The IKKIVI Podcast: Exploring Fashion, Culture and Values

Welcome to the twelfth episode of ‘The IKKIVI Podcast’. In this episode we have with us our very own and special creative director Rhea Gupte. She is also a multidisciplinary artist, writer, poet, photographer, and consultant whose work combines aesthetic explorations with communicating and investigating emotions, thoughts and social narratives.

On this week’s show, Rhea speaks with us about her experiences with different kinds of work, the power there is in building our own identity, making time for things we care about on a daily basis, reimagining what success can look like to us, and letting go of things that don’t bring us joy.

In this podcast, she offers us ways in which we can keep ourselves accountable in a healthy way, stop chasing productivity, have free flowing routines, find creative ways to solve our problems and build systems that are useful and self caring.

You can follow Rhea’s work on Instagram and her Website 

Welcome to the eleventh episode of ‘The IKKIVI Podcast’. In this episode we have with us creative director and writer, Mandovi Menon, who is passionate about using innovative storytelling to spark meaningful change. She believes that expressing creativity freely, with integrity, is at the heart of building a more inclusive world.

On this week’s show, Mandovi discusses with us what entrepreneurship means to her, why it’s okay to keep a distinction between our personal work and professional endeavours, the value of finding ways to enjoy everything we do, and establishing ourselves by allowing time to cultivate a versatile skill set.

In this conversation, we talk about the discipline and almost ritualised practice it takes to wear many hats as an entrepreneur, the need to structure a day to encourage our creative processes. working freely to create output from our abstract ideations. Mandovi also shares how persistence over patience has guided her through her own journey, and become an essential quality to doing  meaningful and impact driven work.

You can follow Mandovi’s work on Instagram and Apalam Chapalam.

Welcome to the tenth episode of ‘The IKKIVI Podcast’. In this episode we have with us Meera Ganapathi, founder of Soup, a writer and a childrens’ book author. Soup is an independent publication bringing you insightful stories from contemporary India, with stories based on overlooked details and personal histories amongst other things.

On this week’s show we talk about the inception of Soup magazine, the ways in which books and stories can impact a child’s mind, how we can create meaningful stories and work by directing our personal tastes and the pressures to read more with each day.

In this conversation, Meera discusses with us the value of writing less sensationally, the different formats in which stories can be communicated and integrated in the contemporary period, the evolving role of illustrations in children’s books and the need to have more timeless and thoughtfully written stories over quick ones.

You can follow Meera’s work on Instagram and sign up for her newsletter series on  Substack

Welcome to the ninth episode of ‘The IKKIVI Podcast’. In this episode we have with us Orsola De Castro, co-founder and global creative director of Fashion Revolution - a global movement campaigning for a clean, safe, fair, transparent and accountable fashion industry. An inspiration to so many of us working to make a change in the industry, she has provided us support and guidance at every step as we make progress.

On this week’s show we talk about her experiences in (and with) the fashion industry, the ways in which clothes have been an integral part of her life since the very beginning, how she worked to navigate and marry together seemingly disparate things she was moved by and the deep seated problems that have persisted in the capitalistic system of production.

In this conversation, Orsola offers us critical reflections on the contemporary state of affairs in the field of fashion, the ways in which we can cultivate a criteria to make purchases, the meaning of having a vision, and the need to learn from places and people who are the narrative of creation to assimilate a sustainable lifestyle.

Welcome to the eighth episode of ‘The IKKIVI Podcast’. In this episode, we have with us Natasha Mahindra, a certified yoga therapist and founder of Anam Cara Yoga Retreats, a yoga travel and adventure company.

This week, we talk about how healing is a collaborative and communal matter, not just a personal or individual one. We also speak about the value of having teachers guide us into different healing practices in this age of information, how we can consciously connect with nature and each other, and how important it is to engage in new therapies to nurture healing.

In this conversation, Natasha shares her insights on the different and essential meanings of the term ‘energy’, how certain yoga practices lend themselves for us to understand our pain, how we can support others in their pain and how we can begin our own practices of mindfulness.

Welcome to the seventh episode of ‘The IKKIVI Podcast’. In this episode, we have with us Bhaavya Goenka, a circular design expert specializing in the reuse and upcycling of industrial textile waste through indigenous craft practices of India and in building replicable systems that allow decentralised development whilst creating conversational products through zero-waste practices.

This week, we talk about the creative and artistic qualities of ‘waste’, the diverse ways in which we can respond to and rectify industrial problems, the opportunities we now have to challenge normative cultures and practices, and the need to think critically as we design for responsible consumption.

In this conversation, Bhaavya reflects on the empowerment we feel when we make mindful choices, the value of collaborative efforts and projects, maintaining the edge in creative industries through our individuality, and  creating the room to express ourselves through multiple forms and mediums.

Hindi Translation 1 in the episode: There’s no need for you to get married. We’ve saved money for you, and we are working further to save money for ourselves and for you. You live your life the way you want to.

Hindi Translation 2 in the episode: I can dye the fabric responsibly such that it can be as stain resistant as possible. The weaver too will weave the design responsibly and we’ll sell it while keeping with our principles of mindfulness. But what about the consumer and wearer? What is their responsibility? They need to act responsibly too.