Textile Design Graduation Project - The Soul Project by Gopicca B R

graduation Project

the soul project

GOP ICCA B R batch 2017 - - 202 1

Department of textile design NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF FASHION TECHNOLOGY, HYDERABAD 2021

The soul project Graduation Project Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirement of the degree of Bachelor of Design in Textile Design

Submitted by Gopicca B R Guided By Prithwiraj Mal Sponsor Geisha Desings Pvt Ltd

Department of Textile Design National Institute of Fashion Technology, Hyderabad 2021

JURY EVALUATION SHEET

Certificate

The evaluation of jury recommends Ms Gopicca B R for award of graduation from National Institute of Fashion Technology, Hyderabad after evaluating her project and fulfilling the requirements the set by the institute and the jury members. Name

Company / Organisation

This is to certify that Ms Gopicca B R, student of Textile Design Department, Semester VIII Batch: 2017-

2021, National Institute of Fashion Technology- Hyderabad has successfully completed 16 weeks of Graduation Project, at Geisha Designs Pvt Ltd

Signature Date:

Certified by:

Dr Prithwiraj Mal

Associate Professor

Regards regarding fulfilling

Centre Coordinator Department of Textile Design

Faculty Mentor – TD

Dr. Prithwiraj Mal

Associate Professor

Centre Coordinator-TD

GP completion Certificate

ACKNOWLEDMENT Graduation Project is an exposure of a lifetime. It is the first and an imporatant step taken by any design student in his/her design career. I was fortunate to have such an experince before I enter into the Fashion and Textile industry as a designer. I would firstly like to thank my family and friends who supported and encouraged me and invaluable assistance throughout these 16 weeks. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my institute, NIFT Hyderabad, the Director Shri. Vijay Kumar Mantri, IAS and Joint Director Shri. L. Madan Kumar Reddy providing me with this golden oppourtunity to gain knowledge and experience working first hand in the Textile Industry. I would aslo like to thank my faculties Dr. Sasmita Panda, Mr. G. Rajesh Kumar, Ms. Jyothirmai S and Mr. Srikanth Gella as well as the staff of textile design department Ms. Swapna Aeluru, Mr. D. M. Saravanan, Mr. G. Satish and Mr. Ardhuti Kasaiah for all their advices and help. I pay my deep sense of appreciation to my faculty mentor Dr Prithwiraj Mal or his unrelenting support, encouragement and guidance throughout the whole process. My special thanks my Industry mentors Mr. Paras Bairoliya and Mrs. Shalini Jiakaria for accepting my application to work with their design house, Geisha Designs and for critiquing, challenging and mentoring me throughout the 16 weeks. I would also like to thank the employees at Geisha and the artisans at Kalamkaari for being understanding and working along with me to produce the end products amid the pandemic.

PREface As part of the B.Des curriculum and in order to gain practical knwoledge in the feild of design we were required to acquire first hand experience working in the textile industry for a period of 16 weeks creating two different collections for the sponsor company (if applicable). This 16 week project is named as the graduaruion project marking the end of the students academic career at NIFT. It is also an opportunity for him/her to showcase their learnings and flaunt their creativity working directly with the industry. My graduation project “The Soul Project”, states my experience working with Giesha Designs and creating two lounge wear collections for their newly launched line called “Geisha Care”. I worked mainly with the technique of Eco printing for the first collection and Hand painting using natural Dyes for the second both consisting of 6 peices. I also tried incorporating the herbal art of ayurvastra into my collections to provide the clinetle a sense of general well being. I also tried digitally duplicating the eco-prints to create a more commercial line for the company which is more viable when they deal with export and buying houses.

1 introduction 1-6 - about the brand....1 - Brand ideology....2 - Mission and Vision....2

Content

- Organisational Structure....2 - PRoduct range....3-6 - The Pioneers....7 - COMPETiTORS....8

2 Collections 7-8 - project brief....9 - Clientle....10 - Market research....11-14 - brain storming.... 15-16

Collection 1

- Silhouettes....55-58

EarthLY imprints (17-78)

- Product Manufacturing...59-60

19-20....Design Process 21....Breif 22....what is eco printing? 23-24....mood board 25-26....Mind mapping 27-28....Design inspiration 29-30....techniques 31-37....fabrics used 38-43....how it is made 44-46..sampling and expements 47-52....Finalised swatches 53-54....Colour Board -

- Final products....61-70 - Costing....71-77

Collection 2 EarthLY imprints - Breif....81 - initial Concept....82 - Concept board....83-84 - mood board....85-86 - Mind mapping....87-88 - Motif Exploration (Hand)..89-104 - digital Exploration....105-110 - initial designs....111-125

- Finalised Sizes and placements of the prints....127-138 - Final silhouettes and designs....139-146

- Final Fabrics....147-148 - Recipies for Colours....149-150 -digital renderings of Final ensembles....151-154

3 Conclusion 156 4 Bibliography 157-158

Figures

ȘȘ Fig 1: An ensemble from Geisha Couture....3

ȘȘ Fig 27: Left - myrobalan dyed Organdy....48

ȘȘ Fig 2: An ensemble from Geisha Resort....4

ȘȘ Fig 28: Organza Mordanted with 5% FeSO4....49

ȘȘ Fig 3: Ensembles from Geisha Rose....5

ȘȘ Fig 29: Organza Mordanted with Cow Milk....49

ȘȘ Fig 4: A mask from Geisha Care....6

ȘȘ Fig 30: Organza Mordanted with 20% Alum....49

ȘȘ Fig 5: Shalini Jaikari and Paras Bairoliya....7

ȘȘ Fig 31: Cotton Mordanted with 20% Alum....50

ȘȘ Fig 6: Lace brder white cami from Nicobar...13

ȘȘ Fig 32: Ayur Vastra Samples....58

ȘȘ Fig 7: Oversized shirt from Nicobar....13

ȘȘ Fig 33: Butterfly pea, madder on neem silk, Mordant - alum....58

ȘȘ Fig 8: Slip top and Jacket from Anokhi....14

ȘȘ Fig 34: Butterfly pea, marigold, anatto on tulsi silk, Mordant - alum...58

ȘȘ Fig 9: Cami top from Nicobar....14

ȘȘ Fig 35: Cosmos, Buuterfly pea, Iron water on sappan silk, Mordant - alum....58

ȘȘ Fig 10: Halter Neck dress from Nicobar....14

ȘȘ Fig 36: Butterfly pea, Cosmos on white cotton.....59

ȘȘ Fig 11: Sheer Jacket from Good Earth....14

ȘȘ Fig 37: Tannin blankets with wild plants used as barriers....59

ȘȘ Fig 12: The Euca strappy top....17-18

ȘȘ Fig 38: Iron blankets with wild plants used as barriers....59

ȘȘ Fig 13: Eco printed Cotton Ayur Vastra...24

ȘȘ Fig 39: Guava leaf imprint on tulsi cotton....60

ȘȘ Fig 14: Resist Eco print....22

ȘȘ Fig 39: Eucalyptus leaf imprint on organza...60

ȘȘ Fig 15: Mordanting Materials....27

ȘȘ Fig 40: Guava leaf and cosmos imprint on sappan silk....60

ȘȘ Fig: 16 Marigold Dyed fabric samples.....28

ȘȘ Fig 41: Tulsi seed imprint on neem silk....60

ȘȘ Fig 17: Bundle dyed Tulsi Silk....43

ȘȘ Fig 42: Madder dyed 80s cotton bundle dyed with marigold, butterfly pea and rose petals....62

ȘȘ Fig 18: Eco resist printed cotton tannin and iron blankets....43

ȘȘ Fig 43: Resist eco printed 80s cotton with silhouette embroidery....63

ȘȘ Fig 19: Eco print using guava leaves....44

ȘȘ Fig 44: Ecucalyptus eco printed 4ply organza....64

ȘȘ Fig 20: Final Fabric Swatches....45

ȘȘ Fig 45: Resist eco printed 4ply organza, Eco printed organza with iron....64

ȘȘ Fig 21: Scoured Cotton Fabric....47

ȘȘ Fig 46: Bundle dyed cotton with sappan, marigold, rose petals and butterfly pea....65

ȘȘ Fig 22: Myrobalan dyed Fabric....47

ȘȘ Fig 47: Bundle dyed cotton with marigold and butterfly pea with silhouette embroidery....65

ȘȘ Fig 23: Iron dipped Myrobalan dyed Fabric in lower concentrations....47

ȘȘ Fig 48: Bundle dyed cotton bundle dyed with coreopsis, butterfly pea, sappan, dhalia etc and surface embellished....66

ȘȘ Fig 24: Myrobalan dyed Fabric 30%....48 ȘȘ Fig 25: Iron dipped Myrobalan dyed Fabric..48 ȘȘ Fig 26: Left - myrobalan dyed 4 ply Organza..48

ȘȘ Fig 49: Washed resist-eco printed fabrics, Both the tannin and iron blankets....87 ȘȘ Fig 50: 1 Thread selection, 2 Aari work, 3 Embroidering printed fabrics....87

