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Over the years, Instagram has truly evolved into a creative playground unlike any other. While the fashion world is always buzzing with newer and fresher talent, some take simple ideas and churn them into much bigger concepts that have us looking in awe.
At Homegrown, we love discovering such artists; ones who stand out for their ability to experiment, their artistic expression, and their unique approach to traditional methods. Here is a curation of five such creatives who have been able to weave together narrative, storytelling and fashion in the most enthralling way.
I. Antar Anga by Pranoy Sarkar
There is a sense of distance to Pranoy Sarkar’s latest Antar Anga project which was born out of a simple idea — to create a spatial experience that reflected the essence of the Kanjivaram. Perhaps that distance is born out of the yarn installation that captures your attention from the outset and has you mesmerized. Drawing from the concept of the iconic traditional saree, art director and photographer Pranoy Sarkar began to explore ways in which the experience of the Kanjivaram could be translated into unique, interactive installations. Experimenting with the tension of yarn, the patterns of light and shadow as they reflect off mirrors, the reimagining of linear structures, and the effect of human touch on beams of laser lights, he discovered four diverse ways of portraying different elements of the Kanjivaram loom and its signature weave.
Check out Sarkar’s work here.
II. A New World by Anchal Notani
Many a time, creatives draw inspiration from the world around them and the cultures and traditions that they experience and so was the case with Mumbai-based fashion stylist and visual Artist Anchal Notani. India’s myriad cultures and traditions, a love for storytelling and a love for travel palpably translate into Notani’s work. The latest is ‘A New World’ that is born from her travels in Himachal Pradesh over the past two years. Of the series, Notani says, “Their Devta culture had always intrigued me. The agriculture and other religious practices revolving around appeasing their numerous Devtas, attracted me to learn more. Whether it is the traditional masks of the Fagli festival or celebrations of different Devtas coming together in the local melas. I was mesmerized by the drapes, fabrics and colors used to beautifully dress the Devtas”, further adding, “When I’m travelling I’m not thinking of fashion but the cultural visuals come like stories to me and styling is my medium of breathing life into them. The colors and flow of the dress is my interpretation of the simplicity and calmness of the mountains. Part of my ensemble ‘Paiso Ka Haar’ represents the upper Brahmin caste of my model Kangna. The resulting imagery was my re- telling of the culture and life in the Himalayan mountains.”
Check out Notani’s work here.
III. Leaning Tower of Pisa by Akansha Singh
What we love about creatives of the new age is their experimentative nature and their ability to take something from ancient history and culture and to re-adapt it to the modern day and age. Drawing inspiration from one of the wonders of the world — The Leaning Tower of Pisa is 22-year-old stylist and headgear designer Akansha Singh. Talking about her project, Singh says that she remembers vividly the day that she was introduced to the architectural marvel of the leaning tower in the third grade and how a keen interest for architecture has accompanied her since. Talking about the headgear, she says, “For this headgear, I was heavily inspired from the ‘Leaning Tower of Pisa.’ If you see the tower, it has certain layers attached to it and so I wanted to create something with the layers. I thought why not this?”
Check out Singh’s work here.
IV. QUERENCIA by Sakshi Vassa
There are certain photo projects that talk to you from beyond the realm of artistic consciousness and expression and translate onto bigger more fundamental issues of societal and cultural consciousness. Fashion has always been about transgression and bending the structures and some projects like these remind us of that. Budding fashion designer Sakshi Vassa’s passion in developing innovative and futuristic structures through yarn has resulted in her vision in the project QUERENCIA. Talking about it, she says, “A collection that aims to start a conversation on ‘drug addiction’ a topic that one fears to discuss about even behind closed doors. However, research says that 1 in 8 millennials are indulged in drug abuse. These astounding figures, made me realize that drug addiction is a much deep rooted problem of modern-day society and the stigma that goes around the topic discourages a lot of people to be open about addiction.”
Check out Vassa’s work here.
V. Time Is Money by Aamatullah Lohani
If there is one project sure to stir you up, it is got to be Chennai-based upcoming fashion designer and stylist Aamatullah Lohani. Driven by a goal to bridge the gap between maximalism and sustainability; her work includes creative surface development and experimentation with unconventional materials. Her latest is a critique of capitalistic ideology, productivity and overconsumption. Talking about the series, she says, “Time is money. meaning: the value of time is equivalent to that of money. That’s where the problem starts - why can’t we think of ‘time’ without relating it to money? In a fast-paced world, when forced to slow down during the lockdown, people across generations found it difficult to give themselves a break. The looming question of productivity propelled a constant need to do something or the other. As a result, we succumbed to over-consumption of- junk food, Netflix, social media, online shopping, etc.”
“To document this, I began collecting wrappers of junk food I consumed and my eventual contribution to plastic/waste which would pile in the landfills. Marrying these ideas gave birth to the surface development which brought direction to my collection. 95% of the fabrics used in the collection are export surplus/rejects and handwoven fabrics. The surfaces created using plastic wrappers are embroidered over to emphasize how branding leads to over-buying.”
Check out Lohani’s work here.
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