A Confluence Of Cultures

New Delhi-based designer Pooja Shroff draws on Indonesian batik to create an ongoing line of apparel. Brinda Gill lends insights.

- Brinda Gill

“Indonesian batik is an absolutely beautiful and unique textile tradition. Seeing the sheer variety of batik fabrics, motifs, patterns, as well as the different batik techniques practised in Indonesia, I thought it would be wonderful to draw on its essence and reinterpret it using an Indian textile technique. I believed this initiative would amalgamate the rich textile legacies of Indonesia and India, resulting in a collection that would be distinctive and striking,” says designer Pooja Shroff. An Indonesian batik textile given to her as a gift by her sister-in-law, who was brought up in Indonesia, charmed Pooja, who kept the textile in mind for a future collection.

While in Jakarta, Pooja spent her time exploring a spectrum of batik fabrics in local markets. “As I went around the local fabric market, I found a fantastic variety of batik fabrics. Each store had a wonderful selection of batiks with different motifs that were both symbolic and decorative. Though I spent the whole day at the market, I could only visit three stores as each one of them had so much to offer!” she says.

Pooja returned to India with bales of traditional Indonesian batik, created using canting (a bamboo instrument), block printing, and a combination of the two techniques. These textiles bore traditional motifs and patterns that were geometric and abstract, in colour combinations such as black and gold, deep blue and gold, and deep red and earthy browns, which gave them a rich, soulful appeal.

She further used these fabrics to design a collection of Western garments, and these were presented at the Lotus Makeup India Fashion Week Autumn Winter 2019 to appreciative reviews. The collection marked an important milestone for the young designer, whose wish had always been to craft garments that are equal parts attractive and versatile.

THE CALL OF DESIGN