INSPIRED BY MARATHA WARRIORS
Harshitaa Chatterjee Deshpande (HCD) is a young, talented film maker/producer, fashion entrepreneur and now a designer. Her collection, Ragas of the Charioteer is inspired by Maratha warriors and will be showcased at the Lakme Fashion Week winter fest 2013 today at 5 pm. The essence of her brand is about revival. The ideology is revisiting and re-energising the handloom traditions of woven art that is a part of our country’s rich heritage. The handlooms of India are unmatched in their precision, creation and possibilities even today. The world still takes notice of the unimaginable weaving techniques that our master craftsmen have been creating for centuries. The energy with which a weaver weaves — the way his fingers move every thread on the loom — is almost like a master on the piano, giving life to his symphony. This energy invariably transcends onto the fabric through the yarn and the motifs giving it an infused voice of its own. It is this energy that makes the creation of a hand woven piece so magical to the recipient. HCD has been working with weavers of Balu Chari in Bisnupur, West bengal for the past three years and in Yeola, Maharashtra for the past 18 months, attempting to adapt the weave into a contemporary silhouette and style, making it wearable and accessible.
For her collection, inspired by a Maratha warrior princess, she has worked with the tribal weavers of Paithani, — a prized possession that was once adorned by Romans and royals around 2,000 years ago. Today, the Paithani stays limited to traditional Maharashtrian forms. It is this aspect that she has tried to reinvent and developed a new kind of weave by transporting yarns across the country and merging the yarns of Tussar from Phulia in Bengal, onto the looms of the traditional craft of Paithan in Maharashtra to create a new, subtle, more matt fabric which we translated into structured jackets, waistcoats, etc. Retaining the Regal aspect of the rich Paithani tradition, everything in gold has been hand woven in pure zari, which makes the pieces collectible heirlooms and can be passed onto generations. The label HCD is an attempt to instill in the generations taking birth before us, a deep respect for the tradition of being an artist and his craft.
Lisa Haydon in designs by Harshitaa
Harshitaa Chatterjee Deshpande
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