Shwetambari Mody: The designer bringing Indian craftsmanship to New York

(November 13, 2021) It’s the fusion of Indian craftsmanship and modern designs that make Shwetambari Mody’s fashion label a global name. The New York-based fashion designer is on a mission to preserve Indian crafts by providing a platform for their work to shine in the arena of international style and fashion. This very calling has put her on a global platform where her work is being recognised for being a perfect amalgamation of the East and the West.

Mody, who was always fond of art as a child, decided to translate her passion into a career that has now made her a global entity.

 

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From artist to fashion school

Born and raised in Mumbai, Mody was always interested in doodling. Art and sketching are something that resonated with her and to hone her craft, her parents enrolled her in art classes as a child and soon it became a part of who she was. During her teens, she found her mother to be the biggest influence on her as Mody would often accompany her to Rohit Khosla’s atelier where the pioneer of Indian fashion would drape fabrics on her mother. The sight was a sheer pleasure for this then teenager and she had already fallen in love with fashion. So after completing her schooling at Bombay Scottish School, her dream of pursuing fashion as a career came to fruition as she enrolled herself at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York at the age of 17.

While she learned the tricks of the trade at fashion school, Mody was also keen to enhance her management skills for any business is a perfect amalgamation of both. So her next stop was ESSEC Business School in Paris where she studied MBA in luxury brand management. “During my time in Paris, I fell in love with design craftsmanship and savoir-faire. It reminded me of Indian artisans, or karigars, who still use age-old techniques that have been passed down through generations,” she told Travel Curator in an interview.

 

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Her true calling

After completing her post-graduation, Mody landed a job working on the corporate side of fashion in textile research. But soon she started to miss the creativity and realised that she was ready to launch her brand as it was her true calling. “While big companies are great and they teach you a lot, you get a small section because you’re a cog in the machine. I thought, if I don’t do this now, I’ll never do this. The French talk about savoir-faire and they do an amazing job with it—but us Indians, we have it too. It’s called ‘karigaree’ which means artistry. This artistry is what I wanted to understand better, and how do you convert that into something that’s wearable for every day? So that is how I started this brand; it is a homage to my country and its artists,” she told CRFashion Book.

A global brand

In August 2020, Mody launched her eponymous label and since then has been bringing Indian craftsmanship to New York through her designs. The New York-based brand is a true homage to her homeland with its intricate handiwork embroidery embellishment and vivid prints but with a touch of NYC cool. A fine artist and painter, Mody decided to translate her craft onto fabric and see the magic happen.

 

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Talking about the inspiration behind her venture, this Global Indian told Travel Curator, “I was working in the corporate world before starting Shwetambari and I felt creatively deprived so I would always paint at home. It was one of my resin paintings that acted as the catalyst for me to create the collection. When you pour resin onto the canvas it does its own thing, it’s very organic and it got me thinking about how this could translate into something else I love and that is fabric.”

Mody is keen to bring her Indian influence to the collection so that the world gets to know about Indian craftsmanship. Through her collections, Mody is preserving the traditional Indian fashions by utilising the artisans’ technique in her design while incorporating modern techniques. The rising designer is providing a perfect East-meets-West experience to the global audience by putting Indian designs and artisans on the world map with her collection.

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