ȘȘ Fig 51: Marking and cutting the fabric....88

ȘȘ Fig 115: Wrap Jacket design....194

ȘȘ Fig 52: Stitching and finishing the products....88

ȘȘ Fig 116: Jumpsuit design....195

ȘȘ Fig 53: Resist Eco-printed Over Sized Organdy Shirts with embroidery detailings....91

ȘȘ Fig 117: Over sized shirt design....196

ȘȘ Fig 54: Resist Eco-printed Crop Organza Jacket 1....92

ȘȘ Fig 118: 80s cotton, Heavy weight khadi, Light weight khadi and Medium weight khadi....197

ȘȘ Fig 55: Resist Eco-printed Crop Organza Jacket 2....93

ȘȘ Fig 119: Final Designs for Hand-Made Blooms.....199-200

ȘȘ Fig 56: Eco printed and Rust dyed Lounge wrap top and skirt with gold foil detailings....94

ȘȘ Fig 120: Final Designs for Hand-Made Blooms.....201-202

ȘȘ Fig 57: Eco-printed Organza Strappy Top....95 ȘȘ Fig 58: Wrap Top using Eco Resist Techniques....96 ȘȘ Fig 59: Sweet Short Eco Printed Dress....97 ȘȘ Fig 60: Midi Dress Eco Resist Techniques....98 ȘȘ Fig 61: Eco Resist Printed Scraf....99 ȘȘ Fig 62: Eco Resist Printed Scraf....100 ȘȘ Fig 63: Eco Resist Printed Shirt Dress....101 ȘȘ Fig 64: Eco Printed Ruffle Ayur Dress....102 ȘȘ Fig 65: Eco Printed Ayur Jump Suit....103 ȘȘ Fig 66: Eco Printed Maxi Dress....104 ȘȘ Fig 67: A peice of Japanase Fantasy Floral artwork....124 ȘȘ Fig 68: Painting with natural dyes....125 ȘȘ Fig 69-82: Hand drawn motifs.....135-150 ȘȘ Fig 83-86: Motif exploration digital....151-156 ȘȘ Fig 87-97: Repeat Print and Layout exploration ....162-172 ȘȘ Fig 98-100: Initial Ideas for Engineer Print.....173-175 ȘȘ Fig 101-111: Engineer Print 1....178-188 ȘȘ Fig 112: Short Ruffle Sleeve Dress design....191 ȘȘ Fig 113: Midi Dress with Shirring design....192 ȘȘ Fig 114: Midi Strappy Dress design....193

introduction About the brand

They believe in making the fairytale moments in our lives a reality. Each peice of their garmant is a unique craftmanship that stays with you forever.

Mission and Vision To touch the lives of the wearer. To create an experience of being understood. The brand’s mission is to provide superior customer service and make the whole shopping experience pleasurable.

Geisha Designs is an India based luxury lifestyle brand that was started by NIFT graduates Mrs Shalini Jaikaria and Paras Bairoliya in 2001. They have translated the ancient yet very modern world of today into creative and unconventional garments. The brand is a good mix of traditions and contemporary style to create classic, heritage and timeless pieces.

Their vision is to create a presence in the market,where ‘Geisha Woman’ feels she is in her paradise– a fairytale of happiness.

Organisational Structure

They emphasis mostly on prints, hand detailings and other techniques to make their graments beautiful inside out. Emroidery and prints are an essential part Geisha Designs with creative use of traditional materials like beads, sequins etc to gives a 3D form that is textural, vibrant and bold. A small idea that popped into two young designers minds have now evolved into a brand of 150 plus employees. Geisha Design is a member of the FDCI (Fashion Design Council of India) and shocases they collections bi-annually at the Wills Lifestyle Indian Fashion Week, Paris Fashion Week, Indian Fashion Week, etc. The brand currently retails in more than 100 stores all across Europe, India, Japan, Sout East Asia, UAE, USA, UK and South Africa.

brand ideology The ideology that bind the lable is A design philosophy that epitomizes style and focuses on fine craftsmanship, utility and refinement. 1

There are more than 150 employees at Geisha Designs. They are divided into the following departments: Design, Production, Finance, Legal and logistics, Merchandising, Legal, etc 2

GEISHA RESORT

Product Range

Fig 1: An ensemble from Geisha Couture

Fig 2: An ensemble from Geisha Resort

GEISHA COUTURE The Geisha Couture is an archive of heavy work embellished gowns. The ensembles are quite diverse in terms of their designs and details. The aesthetics range from classy to whatever you’d like to believe. The color palette is deliberately soft and heartwarming. The essence of this range is to represent that sweetheart who believes in love, magic and happily ever after’s. 3

The Geisha Resort by the label is a dive into a spectrum of vibrant colours and endless design opportunities. The silhouettes here are well segregated into skirts, maxi dresses, jackets and tops while the details in prints, embroideries and textures remain as dainty and sinuous as ever.

GEISHA ROSE

GEISHA CARE

Fig 3: Ensembles from Geisha Rose

The Geisha Rose showcases the label’s Indian wear range alongside displaying the company’s design philosophy and aesthetic values. The collection actively experimented with the various aspects of design like silhouettes, drapes, color, surface work, prints, to well align with the current fashion trends whilst holding its traditional Geisha touch of femininity. 5

Fig 4: A mask from Geisha Care

Geisha Care is a new line of apparel launched by the label concentrating on natural and sustainable techniques without compromising on the company’s design philosophy and aesthetic values. The collection focuses on proving the customers a sense of well being and mothering through the ensembles. Each peice is absolutley unique, handmade with love and care.

The Pioneers

Competitors

The name KoAi means “Love Child” in Japanese. Clothes by KoAi are non fussy and can be worn daily. Silhouettes have an international appeal and are ready to wear but the origins are quintessentially Indian. Their collection explores the long lost ancient Indian fabric technique of DABU PRINT.

Fig 5: Shalini Jaikari and Paras Bairoliya, Owners of Geshia Designs

Sahlini and Paras Paras Bairoliya and Shalini Jaikaria are the designer duo behind the brand Geisha Designs, a luxury lifestyle brand that epitomises style and makes use of fine craftsmanship. The designers place an emphasis on creating styles that have an old-world romantic look. Both the designers are graduates from the prestigious NIFT in New Delhi, India. While Shalini completed a course in medicine before turning to fashion, Paras has always been a designer at heart - in fact, he also won the Best Designer of the year award at NIFT for his graduation collection. 7

Founded in 2017, by three sisters, Urban Suburban is a culmination of our strong desire for travel, food, fashion and vacations which we delineate in the form of clothes manifesting silhouettes that are timeless. Urban Suburban is trying to amalgamate an Indian context in the overall design aesthetic, yet keep the clothes stylish and comfortable for all our holiday needs

The collections

Clientle

project brief

The initial breif given to me by the sponson was to create a line of resort wear which can be added to their already existing product rage the Geisha Resort. After presenting my ideas for the collections both the sponsors and myself felt the ideas were more suitable for a loungewear line that can be used as daywear as well. Since the pandemic has brought in restriction in many parts of our life, a vaccation inspired luxury loungewear line that can be amalgamated with daily wear seemed like a brilliant idea, one that created endless possibilities. Thus the idea for a sustainable and eco friend line of loung-day wear a completely new range of product the Geisha Care was formed and was taken forward. The main ideas were to incorporate natural dye handpaintings and eco printing into the ensembles so that each peice turn out to be unique, a timeless work of art the clients could posses and pass on. We aslo thought about incorporation ayur-vastra into the products to seize the clients attention into general well being and other health benefits of wearing them on a daily basis. A spectrum of working women who are interested in the goodness of sustainable and eco friendly techniques and cautious of their carbon foot print , who would like experimenting with trendy designs and l invest in clothes that portrays a sense of modernity while conserving their Indian roots. 9

Market research SECONDARY RESEARCH: Trend

A secondary reserach was conducted where several reserach papaers and forecasting sites were referred to get an idea about what the technique used and to learn what the market requires. The following points were derived from the study. • Stay at home restriction have blurred the lines between lounge and day wear presenting us with whole new possibilities of expanding, developing and amalgamating the categories. • Usage of sustainable and natural materials, low impact dyes due to rising evironmental awareness • More importance to comfort by using easy, breathable silhouettes, elasticated waists, drawstrings, oversized shirts, tops , etc along with practical features like pockets, built in ties can be incorporated.

• Usage of a natural colour palatte. Using dyes derived naturally from botanicals, garden and food wastes etc. • Take inspiration from exotic expeditions for a vacation themed lounge wear using botanicals and floral prints. Creating a cross over between day wear and lounge wear. • Create timeless peices keeping longevity in mind. Prioritise transitional and timesless peices made using durable and sustainable materials. • Juxtapose utility peices with floral and eco imprints for a feminine take.

• Bring in handmade and artisanal techniques to add value to the fabric.

