PROFILE
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Mandeep Nagi, director, Shades of India, the plush furnishing, clothing and accessory outfit, has always been ahead of the curve. Armed with a degree in textile design from the National Institute of Fashion Technology, Nagi did a short stint as fashion designer before joining Shades of India almost 14 years ago. “I wasn’t exactly head over heels in love with fashion designing. In fact, I believe that styling textiles for interiors is more versatile,” she reasons.
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Married to David Housego, chairman of Shades of India, Nagi overlooks the design aspect of the creative outfit, that currently sells its cutting-edge home couture to niche design boutiques and department stores across the globe including Selfridges, Heal’s and Harrods in London, ABC and Barneys in New York and Le Bon Marche in Paris.
The sprawling campus of the design facility, spread over 20,000sq ft in Noida is actually the company’s manufacturing and design facility and displays its avant-garde designs in picturesque corners of the property. Nagi maintains that combining the traditional expertise of Indian craftsmen with contemporary designs can do wonders for home fashion: “Our design vocabulary is a bit partial towards European style sensibilities but the creations are not overtly Continental. There are Indian elements that are placed in a contemporary setting.”
Nagi uses a lot of traditional weaves from Bhagalpur and Varanasi but the embroidery and texturisation done on them are exceedingly modern.
Zipping across time zones for design inspiration is given the top billing in Nagi’s packed schedule. The husband-wife duo often wends their way across exotic locations in Europe and Asia and trawls through nooks and crannies of India to create a story board for their home collections. From Istanbul, Nagi has been influenced by the fantastic geometrical patterns of traditional carpets or kilims and in Japan she was bowled over by fine calligraphy etched on rice paper.
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Such eclectic designs have found favour with both the expat community in India and interior connoisseurs, apart from being a rage in the global home fashion market. In fact, the outfit showcases its home fashion items bi-annually at Maison et Objet in Paris, one of the most prestigious trade fairs of interior design.
Their creations can be picked up at Good Earth stores in Delhi and Mumbai. Take note: Shades of India is also a champion of social causes. It has set up centres in villages of Haryana, training women in various textile-related skills like stitching and embroidery. It has even been invited to make presentations at World Bank conferences on this subject.
Currently though, Nagi is concentrating on organising a three-month interaction programme pertaining to Indian textiles, for students of the University of London.
Trends
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According to Nagi, sophisticated home fashion aficionados across the world vouch for Indian textiles and colours. Simultaneously, texturisation is a trend that’s really hot right now. Nagi achieves that effect through both manual machinery and hand-crafting.
Instead of in-your-face bling, Nagi opts for sophisticated chic through cutworks, appliqués, embroidery, metal and glass beading, layering and metallic threads. She also adds character to her creations by combining fabrics of different weights and finishes to create a variety of textures. “We also favour natural fibres over everything else,” she says.
Another house speciality is the designer’s ability to translate influences gleaned from across the world into her creations. For instance, an entire collection has been built around Japanese rice paper calligraphy. To complement the calligraphy, which she used as a motif on a bedcover, similar Asian symbols like the lotus have been used on other items of the collection.
PROducts
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The bouquet of products offered by Shades of India is as varied as it is exclusive. One of the eye-catchers in its bed linen section is an extremely extravagant silk bed cover that’s heavily accentuated with ruffles. The metallic grey tone also speaks volumes about its sophisticated colour aesthetic. Expect to shell out Rs 30,000 for this lavish piece.
The textile jewellery collection also boasts of innovative items, primary among which are the Cleo and the Autumn Blush necklaces. Cleo is a stunner with silk fabric beads in turquoise, silver and grey accented with a golden crocheted link that holds the beads together. The Autumn Blush necklace too has vermilion and golden crocheted beads that are attached to a knotted silk thread, resembling clusters of luscious berries. Jewellery prices range between Rs 1,500 and Rs 3,000.