ABOUT ME
An enthusiast of textiles and crafts, I am a textile design graduate from the National Institute of Fashion Technology, India, and a fashion design major from the Fashion Institute of Technology, New York.
My tryst with artisanal textiles began with Maheshwar and Bagh's weavers in India, where I worked for my graduation project. That journey led to find my calling and dedicate myself to a voice of clothing that means more. I worked as head designer for Gaurang for seven years, designing for over 10 textile clusters across India.
Since my major from FIT in 2019, I have been consulting for Western luxury and craft fashion enterprise with key interests in India and more recently, as a craft mentor for the global craft humanitarian organization, NEST. My key responsibilities during this time has been to conduct design and market research, mentor design students and craftspeople, and to support conscious fashion businesses in their design and product development.
As an artist, my key focus medium (and soul calling) has been hand-painted Kalamkari from SriKalahasti, India. Having learnt the art from Mamata Reddy and her artisans for over a decade- I started practicing it out of my studio in Brooklyn since 2021. I simultaneously launched my slow fashion brand untitle by nikita: that up-cycles memorial clothing and dead stock textiles sourced from artisans in India.
Dedicated to my belief in the grassroots, I have been an advocate of its importance and inclusion daily. My stance is that of an insider-outsider; on the one hand, a practitioner, while on the other, an individual socialized since birth in the rituals and language of "sustainable fashion" and "healing through textile art".
This is the journey of a girl narrating the stories of culture, roots, and wellness through the intersection of textiles crafts, fashion, and art!
-Nikita
