The Romanian Blouse- A Cultural Treasure

A national culture can be recognized by its unique elements of identity and belonging. If Italy gave great opera composers to the world, France built the Eiffel tower, India enchanted with the Sari and USA made Facebook possible, Romania hasn't yet shown, what it has to offer to the world. It has remained hidden and unfairly underrated by those who haven't ventured in this cultural civilisation. Probably, part of its charm is that its treasures aren't easily revealed. Its deep spiritual culture needs observation and careful attention because its inherent creativity is quiet and modest, waiting patiently to be discovered. Romania has always been admired from a foreign perspective, reminding it to be proud and take cognizance of its rich heritage and culture.

Design, fashion and art are often representative of a country's culture, telling volumes about the bygone era, tales from the past, historical and geographical mysteries and ancient traditions. For instance, the great modern sculptor Constantin Brancusi from Romania whose works were inspired by nature's symbols, simplicity of country life and ancient Romanian traditions. Similar exquisiteness can be found in the craftsmanship of the Romanian weaving women who learned to sew symbols on the IA – the Romanian blouse for thousands of years. These blouses represent Romania's history with infinite stories being encrypted in the form of signs and ancient alphabets on these blouses. Modern life made Romania adopt Western culture and consumerism instead of valuing the customs that lie deep within the country's s fibre.

Fortunately, the foreign and fresh perspective showed Romania how special and still wearable is the "clothing item" IA! A myriad of fashion designers started incorporating ancient Romanian designs into their collections. Starting with Tom Ford and now with chain stores as H&M, the symbols on the IA are gaining widespread popularity and this phenomenon made Romania realize that it has got to claim this moment.

In this zeitgeist, a simple Facebook page called "La Blouse Roumaine" wanted to promote Romanian femininity through the IA and achieved massive support right from the first week of its conception. It's beautiful portrayal of its design's simplicity and juxtaposition of peasant women sowing with fashion models posing started moving people to action, inspiring them to proudly wear the IA again and promote this unique craft epitome of the Romanian heritage. Along with "Semne Cusute", a blog which documents all the lost symbols online, "La Blouse Roumaine", in just 8 months became an authority and a voice that is heard by museums and embassies. On the 24th of June, the community inaugurates and celebrates the Universal Day of IA, coinciding with the Midsummer and an ancient pre-Christian holiday, the Sanziene.

The aims of the community until now have been to make Romanians all over the world celebrate this day, be proud of their heritage and introduce it to other nationalities. After the first Universal Day of IA, the focus will be more international, so that Romania can "export" its values and create a new country brand. This gathering of people online, fighting for a common and beautiful goal, has made Romanians like me more united and proud of our identity, more connected to our past and happier to be alive.

The Romanian Blouse is a perfect example fusing a country's culture and history with its present and creating a strong fashion statement!

Written by : Alma Andreescu, Our Romanian Travelista

Rajeev Aggarwal of Bottles Not Empty is the happiest when at his canvas- bottles! His beautifully designed, ecofriendly, once discarded bottles, can add a glamorous touch to every decor. From contemporary to traditional, every bottle tells a different story. Here is the master has to say about his art.

Tell us something about yourself and your design venture.  
I've always been inclined towards pursuing my hobby of giving back to the environment by the way of upcycling as recycling on the other hand requires more energy, machinery and  trained labor to create similar products and to pursue this, I voluntary retired from the Gurgaon company where I was the director.
I wish to train like minded people in what I am doing now and also looking to learn from other people working in similar lines. For me bottles are a 3D canvas and believe that part of the story is hidden at the back too. Putting creativity and design on a bottle is a challenge until and unless the design is flowers. Few more people are doing designs on bottles but my effort is to bring at least one new design everyday.

What are the products you are currently offering? Your future plans with  regards to your label?

Presently we are doing only glass bottles and as the label suggest these bottles are rejuvenated once again and are full of life because they are filled with colors and are no more empty. It would be difficult for anybody to throw these graceful bottles rather they will find place on a rack, table or mantle!

What according to you is the USP of your label? How would you describe your label in one word?

For us the creativity is more important and selling of these might will come naturally. These bottles should command respect in the market and though appreciation comes naturally, we believe demand will also be created once awareness is there.
We are happy with three words of our label "bottles not empty".    

