Today on our Meet The Makers Series; we feature Arshia Bhargava and Avishek Mandal of Designers and Founders of RIAS Clothing, Jaipur; The team shares with us in brief about their label and showcase at the By Hand From The Heart Makers Market event in Chennai.
Tell us a bit about yourself.
RIAS is a brand which was started by Arshia and Avishek in 2016 with a view to revive Indian crafts and textiles of India. We are design grads from National Institute of Fashion Technology Chennai. Hailing from two different states of the country, (Rajasthan and West Bengal) gave us perspectives of all the crafts from these states, and hence we decided to work on the lost gone crafts which are Dabu and hand block printing from Rajasthan onto hand spun Khadi from a village near west Bengal.
How did you begin RIAS and how has it evolved over the years?
Rias had started its journey as a very small brand by just procuring fabrics from the local artisans and selling it to the close by markets, but then a closer understanding of the history of clothing, our seasonal requirements and a need to promote Indian crafts in a new look, lead us to skilled design team who first develop new age blocks according to the international trends and then skilled craftsmen are trained to print them on to premium hand spun Khadi fabrics, without altering or hindering any traditional procedures maintained back in the days. This keeps the craft and international market walk hand in hand.
Why is making so important to you?
Our aim was to revive lost Indian crafts and combine them with modern designs to full fill current market needs. An urge to contribute to the design society and the realization of the benefits of a home grown market, our initiative generates income for artisans from multiple families, ensuring a better standard of living for all involved AND the most importantly we do not want this ancient craft to die .
What is your personal favourite pick from your RIAS right now? And why?
Our personal pick is this jacket dress which is made out of white hand spun Khadi with lots of gathers on the belt giving it a very serene look combined with bright colourful striped hand blocked Khadi maxi inside making it still quirky , its our favourite because the striped fabric has been made with lot of hard work and precisely, as it involves 14 different blocks and 8 different colours.
What are your displaying at the By Hand, From The Heart.
We are displaying our new collection hathkargha made on hand spun Khadi with Dabu and block printing. The collection involves dresses, shirts, scarfs and saris.
What is a typical working day, like?
Avishek being the head designer, has a very different design methodology, he believes that “ Design creates culture & culture shapes values and Values determine the future “ so we do not follow a typical 9 to 5 culture at our work space, this keeps the team free of any stress or regulations, on the other hand they feel more responsible for the work they hold on too, so every day is absolutely new.
Any design story you would like to share.
When we started working on our s/s18 hathkargha collection, it took us months to put our thoughts down on paper, we continued the process without doubting ourselves on the design value, once the sampling was finished and it was time for production we realized that the conceptualised designs wouldn’t work, and we had to rework from scratch. A great learning experience – knowing that there is no failure in life, you either win or learn.
Meet the Maker @
By Hand From The Heart Makers Market 24th Edition
Friday – Saturday
24th – 25th August, 2018
10:00 a.m to 8:00 p.m
Crowne Plaza Chennai Adyar Park, (old Adyar Gate Hotel)
132, T.T.K Road, Alwarpet, Chennai – 600018, India.
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