Colour research

The colours chosen for both the collection were inspired from nature. This was done so that the wearer not only feel the comfort of sustainable clothing through the designs and materials but aslo through sight. The colour palettes were deliberately chosen in such a way that the wearer would feel closer to nature while wearing the ensembles. For the first collections the colours included earthy tones and shades while the second collections was all about vibrant and vivid colours. For Earthy Imprints since the concept chosen was eco printing the colour palette was restricted to different shdes of brown and yellows. We did manage to extract some oranges and greens to add in some vibrancy to each peice. For handmade blooms since we planned on hand painting the designs on the fabric, the colours chosen were already existing natural dyes which were vibrant shades of reds, yellows, blues, browns and greens. Shades of the primary colours were modified into tones and tints for shading and filling puposes.

PRIMARY RESEARCH: The primary research for the collection was done by visiting several Indian brands that focuses on sustainability and other eco-friendly practices such as Good Earth, Anokhi, Nicobar etc. Studying their existing products, the techniques and detailings used, quality of the products as well as their price. This physical survey gave me a first hand experience and a better idea about the market and how to take the ideas forward. Studying the prospective competetitors of Geisha also gave me an idea about were excatly I should be concetrating to attract more consumers so that theres a constant workflow throughout the year. Fig 8: Slip top and Jacket from Anokhi

Fig 9: Cami top from Nicobar

Several techniques like Tie-dye, Ice dyeing, Kalamkari, Block Prints etc were studied on after which we came to a conclusion to move ahead with Eco/ Botanical prints, Bundle dyeing and Handpaintings with natural dyes. The techniques used were supposed to be completely natural and sustainable thus several blogs, vlogs and books were studied in detail to come down to a viable and easy method we method we could follow. Each techniques were later explored and practised using the materials and fabrics available to us. Fig 6: White cami with lace brder from Nicobar

Fig 7: Oversized shirt from Nicobar

The selected swatches and forms were later on recreated and re-drawn to ensure control and stability for future development of the peices.

Fig 10: Halter Neck dress from Nicobar

Fig 11: Sheer Jacket from Good Earth

17 18

Brain storming

Collection 1 - EarthLY imprints A collection of garments created using eco printing and the resist technique of eco printing. In this project we mainly focused on imprints produced by leaves and flowers that contain tannin as well as experimented with the strong reaction between a tannin and Iron to create beautiful impressions of them. The collection produced focuses on sutainability and green practices to make unique pieces that could be cherished and loved.

20 Fig 12: The Euca strappy top from the collection Earthy Imprints

Design Process 21

Project Brief

Experimen ting with techniques

Final Colours and Swatches

Final Products

Collection Brief

Design Inspiration

Final Fabrics

Product Manufact uring

Concept Board

Mind Mapping

Printing and Dyeing

Surface embellish ments

what is eco printing?

collection 1 - Breif

Create a luxury lounge wear collection for the provided clientel using different techniques of Eco-printing. The silhouettes used must be breathable and comfortable and designed in such way that they could be worn as a day wear as well. The products developed should be made keeping in mind thebrands aesthtics and ideologies and shoudl serve a purpose in influencing the customers to live a sustainable and conscious life.

Nature is very important for human life. It provides a source of life for humans with extraordinary beauty. Thus, many people are inspired to carry out economic activities by representing the natural beauty in a work in the form of fashion design on clothing. Eco printining is one such activity. Eco-printing, botancal printing, eco dyeing or leaf printing. It is known in several terms, is a technique where plants, leaves, flowers and other flora leave their shapes, color, and marks on fabric. Plant material that is bundled inside of cloth (natural fibers) is steamed or boiled to release the dye found naturally inside the plant, creating a contact print in the shape of the leaf or flower used.

why eco printing? Public awareness of the importance of preserving the environment is increasing, so that environmentally friendly lifestyles are becoming a trend in various businesses, especially in the textile business.

Fig 14: Resist Eco print

Fig 13: Eco printed Cotton Ayur Vastra

Eco printing is a very sustainable and green practice. All the processes included are very natural, starting from the basic ingredients used, fabric coloring, and techniques for making motif patterns on the fabric. It is also very economically viable making it easier for textile businesses to adopt and execute. 24

Eco printing can be suggested as a different approach to conventional natural dyeing. This technique is very rich application field involved in combination of art and scientific method. It allows designers and artists to present their imagination unrestrictedly. Unpredictible results, patterns, colours and visual effects are possible. Eco dyeing and printing is a kind of art form creating visual effects through natural colourants existing in plants, fruits, vegetables, waste materials, by-products etc. These techniques are contact methods using plants as natural stencils consequently producing astonishing and interesting shades, textures, traces and marks on fabric surface. Different kinds of fabrics such as cotton, linen, jute, hemp, viscose, Tencel, wool, silk, specialty protein fibers, etc. can be used. On the basis of practices and core knowledge of traditional natural dyeing methods, contact dyeing and printing process can be guided to obtain unique surface properties on the fabric. This sustainable technique can be defined as an alternative way to produce random/symmetrical asymmetrical patterns, marks and partially coloured surfaces through direct use of different parts of plants/trees/fruits/vegetables etc. Unlike conventional natural dyeing and printing methods, vegetal parts are directly enclosed and bundled in fabric with or without rod. Single fabric layer or multiple layers containing plants like sandwich can also be employed. Fabric pockets are post treated to extract, activate and fix the dye molecules into the fabric. This fixation step which is made by steaming, boiling or batching is crucial to generate satisfactory print effects, textures, darkness, colour shades and colour yields. An intriguing and attractive characteristic of an eco printed surface is the tendency of plant pigments to separate into unexpected constituent colors, giving impressions of “broken colour” on the substrate, with patterning and colourings of spontaneous nature. These effects can be made more predictable by the selective use of mordants and dye assistants such as iron or copper, by applying acid or alkalis to shift pH, or by combining dye plants in the bundle in order to mix new colors right on the substrate. 25

Plant materials should be securely wrapped in a premordanted textile or layered between sheets of watercolor paper; the bundle is tied tightly with string and perhaps weighted with a brick, then steamed over water or simmered in water or natural dye. Different print effects are obtained by layering, tying, folding, clamping or stitching metals, rocks, twigs, etc. onto the substrate Different colors can be obtained depending on recipe, mordant and extraction. Use of ferrous sulfate will create browner areas while copper sulfate will produce green areas. Although natural dyes are generally are associated with protein fibres in terms of achieving more vivid, dark colours and satisfactory results than cellulosic fabrics, nowadays researchers, designers and artists also focuse on other textile fibres. It is known that cotton fibre generally produces more dull colour shades. Papers and nonwovens can also be substrates for contact dyeing/eco printing

Mordant and mordanting method choice directly affects colour shades and fastness properties obtained. It is not possible to present strict rules and instructions for mordanting method because results vary depending on plant and mordant type. Pre and post mordanting method may produce darker shades depending on on the same. Mordant concentration is also essential factor on darkness.

Learning about mordants Some of the natural dyes can form metal-complexes with metal salts of iron, aluminium, copper, tin and chromium. Mordants can impart fastness properties and widen colour gamut depending on the type of the mordant. Dramatic colour changes are achieved by using the same natural dyestuff only by changing the mordant type. A wide range of colours with very different shades, darkness and fastness values can be obtained depending on the kind and concentration of natural dye and mordant and mordanting method. • Conventional Metallic mordants: Most mordanting agents are metallic salts of chromium, tin, iron, copper and aluminum. Copper and chromium containing compounds were widely used as mordants, but their usage has declined because of toxicity concerns. Likewise, iron and tin mordantscan affect the color and tactile qualities of the dyed textile. Aluminum mordanting agents are commonly used and considered among the safest in the application of natural dyes.

Fig 16: Marigold Dyed fabric samples 1) no mordant, 2) Alum, 3) Copper, 4) Iron

• Oil mordants: These are mainly used in dyeing Turkey Red colour from madder. The main function of the oil mordant is to form a complex with alum used as the main mordant. • Bio mordants: These are tanin, tannic acid, tartaric acid and metal containing plants. Myrabolan, pomegranate rinds, tannin, tannic acid, tartaric acid, guava, banana leaves ash, valex, rosemary, and thuja are reported as bio and eco-friendly mordants providing satisfactory dyeing and fastness properties. Commonly used mordants include aluminum potassium sulfate, iron sulfate, copper sulfate, stannous chloride, and potassium dichromate 27

Fig 15: Mordanting Materials

the Process Prepare your leaves Scouring: Each type of fibre needs to be readied for taking the colour from the leaves. To make sure you are starting with the cleanest possible fibres you should scour your fabric. Most fabrics have some coatings, starches and buildup of oils. Scouring is a strong cleaning to get of these impurities.

Mordanting is the most important process of preparing fibers to accept color. This is not an optional step but there are many mordant variations. Using a mordant helps to ensure the most durable and long-lasting colors.

