Having a way with design

Farida Gupta a designer based from Delhi has been working with the development of cotton handloom and traditional designs with a team of all-women employees

“I had come to Delhi to complete my masters. It was in Delhi that I was exposed to a lot of crafts. My interest grew and I wanted to work in development of our heritage. In the course of time, I also wanted to help the underprivileged women, and I started to train them in embroidery works; women would come home and learn the work for free.

Slowly the chain started to increase with the number of women employees too increased. We brought heritage crafts into contemporary wear. From a small room, we have now changed into a huge factory with 150 people working,” Farida shares her journey in the field of handicrafts and handlooms.

About her designs that she is famous for, she explains, “Mostly we visit the artisans who do hand block printing; we develop our own blocks and our own colours. Once the fabric is done we design the butas accordingly.

At times when it our core crafts like Ajrak printings, Kalamkari, then we do not change them, but, innovate with design to give traditional touch to the cloth. Most women find cotton the most wearable fabric and it is also our USP. We totally believe in doing natural fabric. We do a little bit of silk, but only during the festivals.”

Speaking about the challenges she faced in the beginning her career, the handloom designer shares, “Initial challenge was to encourage women to come and work with us. We have taken them from the lowest rung of the society and they come from a patriarchal background. I had to really convince few women to start working and when they started to work, there were a lot more who had to get a push as they were not able to step out of their houses.

We taught few women to teach those who could not step out and that was how, we could create a big network. And of course another challenge that we face even today is to develop our own colours and prints, which takes time and a lot of challenges to work on. Business has always been a challenge for women, and so it was for me as I had to travel alone and also take care of my children. I was lucky enough that all these women come home and help me complete the designs.”

“We will shortly introduce men’s line and we are looking forward to get the western wear for modern woman. We will come up with the traditional touch in western wear as well,” she adds.