On a bus in rural marward, I noticed something striking, and this is how I brought it to menswear -

• Tattoos; not the polished kind we city folks flaunt, but ancient tattoos crawling up their throats and arms. The purpose? - To mark what matters; Symbols of devotion, protection and belonging. Theirs for survival and legacy, ours for style and expression.
• Odnis; The idea for this shawl came from watching women make baby carriers from their odni - resourceful, rooted and real.
  

This look is a homage to their ink and ingenuity - stitched into a fabric that carriers both memory and meaning.

Why Indigo matters to GHANI KHAMMA? So simple at first glance, A plain blue, one might say.

Lean in closer and you’ll find its anything but plain. Its a colour steeped in stories - dyed in layers of history, process and patience.
Like an old haveli ki kidhki - just a window from afar, but look closer and you’ll find lives being lived uniquely behind it.
The border design on this shawl is a way to decorate the passage for those who choose to look deeper, look beyond the simple colour and understand its process and craft.

Indigo matters to GHANI KHAMMA because it is the marward man - calm in presence, deep in thought and timeless in spirit.

Why I never used Bandhani in my designs and why I named this look
Safadhani.

I needed a meaning, a purpose and a perspective so different that it finally made sense to use this craft.
Found it in the technique of tying the traditional marward safa. tied firm around the head, shielding the mind. Keeping it clear, untouched by the world’s noise. Bandhani works the same way - knots tied firm, shielding the fabric. keeping it clear, untouched from colour.

Design without intention is decoration.

Design with intention becomes an identity you proudly carry.

Asymmetry is not a flaw, its a philosophy and here’s how -

Life doesn’t always offer balance. It tilts, it sways, it throws you off centre.
And still the power lies in you, how you choose to stand - tall and unwavering.
To stand firm in a tilted world - that in itself, is a statement.

The marward man understands this and against all odds, rises above.

Amid Venice’s canals and quiet streets, a colour caught my eye, and its not blue.

Indigo - There was calm and elegance in every shade of blue which I find in Akola, Rajasthan’s natural Indigo.

Where calm meets form - this piece follows that same current. Minimal stripes. A relaxed silhouette. A self attached shoulder scarf that flows just enough.

Crafted to feel like a breeze on the Amalfi coast.
Designed to carry the depths and strengths of Indigo.

Kapda sirf dekhne aur choone ke liye kyun? What if fashion could be heard?

An evening in Italy over aglio e olio, a though stirred. Clink! my fork hit the plate and the sound it made was so familiar that i was back in....

MARWARD.
  1. The sound? - my land’s ghungroos adorned on ankles.
  2. The thought? - Why stop at just visual and tactile? Why not sound too?

The tradional Dabu print of Rajasthan shown through the white stripes represent the handmade spaghetti and the fine french knots represent the bits of rich garlic.

Shades of Pink everywhere, but why? - for beauty o for functionality?

1. Younger desert women said - “It adds life, it makes the land beautiful.”
2. Older and wiser desert women said - “It helps us find each other - even from far way. A beacon of contrast in the mono chromatic dessert. While fetching water one walks distances across the sand and it makes it easier to locate the one gets lost along the way.”
   

This pink may have different meanings, purposes but the end point is - its essential for a land like MARWARD.

This shawls carries the spirit of the chilli fields of MARWARD.

The sight was unforgettable - fields spread like a sea of deep red, speckled with white paths and and curved backs of women at work.
BANDHANI AGAIN! - The motifs for this shawl was born right there. Tied by hand. Dyed in devotion.
The warmth those women felt under their feet, now drapes around your shoulders.

Its fire woven into fabric. Crafted for warmth. Designed to honour.

Sometimes seeing clearly is not the key - blurring your view reveals the actual picture.

The warm red lines formed by the sky reflecting off the glass windows of the Bikaner havelis.
The black lines formed by the birds tracing their paths in the sky.

One pattern, two stories, but both made possible through the same sky.
One uses it to shine. The other, to soar.

Its a reminder. That often without even realising, we become part of someone else’s design. Sometimes we are the reflection. Sometimes we are the canvas.

My personal itch with a vintage wooden window. In souther Italy, I kept staring at old windows and doors - beautiful and withered....yet missing something.

In MARWARD I found it. A woman’s saree flowing beside a similar door. The missing piece was movement, flow and grace.

A double breasted blazer - firm like the door.
A woollen shawl - soft like the saree.

Structure meets softness. Stillness meets movement. Two cultures, one complete thought and finally the scratch to my itch.