• Wool, alpaca, and other animal fibers

RECOMMENDED MORDANT • Aluminum Potassium Sulfate with optional Cream of Tartar

OTHER MORDANT OPTION • Symplocos

• Aluminum Sulfate • Silk

• Cotton, linen, Tencel, bamboo and other plant fibers

Preparing Leaves

Place the leaves

Mordanting

FIBER

Depending on the time of year, you may have fresh or dried/ pressed leaves to dampen. Let them soak in the iron water or just water for at least 30 minutes

• Aluminum Potassium Sulfate

• Aluminum Acetate with wheat bran afterbath

• Aluminum Sulfate

• Symplocos

• Aluminum Acetate with wheat bran or with calcium carbonate afterbath

• Tannin andAluminum Sulfate • Symplocos

The fabric is streched out on a plastic sheet to protect gainst the tsians. The dipped leaves are placed on the fabric seeing if there is a good coverage. Some are facing up and some down.

Tie the Bundle

PLacing Leaves on the Fbaric

To keep the fabric tight to the leaves, wrap at regular intervals quite tightly. As an extra measure you may wrap the entire roll in a foil or plastic. This will keep the moisture in and not let more in. Each slight variation may effect the result slightly as well. Tying the fabric

Steaming (or boiling) Depending on the type of leaves you have used they may give off odd smells/vapour when they are steamed/boiled. You can add metals to the water as extra mordant but I feel that they don’t really get into the bundle when steaming. You can steam them from 3omints to several hours. Steaming the Rolls

Explaining the sandwiching

What is eco resist print There are so many intricate foliage that has very less tannin for them to be used in eco printing. But such leaves and flowers as a resist they work great since they act as ‘blocks’ to stop all the fabric from changing colour; thus making the shapes or silhouettes on the target fabric. Tests with Myrobalan have shown how strong the attraction of the iron is to the Myrobalan. Whenever these components are mixed together it creates a nice purplish-grey. The depth does depend on the strength of both the Myrobalan and the iron. Myrobalan powder is made from the ground nuts of the Terminalia chebula tree. It also goes by the name of Harda Powder. It is believed to have some interesting healing properties in traditional Indian medicine and thus contains no harmful chemicals.It has high tannin content almsot 12% of Chebulinic acid and 2% of Chebugalic acid thus they can also be used as mordants while natural dyeing.

The target fabric for resist eco printed is a peice of cloth dyed in myrobalan solotion. over which the leaves are placed according to your design. A ‘blanket’ is the same thing as a carrier cloth. This is usually a piece of cotton or other absorbent fabric, that is put on top of the fabric you want to print. We will call that the target piece. The most common mordant for a blanket is ferrous sulfate, we call this an iron blanket. This blanket is made by soaking a fabric the same size as of the target peice in ferrous sulphate solution. As the figure explains, the blanket is placed over the leaves and these three layers are sandwiched between two plastic sheets to prevent ghosting or staining. Myrobalan Dyed Fabric

Myrobalan Powder

important Terms The Iron Blanket An iron blanket is an extra piece of fabric (even paper towels) that is soaked in the rusty iron water and then wrung out. This layer will be put above the leaves to bring the iron to the fabric in a different way. In this method the leaves are not dipped in iron water, they are used as is (or wetted if dried) or when we are using the reaction of tannins and ferrous sulphate for resist eco printng.

The Barrier Layer To keep the colours from bleeding through the layers definitely use a barrier layer. That can be plastic wrap (Like Saran wrap) or strips of plastic drop sheets (reusable).

Tips and tricks ✴✴ Dry the leaves or flowers to store for later use ✴✴ Use a barrier like plastic sheets, foil, etc. to prevent ghosting ✴Making ✴ sure the bundles are tied really tight is important. The tighter the better ✴✴ Make sure to wring the fabric properly. The amount of wetness is also a possible problem in Eco Printing. If there is a lot of water it can flow and leak through causing blurs. ✴✴ While placing the leaf make sure the botton side is in conract with the fabric. The cells on the bottom vein side of the leaf have thinner walls so they print easier. ✴Don’t ✴ be fooled by fancy colours or shapes; not all leaves print well. It is not the colour on the leaf but the tannin that it holds. ✴✴ Adding iron to the priting process will darken or make the colours duller. ✴Protein ✴ fabrics print best while eco printing. ✴Vinegar ✴ is not a mordant.

Carrier Blanket Carrier blankets brings another element to the mix. Most often it would bring a natural dye (maybe even another dye) or a tannin to the print fabric. This carrier piece of fabric is not meant to permanently hold whatever it’s adding, but to transfer it. I often like to use an old cotton flannel sheet as the carrier blankets since they are quite absorbent and have already lost their lint.

Plants Used For Resist Eco Priting

Plants For Eco Priting

Tannin-rich leaves:

Tannin-rich Flowers:

Eucalyptus, all species.

Coreopsis

Grevillea Robusta/Johnsonii

Rose

Oak

Dhalia

Maple

Cosmos

Rose

Queen ann’s Lace

Guava

Sunflower

Lakshmi Taru

Marigold

Teak

Tulsi seeds

Black Berry

Butterfly Pea

Simarouba glauca. (Lakshmi taru)

Betula papyrifera Marsh. (paper birch)

Radermachera sinica. (China Doll)

Ivy

Peepal

Money Tree Plant

Concept BOARD

38 37

39 40

mind mapping

• Leaf Imprint • Water Colour effect • Emphasis on Negative Space-Positive Space • Slightly Smudgy • Painted flowers • Resist dye effect (Batik) • Focus on floral and leaf shapes

Design inspiration

• Silhouettes

Bundle Dyeing : It is a natural dyeing process done using flowers, leaves, natural dye powders, etc. on paper or fabric.

Eco Printing : It is a natural printing process done using flowers, leaves and other organic materials. The materials used in this technique need to have tannin, natural pigments or acids in them which reacts with different mordants to leave an imprint on the base fabric when it boiled or steamed.

Unlike eco-printing, bundle dyeing will not have a proper form to it. The structures are rather abstract giving it a very mordern and unconvetional texture and look.

The most commonly used mordants are alum and iron. which is readily available. Each mordant gives out different shades and shapes proving us a wide spectrum to play with.

We tried doing bundle dyeing using several natural dye powders like madder, marigold, annatto, etc. , garden and food waste.

Each eco printed peice is an art form. It is unique and one of a kind.

Techniques used

Fig 19: Eco print using guava leaves

Fig 17: Bundle dyed Tulsi Silk

Resist Eco Printing : It is a natural printing process done using flowers, leaves as barriers. The flowers or leaves used in this technique need not have tannin in them. It is a completely different technique compared to the normal technique of eco printing. Here we use the reaction between a tannin (Myrobalan) and FeSo4 (Iron Water) that produces beautiful shades of greys and browns to create lovely pieces of apparel that are distinctive and every bit special

Fig 18: Eco resist printed cotton tannin and iron blankets

We used several wild leaves and flowers to create the beautiful formations. 44

Fabrics used • Fabric - Cotton Organdy • GSM - 0.50 • EPI - 65 • PPI - 30 • Colour - white • Not print/dye ready.

• Fabric - 4 Ply Organza • GSM - 0.40 • EPI - 74 • PPI - 65 Fig 20: Final Fabric Swatches

• Colour - white • Print/Dye ready.

• Fabric - Cotton Voile • GSM - 0.57

• Fabric - Handloom Cotton (Ayur Fabric)

• EPI - 68

• GSM - 0.80

• PPI - 55

• EPI -50

• Colour - white

• PPI -44

• Not print/dye ready.

• Colour - white • Print/Dye ready.

Dyeing the fabric - Myrobalan

Finalised concentration

Fig 25: Iron dipped Myrobalan dyed Fabric.

Fig 24: Myrobalan dyed Fabric 30% Fig 21: Scoured Cotton Fabric

Fig 22: Myrobalan dyed Fabric.

Left - 30% in 2-3% FeSO4 Middle - 30% in 5% FeSO4 Right - 30%in 7-8% FeSO4

Left - 10% for 30 mins Middle - 15% for 30 mins Right - 30% 30 mins

Fig 23: Iron dipped Myrobalan dyed Fabric in lower concentrations

Fig 26: Left - myrobalan dyed 4 ply Organza

Fig 27: Left - myrobalan dyed Organdy

Left - 10% dipped in 2% iron Right - 15% dipped in 2% iron

Right - Iron Dipped 4 ply Organza

Right - Iron Dipped Organdy

Mordanting the fabrics

Knowing ayur vastra What is Ayur Vatra?

Ayurvastra or medical dress is made of 100% pure organic cotton or silk, wool, jute & coir. These eco-friendly garments made from natural fibers and herbal dyes. They are easy on the skin and are well suited for hot and humid climatic conditions. Ayurvastra helps the human body to shed toxins and to improve metabolism. The cloth is woven with special herbs and is permeated with oils that can cure various ailments including diabetes, skin infections, psoriasis, arthritis, rheumatism, hypertension, and asthma among others, and are found to enhance the immune system of the body.

Why Ayur Vastra?

