Bright splashes of colour greet a visitor to Aparna Kiral Kolooth’s apartment in Nagarajapuram. A bunk bed is painted in vivid shades of red, green and yellow. And the impression of colour is reinforced by the samples of Aparna’s work: Quilts, bags of different kinds, cushion covers and other home décor items.
Originally from Chennai, Aparna says that she has always been interested in design. She studied in the Institute of Design, Nungambakkam, Chennai. “There was no NIFT in Chennai at that time,” she says wistfully. “But later, when it was established, I met a faculty member and trained under her.” She also worked as an apprentice under a designer and began making Indo-Western outfits. Aparna went solo when a Singapore-based client asked her to retail at her store. “This was around 2001-02,” she reminisces. “I made kurtis and tops and some children’s clothes. Some of my friends would arrange exhibitions and my products sold mainly through word of mouth.”
Post-marriage, Aparna moved to Coimbatore. She decided to take a break since she was getting used to a new life in a new city. Now that her son is six years old, Aparna decided it was time to pick up the threads of her designs again. “I started in a small way. A group of friends were into quilting and crocheting so I learnt from them and started making quilts.” Slowly she started branching out. Bags came next. “I started with buying samples from the market and taking them apart to see how it’s done. Once I figured that out, it was easy. Then someone asked me to make cushion covers …” And so her repertoire increased.
Whether it’s quilts, bags, cushion covers, coasters or pen holders, Aparna uses only handloom and cotton at that. Ikat, Kalamkari and Batik are special favourites. One reason being, “the colours are lovely. But more important, cotton is easier to handle and falls well. Silk and synthetics do not stay in position.” She explains with a pin-wheel design that she has used in a coaster. She sources much of her material via her friends and “also from Pantheon Street market in Egmore, Chennai. Right now, she’s working on a Navaratri collection, as Dussehra is coming up. So her work features bright yellow ( manjal ) and red ( kumkum ) with black edging. “The fabric is all ikat .”
Does she plan to go back to designing clothes too? “Not immediately,” she says. “For now, I’m designing and stitching my own clothes. Unless I can find a couple of tailors who can work according to my instructions, it will be very difficult.” She doesn’t plan to expand her scale unless she can get sufficient help. “It’s a one-man show right now.” Especially as she is also learning Bharatanatyam. “I learnt the Pandanallur style as a child. And now that I’ve begun again, I don’t want to quit. I have to figure out how to balance my dance and my design.”
Check out Aparna’s work on her Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/quiltility/
