Look closer and you will discover that each hand-woven material has its own name; "Alone in the paddy field" is the name of one, another is called "Garden shed". Just as some people believe talking to plants helps them grow better, Barefoot's late founder Barbara Sansoni respected the process of handloom weaving so much that she felt each new design should go out into the world with a name.
This almost parental protectiveness for the craft extended to how fabric could be used. Even for the dresses in its clothing section, the cutting is expected to honour the original design. "Barbara's thinking was that we should not waste any fabric that comes off the loom," says Shaunagh Aluwihare, head of clothing design at Barefoot. To this day, the piping on Barefoot's shoulder bags, for instance, is material from its men's shirting-a range that struggles against the strict rules on how woven fabric must be cut and the shirts end up oversized and boxy. No darts or zips are added to women's dresses. The focus must always be on colour and the fabric.
This story is from the July - August 2024 edition of AD Architectural Digest India.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the July - August 2024 edition of AD Architectural Digest India.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
AS NEW DELHI'S GALLERY ESPACE MARKS ITS 35TH ANNIVERSARY, AD LOOKS AT GALLERIST RENU MODI'S JOURNEY IN ART.
The New Delhi-based Gallery Espace, founded by Renu Modi in 1989, recently marked its 35th anniversary with two special exhibitions.
ROCHELLE PINTO, EDITOR OF VOGUE INDIA, WRITES ABOUT FORCES OF FASHION, WHICH PUT 39 UNIQUE WORKS UNDER ONE ROOF, PIECING TOGETHER A SHORT HISTORY OF FASHION IN INDIA.
If you want to step into the mind of Cristóbal Balenciaga, the game-changing Spanish couturier who died over 50 years ago, all you have to do is beg, bribe or charm your way into 10 Avenue George V in Paris.
AS INVISIBLE COLLECTION COMES TO INDIA, FOUNDERS ISABELLE DUBERNMALLEVAYS AND LILY FROEHLICHER SHARE THEIR SERENDIPITOUS JOURNEY TO THE COUNTRY.
Isabelle Dubern-Mallevays and Lily Froehlicher first found India at their doorstep when Sonam Kapoor Ahuja borrowed a few pieces from their collection for an AD India cover story in 2021.
ANONYMOUS ARTIST PRINCESS PEA SHOWCASES A COLLECTION OF NINE NEW PRINTS AT THE SOHO HOUSE LOUNGE AT ART MUMBAI.
In Princess Pea's new collection of works, poetry, craft and the divine femininity coalesce with grace.
ARTISTS RITU AND SURYA SINGH'S WONDERLAND OF A HOMESTUDIO IN THE PINK CITY URGES YOU TO LOOK AT THE BEAUTY AND NARRATIVE OF WASTE.
Husband-wife artist duo Ritu and Surya Singh, better known as Wolf, live at \"The Farm\", a unique 20-acre madhouse of wonders in the heart of Jaipur.
KENGO KUMA TALKS TO AD ABOUT HIS DESIGN ADDITIONS AS THE CENTRO DE ARTE MODERNA GULBENKIAN IN LISBON OPENS ITS DOORS AGAIN.
Everyone who has lived in Lisbon likely has a fond memory of the Gulbenkian complex.
FROM HIS REVERENCE FOR GANDHI TO HIS LOVE OF DANCE, A BOOK BY DAG OFFERS NEW WAYS TO KNOW MF HUSAIN.
If there was ever an Indian artist who earned immense fame and yet remained unknowable, it is MF Husain.
WHAT WOULD BAWA DO? WONDERS APARNA RAO, COFOUNDER OF PHANTOM HANDS, AS SHE PRODUCES REISSUES OF GEOFFREY BAWA'S HIGHLY CONTEXTUAL FURNITURE.
In mid-December last year, in the freshly restored Kannangara House designed by Geoffrey Bawa in 1959, an exhibition based on the late Sri Lankan master's furniture designs opened.
BANGLADESHI ARTIST AYESHA SULTANA'S RECENT DUBAI EXHIBITION EXPLORED THE DUAL NATURE OF STRENGTH AND FRAGILITY.
Born in Bangladesh in 1984, the US-based Ayesha Sultana explores notions of form, space and materiality.
WE CATCH UP WITH TARIK CURRIMBHOY AT HIS STUDIO IN NEW YORK, AFTER HIS FIRST SOLO SHOW IN INDIA.
Tarik Currimbhoy's sculptures have a pure, meditative quality. A viewer can stand mesmerized for hours watching the elegant, geometric shapes move back and forth.