• With people becoming more health-conscious all over the world, ‘Ayurvastra’ fabrics have a great scope in times to come. • Ayurvastra not only reinforces the importance of sustaining the planet for future generations but also considers the well-being of current generations using age-old practices.

Fig 28: Organza Mordanted with 5% FeSO4

Fig 29: Organza Mordanted with Cow Milk

Fig 29: Organza Mordanted with 20% Alum

Fig 30: Cotton Mordanted with 20% Alum

• Ayurvastra can play an effective role in the revival and elevation of the market for eco-friendly fabrics. Thus, it may be taken as an emerging or new area of entrepreneurship and job opportunity for young people on one hand and on the other contribute towards offering economic stability to the nation.

Fig 31: Ayur Vastra Samples

Finalised ayur vastra • Fabric - Sappan Ayur Vatsra • GSM - 0.80gms • Colour - Brick Red • Print ready.

How it is made Materials required : • Mordants (Alum, FeSO4)

• Fabric - Vetiver Ayur Vastra • GSM - 0.80gms • Colour - Brown • Print ready.

• Dye powders (for bundle dyeing) • Myrobalan Powder (for resist eco printing) • Plant materials (leaves, flowers, seeds, etc) • Fabric • Wooden dowels

Iron Sulphate (FeSO4)

• Steamer • Fabric - Neem Ayur Vastra • GSM - 0.80gms • Colour - white • Print ready.

• White twine • Plastic sheets • Measuring cup • Buckets • Other relevant stationary like scissors, measuring tape etc.

• Fabric - Tulsi Ayur Vatsra • GSM - 0.80gms • Colour - Olive

Alum

• Print ready.

Process (eco print/ bundle dyeing) : • Scouring the Fabric (Boiling for 4 to 6 hours in water) • Soaking plant materials required in water so they are malleable and easy to work with. • Treating the scoured fabric with the required mordant in this case we used alum. • Placing the fabric on a plastic sheet and laying the plant materials on the fabric according to the placement. • Creating a barrier by placing another sheet of plastic so the colours don’t transfer to the other side of the fabric • Folding the fabric and rolling it on a wooden dowel and tightly tying using a white twine ensuring there’s good contact between the fabric and plant material. • Steaming the fabric from 30 mintues to an hour depending on the shade of colour required and plant materials used. (eucalyptus requires a minimum of 30 mins to give out colour) Dye Stuff

Twine, plastic sheet and other stationary

ȘȘ Note:

✴✴ Some plants like eucalyptus need to be soaked for more than a week before starting to work with them. This helps release their oils and makes them easy to print with. ✴It ✴ is also suggested to soak the plant materials in iron water (FeSO4 solution) for darker prints. ȘȘ Calculations: WOF (weight of fabric after scoring) = X gm Alum required = 15% -20% WOF = 20/100(X) Water required for alum solution = Approx 6-10 liters FeSO4 required = 2% - 5% WOF = 5/100(X) Water required for FeSO4 solution = 2:1 (2 parts water to 1 part iron)

Myrobalan Powder

Leaves and Flowers

Observations:

Process (resist eco printing) :

• Iron makes bright colours dull

• Scouring the Fabric (Boiling for 4 to 6 hours in water)

• Alum may react with pre-dyed fabrics creating stains.

• Soaking plant materials required in water so they are malleable and easy to work with. • Soaking rough cloth (preferably old cotton fabric) in iron solution to be used as iron blanket for 5-10 minutes • Dyeing the scoured fabric with the a tannin in this case we used Myrobalan. • Placing the fabric (slightly wet) on a plastic sheet and laying the plant materials on the fabric according to the placement. • Placing the iron blanket on top of the plant materials touching the base fabric. • Creating a barrier by placing another sheet of plastic so the colours dont transfer to the other side of the fabric

left: onion eco printed fabric by adiv

Alum leaving stains on neem dyed silk

Right: onion eco printed fabric when treated with iron

• Steaming the fabric from ideally for 30 mins or more for dark shades.

Precautions: • Since plastic is used as the barrier make sure there is enough water in the steamer otherwise the heat could melt the plastic and fabric could get spoiled. • While handeling FeSO4 or any other chemical use golves. Rememeber to take them off during the steaming process. • If not used in lower concentration iron can degrade the fabric • While using ayur vastra as the base fabric make sure the temperature is below 75°C to ensure the ayurvedic properties retain in the fabric.

ȘȘ

Scoured fabric Laying plant treated with alum materials and folding

• Folding the fabric and rolling it on a wooden dowel and tightly tiying using a white twine esuring there’s good contact between the fabric and plant material.

ȘȘ Rolling and Tying

ȘȘ

ȘȘ Steaming

Unrolling

Wash, rinse and iron

Note:

✴✴ Any type of plant materails can be used for this techniques since they act simply as barriers, restricting the reaction between iron and the tannin from happening. ✴Stronger ✴ concentration of myrobalan gives darker shades of greys and browns and vice versa. ✴While ✴ folding the fabric turn it over to see if all the areas are equally dark. You can use a small cloth dipped in iorn water to take care of the unevenness. Calculations: WOF (weight of fabric after scoring) = X gm myrobalan required = 20% -30% WOF = 30/100(X) (lesser conc for lighter shades and vice versa) Water required for Myrobalan solution = Approx 6-10 liters

Time required to dye using myrobalan = 30 mins or more depending on the desired shade FeSO4 required = 2% - 5% WOF = 5/100(X)

Sampling and experiments BUNDLE DYE SAMPLES:

Water required for FeSO4 solution = 2:1 (2 parts water to one part iron) Observations: • Plants with tannin leave their own colour when used as barriers. • Old iron blankets (old fabrics which has gone through many wash cycles) release more iron making the area covered darker compared to newer iron blankets

Precautions: • Since plastic is used as the barrier make sure there is enough water in the steamer otherwise the heat could melt the plastic and fabric could get spoiled. • While handeling FeSO4 or any other chemical use golves. Rememeber to take them off during the steaming process. • If not used in lower concentration iron can degrade the fabric • Do not soak the plant materials used in this process in iron solution.

ȘȘ Laying Plant materials

ȘȘ

ȘȘ Laying Iron blankets

Folding the fabric

Mordant - alum

ȘȘ Rolling and Tying

Steaming

Wash, rinse and iron

Fig 33: Butterfly pea, marigold, anatto on tulsi silk

ȘȘ

Scoured fabric dyed with myrobalan

ȘȘ

Fig 32: Butterfly pea, madder on neem silk Mordant - alum

Fig 34: Cosmos, Buuterfly pea, Iron water on sappan silk

Fig 35: Butterfly pea, Cosmos on white cotton

Mordant - alum

RESIST ECO-PRINT SAMPLES:

Fig 36: Tannin blankets with wild plants used as barriers

Fig 37: Iron blankets with wild plants used as barriers

ECO-PRINT SAMPLES:

Fig 38: Guava leaf imprint on tulsi cotton

Fig 39: Eucalyptus leaf imprint on organza

Fig 40: Guava leaf and cosmos imprint on sappan silk

Fig 41: Tulsi seed imprint on neem silk

Finalised swatches

Shown are the finalised swatched we have selected from the lot and tried to replicate for the final collection. I have incorporated all the three techniques with some ayur vastra for the final products making sure they go hand in hand.

Fig 42: Madder dyed 80s cotton bundle dyed with marigold, butterfly pea and rose petals.

Fig 45: Resist eco printed 4ply organza, Eco printed organza with iron

Fig 44: Ecucalyptus eco printed 4ply organza Fig 43: Resist eco printed 80s cotton with silhouette embroidery

Fig 47: Bundle dyed cotton with marigold and butterfly pea with silhouette embroidery

Fig 46: Bundle dyed cotton with sappan, marigold, rose petals and butterfly pea

Fig 48: Bundle dyed cotton bundle dyed with coreopsis, butterfly pea, sappan, dhalia etc and surface embellished.

67 68

Colour board

silhouettes

Crop Jacket 69

Kimono Jacket

Oversized Shirt

Midi Skirt

Stappy Top

Wrap Top 70

Ruffle Dress

Shorts

Pant

Jump Suit

Short Dress

Maxi Dress

placement ideas

Product manufacturing

The emroidered or finised fabric is later steam iorned and the pattern for the product is drawn over checking the placement of the prints. But for many of the peices the marking and cutting were already done before the printing process to make the fabeic handeling easier. The fabric is later if not cut then cut accoridng to the pattern, sewn and finsihed with seams and hems.

For the final product other than just simply printing the fabrics with leaves and flowers, to excentuate the prints and to give the forms some defenition, several finishing processes were done on them. This imcluded mostly embroidery,aari work, foil printing and other surface finishes.