Tell us what inspires your designs. When not designing, how do you recharge your creative batteries?

Nature, magazines, newspapers and meeting people generates ideas and ideas are converted into designs . Creativity on bottles today recharge batteries for the next day!

If there is one dream destination (any city, culture, country) which you would like to inspire your designs, which one will it be?

Having explored only parts of India and few countries in Europe, I believe that India is the best place for culture and creative diversity. Apart from my mother-land, I am inspired by Italy because of the great designers there who have created marvels.

Where can we buy your products?
Few online stores are selling our products. They are 

fabulloso.com, simplysizzl.in, indiebazaar.com, itshandmade.in, greenngood.com, thevault.in

Occasional sales at: styletag.com
Very soon at: unwrapindia.com and praangan.in

You can email us at bottlesnotempty@gmail.com

Tanushree Nair's innovatove products

Founded by Tanushree Nair, Karaashilp, the winner of Designer Travelista Contest in the audience's choice category, is a lifestyle label offering contemporary hand made products. The denim bags are designed such that you can't help but fall in love with them! Here is what Tanushree has to say about her label.

Tell us something about yourself and your design venture.


I am a "retired IT professional" who found my calling in hand crafted products. I was exposed to art & craft right from my early age as I saw my sister & mum doing it actively. As a kid too, I used to save a little bit of this n that and would craft up something out of left over materials. Meaning the ground for recycling/upcycling was set very early in my life. After an almost 9 & half year stint in the corporate world, I decided to call it quits and since I was not the one to sit idle, started dabbling in sewing, crochet. I found my hubby's old disposed denims & an old torn bandhani dresslying around from some time and decided to make a bag out of it. Thats how my first product came out (Thanks to my hubby!!! :)). And I went on to make some more. The bags found acceptance in the market and thats how Karaashilp came in to existence on 1st September 2011. 

"Karaa" means hand and "Shilp" means craft in sanskrit, literally meaning "Hand Craft". The idea is to make Karaashilp a one-stop store for contemporary, eco friendly, functional lifestyle hand made products. Our flagship product - Upcycled denim bags are still the most adored, hot selling products.

What are the products you are currently offering? Your future plans with regards to your label?

Currently Karaashilp offers two ranges: Eco & Premium, each having sections in bags/totes, home decor, jewellery & accessories. Eco range caters to all things upcycled and Premium range caters to our new line of products. We are focusing on the Eco range right now as everybody loves our Denim range products. We are planning an entire gamut of products not just for the fashion-savvy women but also for the cool men-folk and the adorable kids!!

What according to you is the USP of your label? How would you describe your label in one word?

The USP of our label has always been exclusivity and uniqueness in design with functionality going hand-in-hand without compromising the beauty.Our products and brand oozes "Passion".

Tell us what inspires your designs. When not designing, how do you recharge your creative batteries?

Anything and everything around us inspires my designs. Elements of nature, people, everyday situations...anything. One just has to be alert to absorb the vastness around us. I generally love to unwind with a coffee and a book or jump on to our very own WWW and browse around aimlessly!!!

If there is one dream destination (any city, culture, country) which you would like to inspire your designs, which one will it be?

Venice  for its beautiful setting, architecture and artworks

Where can we buy your products?

You can buy our products from our online store: www.karaashilp.com.
Like us on FB: www.facebook.com/Karaashilp 
Follow us on Twitter:  @karaashilp

      

Monica Gupta’s label EarthenStyle screams India! Loud, colourful and vibrant, her pots are easily eye-catchers. Beautifully handcrafted, and very very trendy, Gupta’s label is sure to stir a renewed interest in the traditional art of pottery in youngsters. These “happy” clay pots are any connoisseur’s delight!

Here is what Monica has to say. 

Tell us something about yourself and your design venture.

Educated as a software engineer, MCA from Nirma Institute of Management & Technology, employed as a Manager in MNCs in last 10 years.

The creative urge, which was lying dormant in me, resurfaced when I shifted to Bangalore from Faridabad. I left my cushy job and started giving texture, colour and shape to inanimate mud. This was the beginning of ‘Earthenstyle’.

‘Earthenstyle’ produces delicately crafted earthen pots in different shapes, where the exteriors are textured and finished in vibrant colours, so that a unique desirable product for home décor is ready to be marketed.

