FT NEWS

Your dwelling ground always serves as a force to inspire your work and when someone hails from a place so beautiful as Kashmir, the creative output is bound to be enticing. Designer Wajahat Rather comes from the Valley and runs a beautiful label called Raffughar in New Delhi. His designs draw a lot of influence from the art and craft of Kashmir and for his newest collection Rangrez, the inspiration comes from the khatamband woodcraft of the Valley.

The designer is inspired by nature, culture, and heritage and use them as contemporary design elements. His new collection Rangrez also draws from the khatamband woodcraft of Kashmir. Kashmir’s rich ensemble of traditional silhouettes and his own interest in exploring the different dimensions of the Himalayan region’s motifs and calligraphy are evident in the collections.

The valley is not only famous for its wonderful climate and natural beauty but also for its exquisite textile crafts. If we look up history, Kashmir was situated on one of the many caravan routes in ancient times, routes that connected to and created the Silk route. The land routes of intensive trade between China and Central Asia had people of various groups, from both sides, traveling across vast distances and engaging in trade. This ensured a cultural exchange in terms of language, craft, and other aspects of life. He believes there is a lot in Kashmir to get inspired from like landscape, culture, craft practices, and rituals to name a few.

It is widely accepted that the relationship between fashion and architecture dates back to the earliest men who used the same material for their clothing and for shelter. This relationship has led to closer connections between the two disciplines —both fields have commonalities in their design process. Architects, as well as fashion designers, aim to create perfect, comfortable, and beautiful forms for the human body in a similar way. It is almost impossible to practice architecture separate from fashion since both arts are responsive to the individuals’ and the societies’ culture and environment. In a conceptual sense, both architecture and fashion address psychological perceptions, and spatial structures. From the visual view of point, both arts reflect the taste of the individuals who occupy those spaces, and from the materiality context, architecture and fashion have many things in common, such as the use of fabrics and materials, use of technology.

Their latest collection assimilates that thought by assembling the fragments together into textiles and closely observing the literal, symbolic, and poetic aspects of the craft. They have used techniques that thoughtfully translate them - like hand pleating and ombre dyeing.