Fig 49: Washed resist-eco printed fabrics, Both the tannin and iron blankets

Fig 51: Marking and cutting the fabric

Once the fabric is printed, rinsed and washed. they are iorned for the next stage of production. If this includes addition surface work the fabric is first gievn to the artsist for fiishing and defining the forms. for emobroidery and aari work first the threads are selected and then given for processing,

Fig 50: 1 Thread selection, 2 Aari work, 3 Embroidering printed fabrics

Fig 52: Stitching and finishing the products

89 90

Final Products

Fig 53: Resist Eco-printed Over Sized Organdy Shirts with embroidery detailings

Fig 54: Resist Eco-printed Crop Organza Jacket 1

Fig 55: Resist Eco-printed Crop Organza Jacket 2

Fig 56: The euca wrap top

Fig 57: Eco-printed Organza Strappy Top

Fig 58: Wrap Top using Eco Resist Techniques

Fig 59: Sweet Short Eco Printed Dress

Fig 60: Midi Dress Eco Resist Techniques

Fig 61: Eco Resist Printed Scraf

Fig 62: Eco Resist Printed Scarf

100

Fig 63: Eco Resist Printed Shirt Dress

101

Fig 64: Eco Printed Ruffle Ayur Dress

102

Fig 65: Eco Printed Ayur Jump Suit

103

Fig 66: Eco Printed Maxi Dress

104

Costing

Costing Sheet

Costing Sheet Style No:

#01 A

Range:

Geisha Care

Colour:

Smoke

Season:

Winter

Materials

QTY

Unit Rate

Organdy

180

540

1 Trims

QTY

150 Unit Rate

#01 B

Range:

Geisha Care

Coffee Brown

Season:

Winter

Materials

QTY

Organza 4 ply Buttons

Total Price

Buttons Interfacing

Style No: Colour:

150

Trims

Unit Rate 600

1800

QTY

Sleeve Binding

Total Price

Unit Rate 1

Total Price 20

Total Price

Silk Threads

Sleeve Binding

Embroidery

Time

Rate/ hr

Total Price

Hand Embroidery

Time

Rate/ hr

Total Price

Hand

Embroidery Embroidery

Time

Machine

Rate/ hr 1

Total Price 100

Materials

Type

Rate/hr

Organic Materials

Time

200

1800

Stitching

5 hr

100

500

Cutting

2 hr

150

300

Quality Checking

2 hr

100

200

Packing

1hr

100

100 300

Total Cost Profit

30%

Total Price 100

100

Type

Rate/hr

Total Price

Eco Print Materials

Wastage

105

Total Price

Eco Print Time

Rate/ hr 1

100

Print Print

Time

Machine

Organic Materials 9

300

2700

Stitching

5 hr

100

500

Cutting

2 hr

150

300

Quality Checking

2 hr

100

200

Packing

1hr

100

Wastage

4,050

Total Cost

1,215

Profit

Added Luxury Value (ALV) Undisclosed

Total Cost

300 6,024 30%

1,800

106

Costing Sheet

Style No:

#01 C

Range:

Geisha Care

Style No:

#01 D

Range:

Geisha Care

Colour:

Coffee Brown

Season:

Winter

Colour:

Rust/Forest Green

Season:

Winter

Materials

QTY

Organza 4 ply Buttons

Unit Rate

Total Price

Materials

600

1800

QTY

Organdy

Trims

QTY

Unit Rate 1

Embroidery

Total Price 20

Time

Rate/ hr

Total Price

Time

Rate/ hr

Total Price

Hand

Embroidery Machine

Type

100

Rate/hr

100

2700

5 hr

100

500

Cutting

2 hr

150

300

Quality Checking

2 hr

100

200

Packing

1hr

100

100 300

Total Cost Profit Added Luxury Value (ALV) Undisclosed

107

300

Stitching

Wastage

Total Cost

6,024 30%

QTY

Unit Rate

2100 12 Total Price

Foil Work

150

Embroidery

Time

Rate/ hr

Total Price

Hand

Embroidery

Time

Rate/ hr

Machine

Materials

Organic Materials

Time

1.5

Type

Total Price 100

Rate/hr

150

Total Price

Eco Print (Iron)

Eco Print Materials

Silk Threads

Total Price

Total Price 600

Elastic Trims

Sleeve Binding

Unit Rate 3.5 m

1,800

Organic Materials

Time

200

1000

Stitching

4hr

100

400

Cutting

2 hr

150

300

Quality Checking

2 hr

100

200

Packing

1hr

100

Wastage

250

Total Cost Profit

4,672 30%

1,400

Added Luxury Value (ALV) Undisclosed Total Cost

108

Costing Sheet Style No:

#01 E

Range:

Geisha Care

Colour:

Dark Smoke

Season:

Winter

Materials

QTY

80s Cotton

Unit Rate

Total Price

4m Trims

QTY

Silk Threads

80 Unit Rate

Embroidery

Time

240 Total Price

Rate/ hr

Total Price

Hand

Embroidery

Time

Machine

Rate/ hr 1

Type

Total Price 100

Rate/hr

100

Total Price

Eco Print - Resist Materials

Organic Materials

Time

250

2250

Stitching

6hr

100

600

Cutting

3 hr

150

450

Quality Checking

2 hr

100

200

Packing

1hr

100

Wastage

200

Total Cost Profit

3,740 30%

1,122

Added Luxury Value (ALV) Undisclosed

109

Total Cost

110

Costing Sheet

Style No:

#01 I

Range:

Geisha Care

Style No:

#01 J

Range:

Geisha Care

Colour:

Coffee Brown

Season:

Winter

Colour:

Coffee Brown

Season:

Winter

Materials

QTY

Unit Rate

Total Price

Organza

600

1800

Cotton Voile

240

Trims

QTY

Sphagetti Straps

Unit Rate 0.5m

600

Materials

Total Price 300

Trims

Rate/ hr

Total Price

Embroidery

Time

Rate/ hr

Total Price

Embroidery

Rate/hr

Total Price

1hr

Type

9hr

Total Price 10

Time

Rate/ hr

Time

Rate/ hr

Total Price

Total Price 100

Rate/hr

100

Total Price

Materials 300

2700

Organic Materials

Time

3hr

300

900

Stitching

6hr

100

600

Stitching

1hr

100

Cutting

3 hr

150

450

Cutting

1hr

150

100

Quality Checking

2 hr

100

200

Quality Checking

2 hr

100

200

Packing

1hr

100

Packing

1hr

100

200

Wastage

Wastage Total Cost Profit

111

Unit Rate

600

Eco Print - Resist

Organic Materials

Time

Total Price 600

Machine

Eco Print - Resist Materials

QTY

Silk Threads

Time

Type

Unit Rate 1m

Embroidery

QTY

Organza

30%

6,590

Total Cost

8,567

Profit

Added Luxury Value (ALV) Undisclosed

Total Cost

50 2,250 30%

2,925

112

Costing Sheet

Style No:

#01 K

Range:

Geisha Care

Style No:

#01 L

Range:

Geisha Care

Colour:

Grey

Season:

Winter

Colour:

Coffe Brown

Season:

Winter

Materials

QTY

Organza

Unit Rate 1m

Trims

QTY

Silk Threads

Total Price 600

Unit Rate 1

Materials

600

Time

Rate/ hr

Total Price 600

Buttons

150

Trims

QTY

Sleeve Binding Embroidery

Unit Rate 4m

Interfacing

Total Price 10

QTY

Organza

Unit Rate 1

2400

Total Price 20

Total Price Embroidery

Time

Rate/ hr

Total Price

Time

Rate/ hr

Total Price

Hand

Embroidery Machine

Time

Rate/ hr

1hr

Total Price 100

100

Embroidery Machine

Type

Rate/hr

Total Price Print

Eco Print - Resist Materials Time

3hr

Type

300

900

Materials

300

2700

6hr

100

600

4hr

150

600

Quality Checking

2 hr

100

200

Packing

1hr

100

Stitching

1hr

100

Cutting

1hr

150

100

Stitching

Quality Checking

2 hr

100

200

Cutting

Packing

1hr

100

9hr

50 Wastage

Total Cost Profit

113

Total Price

Organic Materials

Time

Wastage

Rate/hr

Eco Print - Resist

Organic Materials

200

2,160 30%

2,808

Total Cost

Added Luxury Value (ALV) Undisclosed

Profit

Total Cost

Added Luxury Value (ALV) Undisclosed Total Cost

6,980 30%

9,074

114

Costing Sheet

Style No:

#01 H

Range:

Geisha Care

Style No:

#01 G

Range:

Geisha Care

Colour:

white and yellow

Season:

Winter

Colour:

Rust Orange

Season:

