Indian embroidery has played a prominent role in our society; whether in the rural tradition in which embroidery featured essentially as dowry goods, wedding paraphernalia and group identifier or at the courts of the Mughals and other ruling elites in which embroidered textiles adorned the carved stone halls as well as the persons of the nobility; or in the booming export market that has made India’s textile products famous. Embroidery has always been in the forefront in India’s uniquely rich textile tradition.

I worked under Asif Shaikh, an Ahmedabad based designer. The project was of six months duration where I was exposed to the working system of the organisation.

I worked on a specific project for his clients, catering to their demands under his guidance. My key responsibility for this project was to design styles and surfaces using basic embroidery stitches and hand techniques for working women.

It exposed me to a real life situation enabling me to understand the working of a designer label, its needs, autonomy, and constraints and being able to deliver within those parameters. It helped me understand the functioning of a designer label and design according to the clientele, present market competitors and future goals, thus providing me with a launch pad into the professional world.