As published in Blouin Art Info
London based House of Gharats is a design house, fusing cultures and blurring the lines between art and fashion, producing a clever approach to everyday dressing and living. The House of Gharats is carving out a niche market by employing textile craftsmen, unconventional materials, sculptural tailoring, bold colours, fanciful details and novel prints to challenge conventional ideas of style. It is passionate about engaging with the makers and process, and seeking to capture the essence of tradition, materials, stories and function.
Neishaa Gharat, Designer and Co-founder of House of Gharats, studied visual arts and pioneered the concept of design studios in India. In 1995 she co-founded Paramount Vision, a design and communications studio, one of the largest in India – the studio worked successfully with global and national brands. From 2008 until 2013, she worked as a brand consultant in London, focusing on businesses entering the Indian market.
Neishaa then followed her zeal and launched House of Gharats, a design house that investigates and re-interprets the role of Indian art, craft and culture within the context of British and global design. Designed in London, the label represents a responsible approach to fashion and lifestyle, as it aims to build a sustainable future. She passionately promotes Indian arts, crafts and textiles globally and enables cross cultural collaborations.
Blouin Artinfo speaks to Neishaa on her inspiration, her thought on the changing framework of fashion, her passion to work with Indian artists and much more.
How do you see the framework of fashion is changing and how this is going to impact the fashion industry in London?
There has been a lot of focus on sustainability in fashion in the recent years and we hope to be part of the movement that creates both sustainable, authentic and stylish pieces. Customers, and particularly the millennial generation, are becoming increasingly interested in the origin of the materials and textiles they are buying, as well as the stories of the people that created it.
Our scarves are story tellers. Fashion, we believe is one of the most important mediums to express one’s individuality and it is important that the industry recognises the value of people who want to buy responsibly and remain individual.
What is the cultural implication and relation you find between the creation and your products?
There has been much debate recently about appreciation and appropriation in terms of cross-cultural creation. However, whilst it is important to understand the cultural roots of a piece, a new emphasis on the importance of individualism, of self-development and self-choice in society allows artists to develop a powerful independent voice, as well as drawing on global cultures to inspire their work. The exploration of culture and identity drives a lot of our creative inspiration and we are soon launching a project that addresses the dichotomy of these two ideas in art. These images will reflect upon individuality and introspects how globalisation celebrates individual style, as well as promoting the sharing of cultural ideas throughout the modern world. The project reflects the creative inspiration drawn from Avatars in Hinduism and online. The work speaks to us through the idea of cultural rebirth as well as how we present our identity to the world. I am excited about the future of ‘making’ in a globalised world. We have only begun to scratch the surface of the potential of collaborating traditional skills with modern perception, and cross cultural engagement.
Tell us something about the House of Gharats and the scarf collection you have titled “Pata Pallete”?
Our brand focuses on the strong connection between art and fashion and the fusion of cultures. The use of craft and heritage through contemporary yet classic designs means our ready to wear pieces speak on many levels to people who love fashion, art and individuality. We endeavor to bring together various cultures, redefine cultural relationships, and create new style synergies through art and fashion. Living amidst London’s international hybrid city of cultures and its influential past results in designs that are profoundly modern, distinctively stylish, yet inherently classic. The Pata Pallete scarf collection is an ongoing collaboration between House of Gharats and a collection of different Patachitra artists, or ‘patuas’ as they are traditionally known, like Manu Chitrakar. Patachitra is a visual storytelling style that takes the form of painted scrolls, depicting sequential scenes from stories, legends and myths. The subject of the patachitras have evolved over time; from the mid-1800s when patuas mostly painted religious and mythological figures, to later decades in which paintings depicted and satirised social life. The colours of the scrolls emphasise the strong spiritual connection to nature as all the inks are made from natural materials. An outfit or detailed garment can be a strong expression of individuality and like the House of Gharats brand, the scarf collection hones in on this idea.
What really inspired you to have Pata collection for the scarfs, do you think this will get mileage with the kind of audience you have?
I am passionate about working closely with the artisans of Bengal and I feel that there is a dynamic essence to Patachitra in its story telling, a spirit which reflects the stories we like to tell with our own work. I am working closely with Biswa Bangla, a government initiative of one of the most culturally diverse states in India, West Bengal, to promote the rich arts and crafts that herald from the state. House of Gharats has an innate passion for preserving the dying art forms of India, as well as creating a place for them in our modern lifestyle. Another collection is inspired byKalighat paintings, stemming from the ancient art of Patachitra, the Kalighat style flourished during the British raj in India and are a harmonic balance of the artistic ideas between oriental themes and occidental techniques. The art form gets its name from Kolkata’s famous Kali temple, where migrant practitioners of patachitra congregated to make and sell paintings to tourists and pilgrims. Gradually, Kalighat art emerged as a distinct style, influencing Calcutta School artists such as Jamini Roy and even European artists like Picasso. Fashion in itself has always been an art form and our scarves are the perfect example of how intricately woven together art and fashion can be.
The Pata Pallete collection is the first of its kind and the limited edition collection has been a sell out in our London boutique, Taj Khazana. These collections will soon find themselves in boutiques in influential cities all over the world, Paris, New York, Bucharest and Florence.
Do you have any further plans to include more Indian traditional creations for your products?
Working with traditional Indian arts, crafts and textiles promoting artisans and creating designs for a global audience is the very essence of our work. I feel that the future of the handmade is about making it live and breathe by becoming part of the new economy. Our new scarf collections to be launched this year will explore the beautiful art of Pichwai paintings and artworks from Rajasthan.
I feel strongly connected to the arts & crafts of India, because its culture reveals such a fascinating dichotomy between tradition and modernity. This means that there is a tremendous legacy of skilled work and a willingness to take it forward into the future. As a design house, House of Gharats investigates and re-interprets the role of Indian art, craft and culture within the context of British and global design. Designed in London, the label represents a responsible approach to fashion and lifestyle, as it aims to build a sustainable future.
The Limited edition collection is available in Taj Khazana, St. James Court, A Taj Hotel London in 90 cms Women’s silk scarf and 40 cms Men’s pocket squares.
