Shop Talk

Jaya Jaitly, an eminent crafts practitioner, activist, politician and president, Dastkari Haat Samiti founded India’s most celebrated crafts bazaar, Dilli Haat in 1986. In this third episode of Shop Talk, Jaitly speaks to host Shefalee Vasudev about the evolution of Dilli Haat as it completes 35 years and the relevance of a crafts bazaar in the booming e-commerce and handloom dominated retail scenario. The crafts doyen also discusses with Joydeep Roy of Coloroso, a Kolkata based handloom retailer, the prospect of developing new collaborative and contemporary marketplaces and the future of decentralised craft-based tourism. 

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The couturier of ballroom dresses and fantastical gowns who creates glamour and sensuality with his clothes talks of fashion as a tool to ignite sex appeal, beauty and confidence in the lives of consumers. Addressing the real reason behind people seeking clothes made of fluid fabrics that cascade like liquid, sexy-lacy bridal creations or smart menswear that conveys a certain aesthetic, Gupta talks of the contemporary consumer’s psyche. Chiming in, into the conversation is Rasika Wakalkar, the founder of multi-designer space Studio Rudraksh in Pune, who speaks about ironing out customer confusions, addressing vanity, worth and comfort.

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Well-known textile designer, artist, fashion secularist, visual thinker Sanjay Garg founded Raw Mango in 2008. His distinctly handwoven saris, fluid to fall, soft to touch, brought a cultural renaissance in the minds of contemporary consumers as he reimagined their fabric and design. Colour became a sutradhar in the Raw Mango story for lost and found lovers of the sari. The brand’s inventive shade card like tota hara (parrot green), sharbati (a mix of orange and hot pink), siyahi (charcoal), anandi(bluish), phalsa (wild blueberries), evoke surprise and sensuality. Garg held on to the drape in his design trajectory moving from Chanderi to Banarasi and Mashru and would go on to create ready to wear garments “stitched” on a handloom. In the first episode of Shop Talk, Garg has a persuasive, enjoyable conversation with host Shefalee Vasudev. He moves beyond fashion to the idea of home and rootedness, his social media campaigns that zoom into the zeitgeist through the prism of cloth. Garg also opens up for the first time about Raw Mango’s controversial Zooni campaign shot in Kashmir in 2019.

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