A Warm Welcome

For a first timer, putting up your designs to an audience can be nerve wracking! Selling Dori online, I don’t get first hand reviews from the customers. I don’t get to see their familiar nod towards Ilkal or see their surprise looking at such contemporary designs from traditional textiles.

The days leading up to Kitsch Mandi was chaotic to say the least! Making checklists (a lot of them) to getting all the designs finished to getting the look book ready. Finally the day arrived and with it came a pleasant sense of calm.

Kitsch Mandi was beautiful! All the stalls neatly arranged around the the big banyan tree, Soulful folk fusion being played by such talented artists and a whole lot of creative stalls with handcrafted abundance.

Along with the first collection, I had designed few new designs specifically for the event. A crop top set, Bright green vest with small details and a fun dress! (Will be available online soon) The response was overwhelming. A lot of people appreciated the effort and designs. Many identified Ilkal which brought back some faith that maybe we haven’t given up on our textiles just yet.

Thank you Bangalore for coming out and appreciating our work which is a big sign for us to keep going. Thank you to all the lovely people who came by and said they liked our attempt of reviving ancient textiles; this is an encouragement not only to us but also to many weavers and artisans. Special thanks to those who said they came to Kitsch Mandi only for Dori! You made our day!

Photographs by Arvind Sridhar