Every couple of months, Hamsini Hariharan goes on scrap bin hunt — to pick up waste raw silk from a few of Bengaluru’s stores. Back at her production unit in JP Nagar, these are sorted, graded and turned into beautiful cushion covers and table runners for her eponymous two-month-old e-retail site. She also uses khadi and cotton from local handloom manufacturers, stocking her furnishing accessories line at design spaces like Baro in Mumbai, and Vermilion House and Basava Ambara in her city.
An advocate of recycling and upcycling, the self-taught designer explains she first ventured into fabric design a few years ago, with Patchwork Tradition, where she sourced rich kanjeevaram saris and light cottons to create made-to-order bedspreads — a service she still provides. But as her business grew, she felt expanding her range and going online to get her work out to a larger audience made better sense.
Within her limits
Her latest collections, Gond and Amra, draw from the tribal art of Madhya Pradesh and the paisley work that harks back to the Mughal courts. “My work and my embroidery are influenced by my love of India’s folk arts,” says the 28-year-old, adding that exhibitions like Dastkar and Hundred Hands “where I browse the Madhubani paintings, Kalamkari prints, and much more” are constant sources of inspiration. The Gond collection features three motifs that are integral to the art: pakshi (bird), hiran (deer) and matsya (fish). “Though Gond art is a combination of dots and dashes, I’ve used just dashes as I felt it looked better embroidered on raw silk,” she adds.
The cushion covers come in jewel colours like red, purple, orange and yellow, and are bordered with tassels and pom poms. The 100 pieces she’d created have already exhausted, so she’s just completed her second batch. “I don’t like building up too much stock,” she says, a thought in tune with her philosophy of minimalist living and decluttering.
It’s elemental
Hariharan is currently working on extending her Gond collection, with tapestries — wherein the design is embroidered on silk and then mounted. “People can then frame them the way they like,” she says. For 2018, she has a new collection planned, Earth, Wind and Water, which will feature the three elements’ alchemic and zodiac symbols on handloom cotton and khadi. “I want to keep this line very modern, with a minimalistic look,” shares the designer, who first turned entrepreneur in 2009 — with Monkey Paperie, which created customised wedding invitations. In fact, in 2018, she wants to revive the company and work with paper once again.
She is also excited about experimenting with Ajrakh (she has sourced Ajrakh-printed satin silk from Gujarat), and incorporating hand-worked Kasuti embroidery from Dharwad, Karnataka, and Rogan art from Kutch.
Cushion covers and runners from ₹725 onwards, on hamsini.co.in.
