Weaves of Passion
SHILPI YADAV, 33, FOUNDER, KHARAKAPAS
FREEDOM TO CREATE Shilpi Yadav wanted to design “clothes with a soul”— that represent India but in a modern avatar. With that thought in mind, she launched Kharakapas (which means ‘pure cotton’ in Hindi), her online label in February 2015, from a basic two-sewing-machine set-up in a single room in her home. Today, the designer has a fully functional production as well as and design unit in Gurgaon and will soon be collaborating with stores in India and abroad. Armed with a degree in apparel design from National Institute Of Design, Ahmedabad, and merchandise marketing from Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising, Los Angeles, plus experience of years of work at various design houses in Delhi, Yadav had one mission— to revive Indian textiles.
WHY? Yadav feels India is a reservoir of resources in terms of culture, craft and fabric—enough for, as she puts it, “a designer to devote her label to”. It was her deeprooted passion for design, for a unique form of expression and for the freedom to uninhibitedly create a space for her design sensibilities that finally led her to launch Kharakapas.
SETTING AN EXAMPLE Working with local weavers and providing them with a global platform to showcase their skills has given Yadav the biggest high. “We’ve brought back Indian weaving and craft techniques to our customers' wardrobe in a contemporary avatar and as everyday wear," says Yadav, whose designs have found buyers not only in northern India and Bollywood but also in the United States, Australia and the UAE. And Kharakapas will change your mind when it comes to cotton not being cool enough to don as formal wear, for her free-flowing mulmul gowns in organic prints and cotton lehenga cholis with gota work are nothing short of stunning.
FREEDOM IS “To create something that celebrates your own heritage and culture,” says Yadav.