Dreamy illustrations by a 29-year-old visual artist for a 100-day Insta project tell the story behind people's fav clothing crafted from homegrown fabric
Manasi Parikh
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The last few years have seen a burgeoning interest in the promotion of Indian textiles. But it's not just textile revivalists who are doing their bit. Young, up-and-coming Indian artists are using their skill and social media to spread the love, too. Visual artist Manasi Parikh's just-launched Instagram project, #100DaysOfClothesILove, uses charming illustrations to highlight her interest in indigenous fabrics, and homegrown design talent.
Pero's Fall/Winter 2015 narrated the Kohima Story via a smock blouse teamed with knee-length shorts and boots
And the inspirations are everyday Indians, some of them her friends. "I wanted to draw people I knew, instead of models. It's [the project] not just about the clothes, but who wears them and why they choose to," says the Juhu resident. Parikh's preliminary research entails inviting friends and Instagram followers to share stories behind their favourite clothing items.
This sketch is inspired from Pero's Spring/Summer 2011 collection, which carried variety in print and pattern despite adhering to a strict monochrome palette
She launched the project two weeks ago, starting with sketches inspired by runway looks of designer Aneeth Arora of Péro, followed by drawings of friends and co-artists Jasjyot Singh Hans and Prashant Miranda, both lovers of ikat. Adding rigour to the idea is the inclusion of a photo reference and short narrative alongside a sketch. "I'm enjoying doing small interviews with people and exploring the story element behind the clothes. About the idea, rather than concentrate on a singular theme, I wish to communicate and visualise a new interpretation of Indian clothing every 10 days," she says.
This illustration kick-started the Ikat series, and features one of Parikh’s favourite people - Jasjyot Singh Hans
After the ongoing Ikat series, she plans to look at vintage clothing from the 1960s and '70s, moving onto clothes we wear at home. "They are most comfortable and judgment-free, don't you think?" she asks. Parikh owes her interest in textiles to her family. Both her grandfathers spent fruitful years as managers at some of the city's most prominent textile mills, while her mother was a student of textile design.
An Indian illustrator based in Baltimore. He is wearing a shirt from his personal wardrobe of ikats teamed with a contrasting turban; the wild party of prints and colours are synonymous with his signature style
After a course in Animation Film Design from Ahmedabad's NID, she worked in Bangalore before moving to Barcelona where she trained at an atelier. She returned to Mumbai, a city she calls home for now, and works out of her studio, Bechain Nagri, in BKC. The first six sketches are a result of old-fashioned, hand-to-paper style using colour pencils. Later, she chose to move to technology. "I now use Photoshop; command+Z is less time consuming. Time management is one of the biggest lessons I've learnt from this project. I don't spend more than an hour on each sketch," she says of the digital works.
A personal assignment entailing 100 artworks in 100 days is quite a climb, a commitment to herself, and her Insta followers. Parikh confesses that she has "never been consistent on social media but the overwhelming response has been validation to keep going." She plans to launch a zine of 100 sketches at the end of the project, which will be available to buy.
Mid-day readers, want a sketch?
Parikh is inviting Sunday mid-day readers to share a piece of clothing that has a story behind it or special memory attached to it.
Share it on Instagram: crayon_cruncher
Email: manasi@bechainnagri.com
Manasi's personal favourite
Personally, she likes Aneeth Arora's clever use of Indian textiles with oddball details and styling. "There is a lot of focus on sustainable fashion presently, and I wish I could afford mindful clothing like Péro's, but they are way too expensive. That's when I decided why don't I draw them instead… my friends tease me, saying, 'You are putting a Péro wish-list through your work'," laughs Parikh.
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