamed of doing something creative together. Ronjiny loves art from the Renaissance period, Russian literature, traveling the world and anything to do with design in India. Her MBA in Luxury & Fashion inspired her to team up with best friend Tanima to share her love for nature and photography.  Tanima had always wanted to express her creativity, and now she loves looking at her photos in a new way - thinking of them as rectangles of fabric, adorning a person's neck!

GiveAway!

If you love Chobhi's ethereal scarves as much as I do, take a look at their collection - Prakriti (nature) right here. And, enter this giveaway to get a chance at winning, one of my favorites from the collection, the lovely Pakhi scarf! The ultra soft, handwoven wool and silk blend scarf, is adorned with eye catching silhouette of birds in trees, and will add to any outfit that you pair it with! The giveaway is open for everyone - Chobhi will ship the scarf anywhere in the world.

Here's what you need to do to enter:

1. Think of the one thing in nature that inspires you the most and tell us about it on facebook right here by leaving a comment. (Make sure you are logged into facebook to do so) 
2. To double your chances just leave a comment on this post too
3. That's it! Wait for result to be announced on March 8th :)

Do connect with Chobhi on facebook, twitter and pinterest!