On a bus in rural marward, I noticed something striking, and this is how I brought it to menswear - 1. Tribal Tattoos all over the neck and hands of women that symbolised true marward culture and art. The motifs all over the shawl are inspired from these tattoos. 2. Odnis; The idea for this shawl came from watching women make baby carriers from their odni - resourceful, rooted and real.

Why I never used Bandhani in my designs while having a brand inspired from Marward. I needed a deeper meaning and an unique perspective that it finally made sense to use this craft for more that it just being a marward craft. Noticed the men of marward tying their safas and it resembled the same technique of how bandhani is made. Tying knots to shield the fabric (mind) from colour, noise, deception and manipulation. Added french knots to further represent the safas. Design with intention becomes an identity you proudly carry.

A plate of Aglio e Olio inspired the details of this look. The continuous clinking of my fork to the plate while struggling to pick up the last few strands of spaghetti, it reminded me of a familiar sound - the ghungroos women would wear in Marward. Also the visual of my plate inspired the Dabu white lines that represent the spaghetti and clusters of french knots represent the leftover bits of garlic on my plate.

This is how the sky became a canvas as well as a reflective inspiration for this look.The warm red stripes represent how the sky reflected off the vertical and symmetrically placed windows of the Bikaner haveli. Making the sky the reflective inspiration.The black stripes represent how the birds in the sky would leave a trial of their path when you blur your vision. This makes the sky a canvas. The sky here represents how one individual can play multiple roles in one's life. Sometimes the canvas, sometimes the reflection. 

On my recent trip to Kochi, I noticed a rather interesting practice: Fishing nets - small pieces of this net was being attached to the main net by the fishermen at places where it had been torn. While they were joining these pieces, they left the raw edges unfinished and every time that net took a dip the raw edges became more prominent, creating quite a visual to see. This observation inspired the raw edges on this jacket and the cowrie shells since its a beach side story. 

Fascinated by this small floating village just north of Fort Kochi called KADAMAKKUDY I visioned this particular design. Kadamakkudy is a village that, if seen from above, looks like thin strips of land (mostly roads) running in perfect geometry while having water on both sides. The white stripes that are connected to the main black piece of the jacket using this zig zag technique gives the idea that these strips are floating. The small beads detail show people/family gathered at these roads and spending quality time by the water.