By IANS
Jaipur : US-based fashion house Mehera Shaw has opened a production facility in the city, its first such unit outside the US.
The Jaipur production facility will make and export the boutique’s own high-end label and also cater to other independent designers.
Shari and Mark Keller started Mehera Shaw in 1999 in Chapel Hill in North Carolina in the US out of their love of Indian textiles and a desire to work in an ecologically positive way.
They developed Mehera Shaw into a fashion house specialising in fine cottons and artisan-crafted, hand block prints from Jaipur.
Mehera Shaw styles range from sophisticated casual wears to East and West fusion ensembles, incorporating many traditional printing and stitching techniques — all in natural fibres.
Talking to IANS, designer Shari said: “We create decidedly feminine clothing for women who love beauty, colour and a bit of Indian mystique.
“We also want to work with other independent designers to allow them access to artisan-made styles on a small-scale.
“We will open a wholesale showroom and a retail shop in Jaipur,” she added.
“Initially, we worked with other manufacturers to develop our exclusive label, but found we wanted to have more artistic freedom to develop speciality styles and prints. We therefore decided to form our own company in Jaipur instead of continuing to work through other manufacturers,” Shari said.
“This way we can maintain the quality we are after, and work with the block print artisans directly. We can also develop our designs with our own team of pattern masters.”
Shari’s designs use fine cottons such as voile, cambric and twill in refined, colourful and feminine styles. They are a blend of East and West, drawing inspiration from traditional Indian dresses such as lehenga, choli, salwar kameez and sherwani. She also uses the incredible colours seen in bandhni (tie and dye) work, wedding saris and traditional embroidery.
Shari uses indigenous fabrics and textile techniques, such as block printing and “hath tagaii” (hand quilting), to produce a fusion of Eastern aesthetics and Western styles.
“We work in natural fibres and incorporate organic cotton into each collection. Most collections also use vegetable dyes as a reflection of traditional and eco-friendly textile practices,” she said.