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Maharani
Ring in the festivities with ‘Maharani,’ Jaypore’s newest collection of buttery soft Chanderi separates enlivened with foil-printed motifs, an enchanting sprinkling of khari, and finished with dainty hand-embroidered details, on a canvas of sumptuous shades of mustard, gold, teal, and dusty rose. An opulent ode to the richness of block-printing, each piece is painstakingly crafted…
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A Beautiful Yarn: The last ply split braider’s journey from designer to artisan
With a lush ponytail and what seem like a dozen gold rings, Erroll Pires Nelson certainly has some serious style. At 6 feet 3 inches, he also towers over almost everyone. That persona evaporates the second he starts talking in his gentle, dulcet tone, telling the story of how he, an ex-National Institute of Design…
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Road to Auroville: Why this commune attracts artists
Auroville is best known as a spiritual hotspot that attracts scores of people to its verdant, lush grounds, looking for peace and a meaning to their life. An ideal township, Auroville also attracts creative beings that are looking for a new approach to their life and work. Artists, designers and potters driven by their passion…
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Re-Worn: Getting a New life
A weaver sits on his loom patiently weaving ‘Khesh’ – a weaving technique that uses new yarn in the warp and strips slashed off old sarees in the weft. The weaver chooses these strips randomly off a pile sitting next to him; the result is a stunning piece of fabric where the colors of the…
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Inside Story: The Jaypore Muslin Bags
The technologies of the most beautiful things are simple. The simplest silhouettes make an avant garde garment, a memorable piece of music portrays a simple thought, a complex computer language aims to solve a simple but critical problem. “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication” – Leonardo Da Vinci, 16th Century polymath. It’s the simplest things in…
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An Uncommon Journey
Design in India permeates everything we do. Its in our clothes, our buildings, our temples, even in the pots and pans we use in the kitchen. In this plentiful land of many seasons and myriad languages, of ancient civilizations and constant influx of new peoples; every material possession has become a canvas for expression. It…
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Sacred Art – From Temples to Homes
India has a long and storied tradition of art, tracing its origin back to pre-historic settlements in the third millennium. Nearly every civilization that has since occupied the sub-continent for any span of time has left an indelible mark on its culture and artistic consciousness. So has every major religion that rose from its soil…
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A Love Affair with Jewelry: Amrapali’s Chandrika Collection
In India, all that glitters, is nearly always jewelry. We can’t have enough of it and it’s not just the wedding and festive seasons that make us hungry for more; we’re in love with our gold, silver, diamonds and precious jewels throughout the year. India’s style lexicon is punctuated with jewelry of every shape and…
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Reborn: Recycled Designs for a Sustainable Lifestyle
Gudri is a fine layered coverlet which was originally created in Gujarat by putting together patches of fabric, usually old saris that were carefully saved for the purpose. The fabrics are layered and held together by the use of a running stitch, painstakingly done by hand in parallel lines running from end to end. The…
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In Harmony with Nature: Bina Rao Talks Textiles and More
Designer and scholar Bina Rao, of Creative Bee, talks to Jaypore about her organic dye farm, collaborating with her artist-husband Kesav Rao, and starting off in Hyderabad at a time when it sorely lacked facilities for the creative folk… here are snippets from our conversation with her. Creative Bee’s textiles and apparel are produced by…
Storytellers of Wonder 