Convergence of Fashion, Culture, and Art
Nikita Shah (b. Mumbai, India) is a multidisciplinary artist, designer, educator and independent researcher based out of Brooklyn, New York. She spent over a decade developing practices in weaving, embroidery, prints, paints and craft with over thirteen textile clusters across India before she migrated to the USA.
She began her journey as a graduate student in India where she designed two collections with weavers in Madhya Pradesh which won her two awards for the innovative use of indigenous yarns, revival of 100-year-old block-designs and contemporizing a less popular textile.
Through her journey she came across the 3000-year-old temple textile of Kalamkari, which spoke to her soul and is her medium of artistic and fashion expression. The only Kalamkari practitioner in the US, Nikita researches on pictorial and narrative story-cloth's and uses it as an activist tool to narrates stories of gender identity, mental health, geopolitics, home and gathering community.
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Craft is Art
A freehand drawn and painted textile art, Kalamkari has its roots in visual storytelling and documentation. Nikita employs this technique as both a form of personal expression and a means of preserving communal stories. Through her convergence of visual art and craft process, she advocates for the recognition of craft as a legitimate and valuable form of art.
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Birth of a Brand: Untitle by Nikita
With over a decade of experience in textile crafts and fashion, Nikita founded her slow fashion brand, untitle, in 2021. At untitle, we create made-to-order clothing that blends personal memorial textiles with deadstock fabrics sourced from artisans in India. Our approach challenges the conventional fashion industry model and its mass-production methods, prioritizing sustainability and craftsmanship. Each garment is meticulously crafted in New York City's historic Garment District, ensuring ethical production and a commitment to quality.
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Crafting Communities: Fursat
In addition to incorporating Kalamkari in her work, Nikita teaches South Asian Textiles and dress through her workshops “fursat” [a South Asian term embodying leisure, reflection, and wisdom] where she introduces the knowledge, techniques and the complex wisdoms of textile techniques.
She has collaborated with New York Public Library, New York Textile Month, Asia Society, Brooklyn LGBT Community Centre, South Asian New York Fashion Week, Bloomberg, Shopify, the Agaati Foundation, Pike Place Market, the Indian Institute of Technology for fursat.
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Academia
Nikita theorizes her practice at fursat, indigenous knowledge systems and oral traditions into academic teaching though independent studies, presentations and scholarly papers.
She has developed syllabi on South Asian textiles and dressmaking, Introduction and Practice of Kalamkari at institutions such as Tufts, Amherst, the Fashion Institute of Technology, and the Indian Institute of Technology.
Her Skills, Expertise, and Early Beginnings
Nikita earned a degree in textile design at the National Institute of Fashion Technology in India. She went onto running operations as the head designer for an influential brand in India, known for its dedication to preserving traditional Indian textiles. She delved further into the world of textile crafts by living amongst artisans and weavers across over ten textile clusters at the grassroots of India.
Nikita’s profound love for textiles began as a little girl, watching her mother make clothing choices, giving care to her clothes, which captivated her and later drew her into the world of artisanal textiles.
She continued to push her creative boundaries and hone her craft by majoring in fashion design at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. She also consults for NEST Expert Network, an agency developed to advance the creative artisan economy.