As our brand logo depicts, we deal with hollow earthen pots, mostly circular in shape. Different layers of colours embrace the pots, to enhance its beauty.

What are the products you are currently offering? Your future plans with regards to your label?

‘Earthenstyle’ product range consists of hand painted terracotta products for home décor which includes vases, pots, masks, hangings and planters. We have recently introduced ‘Kathputlis’ and ‘Blue Pottery’ to add rustic flavour of Rajasthan to our collection, and will continue to add more flavours, as we move forward.

As future plans, we aim to increase our visibility in the market, so that ‘Earthenstyle’ becomes synonyms with decor of homes and work places.

What according to you is the USP of your label? How would you describe your label in one word?

Loud, glossy, vibrant colours which are smoothly blended are Earthenstyle’s  USP. The one word which can describe our label is ‘Attractive’.

Tell us what inspires your designs. When not designing, how do you recharge your creative batteries?

Leisurely walking through, without any tensions, observing nature in all its vividness, inspires me a lot.  

My hands express what my eyes see. For example, observing my 6 year old son, giggling with ‘Angry Birds’ game, inspired me to paint angry birds on hanging pots for his room.

When I am on a break and not designing, I meet people on internet or face to face, to get their opinions on the work I do. This helps me to understand, likes and dislikes of users of my products.

If there is one dream destination (any city, culture, country) which you would like to inspire your designs, which one will it be? 

‘Italy’ the land of Churches & beautiful sculptures, has always been my dream destination to visit and recharge by creative batteries. However, I have been there, while I was doing my regular corporate job, and did not have the chance to explore the beauty around.

Where can we buy your products?

Our products can be bought from our facebook page (www.facebook.com/Earthenstyle) and some e-commerce platforms like craftsvilla.com and mirraw.com.

You will also find us in few Exhibitions & Flea Fairs in Bangalore.

We are also tieing up with few Crafts store, to retail our products, which are coming up soon.

                

Puja Sharma's label #8 Bareli Street offers fun, quirky jewellery that will leave you drooling. She was selected by our team as the winner of the Designer Travelista Contest.  Here is what she has to say.  

       Tell us something about yourself and your design venture. 

After graduating from National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), Bangalore '03, I worked in a garment export house for few years. Working in  this industry, I realized that all they want us to do was cut-copy-paste designs from foreign brands. My creativity was packed and locked for a long long time. I was frustrated despite the salary. I felt I could do much better. As a creative person I wanted my freedom to think, explore, create and have my own design space. Determined, slowly I made my way towards realizing my dream and thats how #8 Bareli Street started 3 years back.

What are the products you are currently offering? Your future plans with regards to your label?  

We started with Fashion jewelry for the young adult and slowly we are doing different Theme based collections for Older woman and girls. We have plans to get into designer accessories like stoles, belts, and hand bags. We would also love to add a small range of garments and home furnishing.

      What according to you is the USP of your label? How would you describe your label in one word? 

USP of our design is that its trendy and innovative. Our choice of material and design gives every collection its unique appeal. We make sure our design collection is spot on with the current trends. Our craftsmanship gives each piece individual touch with extra care given to Finishing and quality. So our designs can be enjoyed by just about everyone. In 2 words we describe our brand as FASHION FORWARD.

      Tell us what inspires your designs. When not designing, how do you recharge your creative batteries? 

Born and brought up in a rich culture of INDIA my design collection has every possible influence from the Soil. One can find bright Colour combinations inspired from rich Art & craft available in every part of our country. In my free time i watch TV channels like NDTV good times, covering all that they feature on travel, food and fashion. I watch Runway fashion shows on FTV. I love to read and browse about art and craft from different parts of World.

If there is one dream destination (any city, culture, country) which you would like to inspire your designs, which one will it be? 

Europe!   

Where can we buy your products?

One can see our design collection on www.8barelistreet.com or www.facebook.com/8.barelistreet (some customers directly buy from facebook)

We are currently selling from online portals  like www.craftsvilla.com www.itshandmade.co.in  www.indiebazaar.com  www.voylla.com  

We also retail from few shops in Bangalore ( Shop:VIVIDITY, Koramangala, Near JNC & VIVIDITY , HSR layout, 27th Main road) and Bhubaneshwar (Shop: NO CODE)