Meet The Indian Designer Weaving Modernity Into Her Heritage

In a small town beneath the Himalayan foothills, a few hours from the tourist mecca of marijuana-scented Manali and aside some pretty spectacular landscapes, 30-year-old Indian designer Ruchika Sachdeva is sitting at a loom weaving the fabric that comprises her new collection. The man she sits beside, Labbo, has been working at this factory for 15 years; ordinarily, he spends his days tracing intricate traditional designs for shawls, but Sachdeva’s arrival affords him a creative autonomy – they developed this weave together, she explains, as "a modern interpretation of what he normally does."

This factory, Bhuttico, has been running since 1944 and is one of the multitude of traditional textile manufacturers that Sachdeva has spent her career traveling her country to collaborate with: in contrast to the oft-exploitative textile industry, Bhuttico is an equitably-owned co-operative that off
ers maternity leave and pension plans, and is part-subsidised by the Indian government in an effort to sustain the handloom handcraft of the country, something inexorably interwoven with its cultural history. While the chairman of Bhuttico is a man, it is his daughter Shivani Thakur who oversees production here – a fairly unusual set-up for a country that remains dominantly patriarchal – and the combination of her powerful presence with the handwoven and sustainably-made textiles (there is only 2% waste here; all dyes are ASO-free; post-consumer products are upcycled into new yarn) present a pretty perfect reflection of Sachdeva’s brand, Bodice.

Over the course of its 8-year history, Bodice has become an insider favourite in her home country, its contemporary vision of femininity presenting a visible contrast to the heavy embellishment and Bollywood bling often associated with traditional design, and setting a local trend for a new style of dress. Her clean-cut aesthetic, Sachdeva explains, appeals to a new generation of Indian women seeking contemporary clothing: “a lot of creative women, a lot of working women… women like me.”

Sachdeva is 30 years old, unmarried, and proudly determined to maintain her independence within a culture that makes very particular demands of its women. Doing things differently has sometimes proven a struggle: most recently, the contractors she enlisted to build her artfully-designed, appointment-only store “fucked me over royally,” she says, taking far longer than they needed to in construction, “and I know they’ve done it because they think I’m a little girl. It’s taken me time to be able to prove myself here. My age doesn’t help, my gender doesn’t help, and I struggle with it every day. But I’m not going to give up because it needs to change, some day… and I am a fighter.”

The aesthetic she champions, and the clothing she designs, reflect that karmic spirit: it is considered minimalism imbued with quietly-executed handwork and craft. "I wanted to look at how I could simplify things," she says, "and make clothing that appeals to a Western audience not just because it comes from an exotic place." Her new capsule collection, which has been developed in collaboration with Woolmark after winning their esteemed annual prize, and which will now retail through their international network of stockists, comprises naturally-dyed burgundy shirting; gently-draped duster coats; merino wool box-pleated dresses. On whispered recommendations from friends and family, Sachdeva has travelled the country, seeking out the best - and fairest - factories to collaborate with on meticulous handwork - that’s the approach that won her the Woolmark Prize, after all, and what better way to champion their fabric?

But in spite of the intricate sensibility, there’s nothing tight or rigid in the collection – a trait Sachdeva puts down both to climate as well as the demands of Delhi ("Delhi is not a very safe city for women,” she reflects, "And so I feel more comfortable, more at ease, in modest clothing"). Accordingly, the pieces appear effortless on the body. Even an indigo bomber jacket whose embroidery took 10 full days of handwork to complete is gently relaxed rather than overwrought; the expertly-executed tailoring softly cut. While skirts’ swirling silhouettes take inspiration from the costumes of India’s 18th century nautch dancers, they appear resolutely contemporary, constructed in graphic patterns from deep-dyed merino wool. You can imagine them making waves at Basel, finding fans among the same women who cherish the modern refinement of Roksanda or Rejina Pyo. When shown on a rail, they radiate: Sachdeva’s backstory is simply a bonus.