For designer Kshitij Jalori, his childhood revolved around painting and drawing and he always had a keen interest in everything creative. Looking at this and to develop this further, his parents sent him to Mayo College in Ajmer, which at the time had a very strong Fine Arts Department under the tutelage of a Bengali artist Mr. Hazra. During the course of time, he not only train further in various fields of art and crafts but also explored his hand at various other co-curricular activities like dramatics, filmmaking, debates, open mikes etc. In a detailed conversation with TMM, the new-age designer who hails from Ajmer, Rajasthan talks about how his parents made him live his dream of becoming a designer and what makes him unique among his contemporaries.
When did the love for fashion and textile happen to you?
As a child, I always had a creative bent towards art and fashion, which was only further enhanced by getting an opportunity to explore them further, something that my parents consciously promoted and supported. I am not sure how but there was an innate sense of love for garments and I remember that even back in school, I would in fact go out, purchase fabrics (be it checks, printed or dobby fabrics in cotton, linens, etc) and get my own shirts stitched, explore the cuts and paneling and experiment with the same. Textiles honestly happened by chance; in fact, it’s a funny story. My parents wanted me to go to NID but I was hell-bent on doing Fashion from NIFT Delhi and it so happened that after the entrance results my rank was only enough to get me a textile seat in New Delhi and hence unknowingly began a journey that has taken me many places since and really given me a chance to explore multiple cultures and meet people from many different walks of life.
Tell us about your latest Kellee collection.
Kellee as a collection focuses on the life and works of Ellsworth Kelly, a renowned American artist known for his hard-edged style of painting and minimalism in color. It explores the basic principles of colors and lays a great emphasis on lines and multiple geometric forms, some of which have been serviced from architectural shadows. Simultaneously, it places the artist in a Mexican garden, thereby setting the grounds for the development of a floral language of prints and art which have a very minimal approach to color with very clean bold graphic elements. The prints consist of elements such as hydrangeas, anthuriums, toucans, hornbills etc however, the color treatment for each motif has been done in a typical Kellyesque manner keeping its hard-edged flat color application intact. Also, a detailed study of the Otomi tribe of Mexico and their textiles laid the foundations for Otomi print. The nomenclature for the prints has also been derived keeping KELLY’s philosophy in mind and how he would name his artworks as primary color names such as Red, Green, Yellow. We have actually named our prints RGB, CMYK, or HSB terms which are often used in today’s digital Photoshop age to denote color palettes.
How and when your love for Architectural Clothing develop?
Again, Architecture is something which has always interested me and it’s not just the shapes and forms of buildings, but the building blocks like the building materials, kind of stones, wood, the play of light and shadow etc. In fact, it’s not just architecture, I am interested in art, culture, music, furniture, jewellery, etc as well. I think the idea really struck me when I was working on my Art Deco-inspired collection called Moulin Rouge, where I actually went ahead and for the first time actually did a series of clothing called ‘ARCO’ which at the time was inspired by the arch and its relevance in the Art Deco movement. Not just the arch, but various other design elements and linear forms became a part of the ‘ARCO’ series of clothing in Moulin Rouge.
What’s the story behind your love for Benarasis?
Well, truth be told, not every collection I make has Benarasi brocade fabrics, however, it is indeed a very important part of the label and in fact every year, we develop multiple new brocades across different fabric textures such as satins, tanchois, tissues, mashrus etc. Honestly, it’s not just the love for the fabric or the technique but also the fact that I have worked in Benaras for many years for multiple other brands before starting out on my own. If I was to put it, Benaras is probably one of the textile sectors which I understand the most and hence, it was the obvious choice of textile to work with when it came to starting out on my own.
When it comes to possibilities in design, the looms in Benaras offers infinite possibilities and hence, even from a design perspective it gives you a lot more freedom for expression. To this effect, we have in fact gone ahead and developed something known as Pashmina Brocade or Cashmere Brocade shawls where the cashmere yarn for the base fabric comes from Ladakh and is then woven in Benaras using Kadhwa technique to weave intricate patterns using real zari.
When it comes to designing, what inspires you and which all antique weaving crafts are your favourite?
Well, design for me is very personal and hence it’s not like I personally set out to look for inspirations 
for a particular season or collection. It’s just a bunch of things, whether it is related to my travel experiences, or maybe an admiration for a certain artist’s work or an art movement. So as such inspiration for each collection is multifold with a central idea which is then developed in layers. Like in Saigon Central, the central idea was tropical flora and fauna, which was then developed using architectural inspirations from Marrakesh and the Mediterranean, with wildlife from Africa and artist representative ideas of Henri Rousseau and Henri Matisse.
In terms of weaving crafts, I am personally very fond of Benarasis, however, other clusters where I want to work in the near future include, Jamdani, Paithani, Patolas, Puttapakka Ikats, Kani Kashmiri Shawls, Kanjivarams, Assamese Muga silk etc.
What are your future plans for the label?
Well, at the moment, we are busy working on a bridal line that is due for the September launch. We have done quite a few custom orders for bridal and hence, this was a natural category for expansion. Simultaneously, we want to start menswear as there have been consistent queries and a couple of special orders that we have made for friends and family. Other than that, we are looking at expanding the craft textile story in two further sectors. Along with this, I personally want to expand the brand presence in resort and swimwear which will also have the ‘ARCO’ series. And, accessories is another vertical that we want to explore sooner rather than later with very thoughtful use of materials.
The post A Fresh Look: Kshitij Jalori appeared first on TMM.