Growing up in India, we witness numerous instances of worshipping trees. This inherent part of our culture manifests in different ways during the harvest festivals spread in regions across our subcontinent. My grandmother would tie a hand spun cotton thread around a banyan tree, not far from our house. The memory of this routine, of the ladies of the house worshipping the tree to bless their families, is a precious one. The great Banyan tree is a god like presence through our lives, witnessing our journey from childhood to adulthood just as it did with generations of our ancestors. It is the visual of this very tree — where numerous mornings of seasons of the earth have passed —that flashed before my eyes each time I sat to sketch this collection.
A tree’s memories and life are engrained in the rings of its trunk; as it grows from within towards the bark. Impressions on the ground, the storms that it weathers, the warm sunsets and cold rains —all unforgotten – and constantly preserved in its consciousness. The elders in Africa would hold meetings around the ancient Baobab tree with the belief that the tree would lend its wisdom to those seeking clarity for making important decisions. A tree that lasts centuries and witnesses evolution of the human race and mother earth as it changes its course – even the splitting of seven continents – it’s fruit is bound to be priceless.
Basking in the golden sun, ’The Tree of Life’ is a manifestation of nature’s abundance. It’s an attempt to celebrate its opulence and beauty. This collection renders our gratitude for nature’s wisdom. Under the glorious setting sun, how every leaf transmutes to gold, with glimmering drops of dew—a pinnacle of life.
In this collection, two and three dimensional embroideries articulate the first flush of nature emerging on the surface of a body, and life that grows from it. Intricately embellished artworks articulate scenes from dense forests with ancient architectural remains and vegetation in modern day silhouettes. A fresh application for the brand, metallics add another dimension to our brand’s signature hand craft. True to the values of ‘Haute Couture’, pieces feature fabrics that are handwoven in remote locations in India, embroidered with hand for over 10,000 human hours and sewn to perfection for clothing that is featherweight despite its convoluted surfaces.
A contemporary application using multitude of traditional surface embellishment techniques from the Indian subcontinent, this collection is a manifestation of artistic memory. It endeavours to cultivate a circular economy for craft communities in India. The core aim of the collection continues to focus on grass root empowerment and provide encouragement to the artisans make the clothes. We seek to not just fuel further consumption but cater to the existing demand of a mindful customer.
Photographer: Christina Henningstad For fabuk