Textile Buffet by Mridibha Tiwari

On a regular work day, your alarm rings at 6 am, you remove your soft comforter, lift your head off the pillowcase, get up from the bedsheet to land on the rug and then make your way to the washroom. You freshen up and take a bath, wipe yourself with a towel and put your clothes on.

You then rush through your breakfast on the dining table mat, lock your house on the way out and run straight into your car and onto the car seat. On your way to work, you think about your morning and realize that your life is wholly engulfed with textiles and your oblivion towards the fact, or you don’t think about that and just enjoy the radio, but either way it’s the truth.

Textile is an essential.

While the term ‘textile’ ranges from being modern and contemporary to native and traditional, it’s often only associated with the latter. This association often makes us forget the vastness of it, it’s existence beyond just the traditional stereotype. Textiles and textile techniques are a part of the fashionable clothes we wear, the exceptional art we see and of course, the everyday design we consume.

Here are a few brands, designers and artists who play with textiles and bring variety to the buffet that is textile –

Isha Pimpalkhare –

Isha Pimpalkhare is a mixed media designer/artist whose work highlights the contemporary nature of textiles. With degrees in textile design from NID and the Royal College of Art, Isha creates nothing less than magic. She uses mixed media to create immaculate textile sculptures and installations which make you scratch your head for the science behind them while you’re being consumed by them in awe.

Sarah Naqvi –

Sarah Naqvi is a textile design graduate from NID and currently based in Amsterdam. She works with multiple textile techniques but her exceptional embroidered pieces are a class apart; they’re an expression of everything that she stands for and an absolute delight to look at. Sarah’s work is raw and refined and does exactly what it’s supposed to – challenge the societal narrative. You are drawn to the beauty and move ahead to take a closer look, but before you know it, you’re challenging the notions with her.

MUME is a fashion label based in Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 2020 by Irene Wira, a final year student from the Bunka College of Fashion, MUME focuses on a neutral palette and a soft feminine yet contemporary style of clothing. What truly makes the pieces gorgeous is the unique incorporation of shirring and ruffle surface textile techniques.

Grey Milk –

Grey Milk is a slow fashion apparel brand based in Manchester. Gwen, the founder of the brand exclusively sells garments on a made to order basis and runs the brand with values of sustainability. While it stands out for its zero-waste policy and no size limit, it certainly attracts you for its whimsical and colourful textile prints.

Amy Hastings –

Amy Hastings is an illustrator and textile artist based in New York City. She creates playful illustrations and often converts them into home textiles such as cushions and rugs. Amy uses tufting, a unique textile weaving technique to create her one-of-a-kind pieces.

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