Winter

Materials

QTY

Neem Ayur Vastra

Unit Rate 3m

Trims

QTY

Ruffle Sleeves

Unit Rate 0.5m

Embroidery

Total Price 400

Time

400

Rate/ hr

1200

Materials

Total Price

Time

Rate/ hr

Type

Total Price

Rate/hr

Total Price

1200

Lining Organza

600

1200

Trims

QTY

Tie Up Sleeves

Time

Rate/ hr

Time

Machine

1hr

Type

Total Price 300

Total Price 200

Rate/ hr

200

Total Price 100

Rate/hr

100

Total Price

Eco Print - Resist 5hr

200

1000

Organic Materials

Time

5hr

200

1000

Stitching

6hr

100

600

Stitching

4hr

100

400

Cutting

3 hr

150

450

Cutting

2 hr

150

300

Quality Checking

2 hr

100

200

Quality Checking

2 hr

100

200

Packing

1hr

100

Packing

1hr

100

200

Wastage

Wastage Total Cost Profit

115

600

1hr

Embroidery

Materials

Organic Materials

Time

Unit Rate 0.5m

Embroidery

Eco Print Materials

Total Price 600

Hand

Embroidery

Unit Rate 2m

Total Price 200

QTY

Organza 4 ply

30%

3,950

Total Cost

5,135

Profit

Added Luxury Value (ALV) Undisclosed

Total Cost

300 5,300 30%

1,590

116

Costing Sheet

Style No:

#02 A

Range:

Geisha Care

Style No:

#02 B

Range:

Geisha Care

Colour:

Pale Orange

Season:

Winter

Colour:

Brick Brown

Season:

Winter

Materials

QTY

Sappan Ayur Vastra

Unit Rate 4m

Trims

Embroidery

Total Price 400

1600

QTY

Unit Rate

Total Price

Time

Rate/ hr

Total Price

Hand

Materials

Unit Rate 5m

Trims

Embroidery

Total Price 400

2000

QTY

Unit Rate

Total Price

Time

Rate/ hr

Total Price

Time

Rate/ hr

Total Price

Hand

Embroidery

Time

Machine

3hr

Type

Rate/ hr

Total Price 100

Rate/hr

300

Total Price

Embroidery Machine

Eco Print Materials

QTY

Vetiver Ayur Vastra

Rate/hr

Total Price

Eco Print

Organic Materials

Time

Type

9hr

Materials 200

1800

Organic Materials

Time

9hr

200

1800

Stitching

6hr

100

600

Stitching

6hr

100

600

Cutting

4hr

150

600

Cutting

4hr

150

600

Quality Checking

2 hr

100

200

Quality Checking

2 hr

100

200

Packing

1hr

100

Packing

1hr

100

200

Wastage

Wastage Total Cost Profit Added Luxury Value (ALV) Undisclosed

117 Total Cost

30%

5,400

Total Cost

7,020

Profit

300 5,600 30%

7,280

Added Luxury Value (ALV) Undisclosed Total Cost

118

119

120

Collection 2 - EarthLY imprints A collection of garments hand painted using natural and healing dyes. For this project we have taken inspiration from the Japanese fantasy florals, amalgamating the technique with some Indian elements and handpainting them using natural colours. The collection produced focuses on sutainability and providing the clientele a peice of art they could wear and pass on.

121

122

initial Concept

collection 2 - Breif

Create a luxury lounge wear collection which is a unique peices of art for the provided clientele, taking inspiration from Japanese fantasy florals and works of famous visual artist Eva Magil Oliver. The style of prints are scaled up and engineered to only certain parts of the garment. The silhouettes must be fun, comfrotable and breathable. The products developed should be made keeping in mind the brands aesthtics and ideologies. Each peice should be unique and a heritage peice that can be passed on as heirlooms.

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The initial concept was to use Ayur Vastra as the base fabrics on which the kalamkari techniques focusing of florals prints was to be done. Since in the process of Kalamkari, the fabric goes through several cycles of washes and boiling, it may loose its healing properties makig the ayur fabric completely useless. Hence, this idea was dropped. After several changes and research, the base fabric was later changed to handloom cotton and khadi cotton on which scaled up engineered floral prints inspired from Japanese fanatsy florals was to be hand painted using natural dyes. For design inspiration the colourful Art Deco foral art works, the Japanese fantasy florals were reffered. Several studies on artworks by artists like Eva Magil, Rachel Newling etc were also done to bring in the modern and chic element to the designs.

Fig 67: A peice of Japanase Fantasy Floral artwork

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Classification of dyes

the Process

Based on Chemical Structures The main process done here was to extract natural dyes from natural dye sources and hand painting them onto bio mordanted fabrics. We followed the same process as that of Kalamkari. Using only natural fibers for the collection like cotton and khadi. This was bleached using cowdung and mordanted with myrobalan and buffalomilk. Myrobalan is an amazing source of natural mordant since it has around 12% of Chebulinic acid. The natural dyes used for paiting were extracted from various parts of plants like roots, stems, barks, leaves, fruits and seeds that may contain colouring matter which can be exploited. Normally natural dyes are extracted from the roots, stems, leaves, flowers, fruits of various plants, dried bodies of certain insects and minerals. Some plants may have more than one colour depending upon which part of the plant one uses. The shade of the colour a plant produces will vary according to time of the year the plant is picked, how it was grown, soil conditions, etc. The minerals in the water used in adye bath can also alter the colour.

• Indigoid dyes: This is perhaps the most important group of natural dyes, obtained from Indigofera tinctoria. • Anthraquinone dyes: Some of the most important red dyes are based on the anthraquinone structure. These dyes are characterised by good fastness to light. They form complexes with metal salts and the resultant metal-complex dyes have good wash fastness. • Alpha-hydroxy-napthoquinones: The most prominent memberof this class of dyes is lawsone or henna, obtained from Lawsonia inermis. • Flavones: Most of the natural yellow colours are hydroxy and methoxy derivatives of flavones and isoflavones. • Dihydropyrans: Closely related to flavones in chemical structure, are substituted dihydropyrans. • Carotenoids: In these the colour is due to the presence of long conjugated double bond. Annatto and saffron are examples of this.

Sources of Colours

In this collection it was made sure not to use any animal derived natural dyes. Special care was taken to use only plant derived, vegan and organic dyes. Fig 68: Painting with natural dyes

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Limitations of natural dyes • Tedious extraction of colouring component from the raw material, low colour value and long dyeing time push the cost of dyeing with natural dyes considerably higher than with synthetic dyes. • The natural colours derived might change their shades with time. In case of sappan wood, prolonged exposure to air converts the colourant brasiline to brasilein, causing a colour change from red to brown. • Some of the natural dyes are fugitive and need a mordant for the enhancement of their fastness properties. Some of the metallic mordants are hazardous. • Color pay-off from natural dyes tend to fade quickly. More so, quality may not be as consistent than what synthetic dyes can deliver. • Another issue with natural dyes is their availability. It can be difficult to produce because the availability of raw materials can vary from season to season, place, and species, whereas synthetic dyes can be produced in laboratories all year round. • While natural dye sources are renewable, sustainability can still be an issue for natural dyes because producing them require vast areas of land.

advantages of natural dyes • Since they come from natural sources, natural dyes are not harmful to the environment, which makes it so appealing for consumers. Natural dyes are biodegradable and disposing them don’t cause pollution. • Natural dyes are obtained from renewable sources that can be harnessed without imposing harm to the environment. • Some of the natural sources used have healing, antimicrobal, antiseptic porperties, etc. When the fabric is dyed with these materials, their healing properties are infused in the fabric which inturn heals the wearer. • Some natural dyes, such as carmine found in lipsticks, will not cause harm or health problems when ingested. • Natural dyes neither contain harmful chemicals nor carcinogenic components, common to artificial or synthetic dyes. • If you’re going for a soft hue or soothing shade which is in trend now, natural dyes can help you achieve that look. 127

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Concept BOARD

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Mood BOARD

Mind Mapping

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Motif Exploration

Some exploration of stylised flowers and abstract lines, curves and shapes done using water colours.

Some hand drawn motifs to experiment and find the style and category of motifs we were planning to go ahead with.

Here I tried following the mood we were planning to go ahead with, exploring the texture, shades etc

Initial hand drawing of the elements gives you a vivid idea of the direction you want to move forward with. Here I incorporated my my style of florals with the style of several visual artits taking inspiration from their work as well as traditional Japanese flowers.

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Fig 69: Motif exploration hand drawn

Fig 70: Lines exploration

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Fig 72: Motif exploration

Fig 73: hand drawn flower

Fig 71: Motif floral hand drawn

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Fig 74: Motif exploration hand drawn

Fig 75: Motif exploration hand drawn

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Fig 76: Motif exploration hand drawn

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Fig 77: Motif exploration hand drawn

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Fig 78: Motif exploration hand drawn

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Fig 79: Motif exploration hand drawn

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Fig 80: Motif exploration hand drawn

Fig 81: Motif exploration hand drawn

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Fig 82: Motif exploration hand drawn

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Digital Exploration

I also did some digital exploration of the motifs referrning the hand drawn illustration and works of William Stafford, Katie Scott, and even periodic painting like Art Nouveau and Chinese floral paintings.

