Young Designers 2011

		Young Designers 2011
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Vandana Rawat | vandana.rawat588@gmail.com

Weaving Warmth, a Range of Handwoven Products

Textile Design | GDPD
Guide: Aditi Ranjan
Sponsor: Kumaon Grameen Udyog, Nainital

Keywords
Woolen products
Hand-woven
NGO intervention
Sustainability

For my project at Nainital’s Kumaon Grameen Udyog, an organization which promotes handicrafts and livelihood practices, I had to provide design inputs for the brand Kilmora, a woven textile range that included a collection for an export range for New York Gift Fair 2011. Besides developing new surfaces and structures of fabrics for garments, I was expected to provide new finishing techniques for surfaces and edges as end deliverables.

The project commenced with me studying the client and its working. Kilmora is based in a rural set-up where the artisans make their products with warmth. The clientele includes people from the upper middle-class, professionals, socialites and Indian and foreign tourists. I worked with wool, which can be altered in all its three states: pre-weaving, during weaving and post-weaving. Many weaves were modified with different counts of yarns and colour combinations. Yarns of different materials were also explored, to blend with wool for a better look and feel. Different finishing techniques such as brushing, fulling, felting and softening were tried under different conditions.

I developed two collections along with their colour palettes. For the export range, fulling was the key technique used. The range was textured as the ‘key look’. The second range consisted of yardage, with a range of coordinate fabrics. New layouts and finishings were suggested for renewing the accessories’ range of shawls, stoles and scarves.

By sharing my knowledge, understanding and experience in textile design, I attempted to help the weavers and artisans develop an eye for design and aesthetics. By being a part of the process, not as a mentor but a learner, I noticed the small but crucial details in the process and realized that the major stakeholders were the craftspeople.