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Fig 83: Motif exploration digital

Fig 84: Motif exploration digital

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Fig 85: Motif exploration digital

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Recipies for Colours

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Fig 86: Motif exploration digital

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Design Process

Recipies for COLOURS

Colour 4 • Material: Iron Filings

Colour 1 • Material: Myrobalan • Local Name: Karakha pindhi • Colour Obtained: Light yellow Mayrabolan is actually a fruit which can be obtained from Terminalia chebula, this basically forms a pale yellow / greenish yellow colour. It also acts as a natural mordant and is used in textiles. Colour 2 • Material: Turmeric • Locally Called: Haldi • Colour Obtained: Yellow Turmeric roots are powdered and boiled to make a consentrated solution that is used for painting Colour 3 • Material: Pomegranate • Locally Called: Karakha Pooh • Colour Obtained: Yellow Pomegranate rinds are powdered and boiled into a mushy paste which is later squeezed out to extract the yello colour Myrobalan, Turmeric and Pomegranate are used to create yellow, mustard, lemon yellow and other tints and shades of yellow.

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• Local Name: Kassim • Colour obtained: Black Black colour is obtained from jaggery, rusted iron filings and water. The materials are immersed in water for around 15 to 20 days. The reaction of molasses and iron fillings forms ferrous acetate. This solution when drawn on mayrabolam treated cloth turns into a permanent black because of the reaction between ferrous acetate and tannin. Colour 5 • Material: Natural Indigo • Local Name: Neelam • Colour obtained: Blue Indigo blue is said to be one of the most ancient natural dyes which is obtained from Indigo leaves. For making the colour crushed atta seeds and water that has been boiled and cooled is added to the dye tank to wich indigo is added and kept for a day. To this lime is added and make the final colour. Colour 6 • Material: Madder • Local Name: Kharam • Colour obtained: Red Water, alum and alizarin which is an organic compound derived from madder roots are mixed together to form red colour. It is diluted to form ligter shades of red.

✴Green ✴ is made by mixing blue and yellow ✴Brown ✴ is made by mixing red and black in ratio 3:1 160

initial Designs

Repeat Patterns The Intital idea was to make normal reprat pattern oout of abstract and stylised floral motifs. Shown are some of the primary patterns produced for the collection keeping this idea in mind. These were just to explore elements and the placement of the motifs. No colours were introduced at this stage of work.

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Fig 87: Repeat Print exploration

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Different Layouts and Repaeat Sizes

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Fig 88: Repeat Print exploration

Fig 89: Layout and Repeat Exploration

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Different Layouts and Repaeat Sizes

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Fig 90: Repeat Print exploration

Fig 91: Layout and Repeat Exploration

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Different Layouts and Repaeat Sizes

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Fig 92: Repeat Print exploration

Fig 93: Layout and Repeat Exploration

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Different Layouts and Repaeat Sizes

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Fig 94: Repeat Print exploration

Fig 95: Layout and Repeat Exploration

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Different Layouts and Repaeat Sizes

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Fig 96: Repeat Print exploration

Fig 97: Layout and Repeat Exploration

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Engineered Prints The idea was later changed to engineered prints were we exprimented with the placement and the sizes of the prints to create a unique and interesting pattern that flows throughout the ensemble.

Fig 98: Initial Ideas for Engineer Print

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Fig 99: Initial Ideas for Engineer Print

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We played with the sizes of the elemets, making sure the desin is is harmony and creates a flow through out. The elements were placed on certain parts of teh garment to create an appealing look when worn for any body type.

All the elements we have chosen are floral componenets. We have not particulary just restricted ourselves with Japanese florals here sisnce it was the intiial stages of design development, but it was made sure to use floral elements of all kinds and sizes.

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Fig 100: Initial Ideas for Engineer Print

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Finalised Sizes and placements of the prints The prints and rendering shown below are the finalisedcomposition, sizes of the elements and the placements we came down to. The motifs or elements are purposefully enlarged to create unique and unconventional prints. Something very unlike the traditional repeat or engineered print-sizes we usually see on garments. Elements like curves, lines, dots,ect are used to create a flow and harmony which finally works together with the floral elments to create a work of art. Here, the idea was not to just create a peice of garmnet but to create cmposition similar to a pianting or an artwork that can be worn and passed on. Thus the placement and the sizes of the elements are designed keeping this aspect in mind.

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Fig 102: Engineer Print 2

Fig 103: Engineer Print 3

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Fig 104: Engineer Print 4

Fig 105: Engineer Print 5

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Fig 106: Engineer Print 6

Fig 107: Engineer Print 7

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Fig 108: Engineer Print 8

Fig 109: Engineer Print 9

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Fig 110: Engineer Print 10

Fig 111: Engineer Print 11

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Final silhouettes and designs

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Fig 113: Midi Dress with shirring on the bust design

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Fig 114: Midi Strappy Dress design

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Fig 115: Wrap Jacket design

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Fig 116: Jumpsuit design

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Fig 117: Over sized shirt design

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Final Fabrics

Heavy Weight Khadi Wrap Jacket

Medium Weight Khadi: Midi Dress with shirring, Strappy Midi Dress, Jumpsuit

Fig 118: 80s cotton, Heavy weight khadi, Light weight khadi and Medium weight khadi

For Hand Made Blooms since we were handpaiting the deisgns on the fabric using natural dyes the fabrics used were different weight of khadi and cotton. We have using a heavy weight, medium weight and light weight khadhi as well as 80s cotton for the ensembles. 197

Light Weight Khadi Short Dress

80s Cotton Oversized Shirt 198

digital renderings of Final ensembles

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Fig 119: Final Designs for Hand-Made Blooms

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Fig 120: Final Designs for Hand-Made Blooms

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conclusion This project has helped me learn a lot about how the fashion industry works and has given me a chance to make use of all the knowledge I’ve gathered throughout the four years at NIFT in a competitive and industrial world. It has shown me all the technicalities and the effort it takes to produce a series of products from scratch as well showed me a glimse of how marketing and other areas of the fashion industry is just as imporatnt as producing the product. There were so many hurdles thrown at my way while completing the project, from sorcing the required materials, to finding the right people to do the work, and I am content and proud of the fact I was able to come across all of the especially amid the pandemic. Working with Geisha Designs has provided me with the experince of working in the fast paced luxury industry and has exposed me to several opportunities I will cherish for life. The experience here has taught me how important it is to have skills like organisational and communication skills and especially how important it is work as a team in the industry. It is not always about how creative you are but several other factors like empathy, composure etc play just as important roles. Geisha Designs has not only helped me with my professional growth but has also aided my personal growth. The four months here has taught me that patience, persistence and a very organised plan of work can help you get through anything. Even a pandemic.

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Bibliography Websites • https://www.mochni.com/eco-prints-learn-the-process-of-all-natural-eco-printing/ • https://www.sharlenebohr.com/my-technique • https://www.instructables.com/Eco-Printing-With-Rust-Vinegar/ • https://www.madebybarb.com/2017/11/05/eco-printing-on-cotton/ • https://www.theweek.in/webworld/features/society/The-art-of-printing-flowers-leaves-onfabrics.html

• https://www.ayurvastra.in/ • https://www.kairaliexportsimports.co.in/about-us.htm • https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/A:1013374618870 • https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/special/children/natural-plant-dyes.htm • https://www.ndsu.edu/pubweb/chiwonlee/plsc211/student%20papers/articles04/petra%20 Guenthner-Johnson/dyes.html • http://iritdulman.blogspot.com/2017/09/things-i-want-to-say.html • http://www.dsource.in/resource/kalamkari-work-srikalahasti/making-process/color-andbrush

• https://www.madebybarb.com/2021/01/22/oh-eucalyptus/

• http://www.dsource.in/resource/kalamkari-painting/making-process/obtaining-redcolor

• https://www.madebybarb.com/2020/01/12/multiple-eco-print-effects/

• https://www.thesstudioonline.com/blog/artistic-process-of-pen-kalamkari-painting/

• https://www.madebybarb.com/2019/06/15/resist-method-of-eco-printing/

• https://www.koreascience.or.kr/article/JAKO200923659447324.page

• https://www.evamagill-oliver.com/ • https://www.utsavpedia.com/motifs-embroideries/kalamkari-art/

Vlogs/Videos

• https://www.thehindu.com/life-and-style/fashion/the-art-of-ayurvastra/article27377760. ece

• https://youtu.be/ILoZophnHfs

• https://www.ayurvastraonline.com/

• https://youtu.be/HAzizr_hyr0

• https://www.researchgate.net/publication/282455304_Ayurvastra_A_miracle_mediherbal_ cloth

• https://youtu.be/blKCRmamFrs

• https://youtu.be/7VgLmso99lQ

• https://ijrap.net/admin/php/uploads/888_pdf.pdf • https://www.researchgate.net/publication/307580444_AYURVASTRA_-_HERBAL_ CLOTHING_A_new_technology_to_heal_naturally

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Textile Design Graduation Project - The Soul Project

Articles inside

Motif Exploration (Hand

mood board

Costing

Colour Board

how it is made

fabrics used

mood board

Mind mapping

what is eco printing?

techniques

Breif

Design Process

project brief

The Pioneers

COMPETiTORS

Market research

brain storming

Clientle