Kangan Arora at Design Junction
Extract from the current issue of Selvedge – Amelia Thorpe on textile designer Kangan Arora
“When people think of India, they probably think of traditional craft or really cheap, mass produced things. But there’s a well-designed, contemporary wave coming.” What Kangan Arora doesn’t say, is that she’s at the forefront.
Vivid colour and graphic pattern are textile designer Kangan Arora’s home territory. Born and raised in the Punjab in the north of India, Arora says that her designs are rooted in the country she loves, even though she is now a permanent resident of North London. “Whenever I go home, I go to the truck workshops and document them quite seriously,” she explains (photography is another passion). “They all know me, because I go back every year and sit and watch them as they paint.” It is the hand painted, vinyl and radium cut-out designs that interest her most. “They provide the inspiration to create a mood – the colours, the patterns, the different styles.”
For her first collection she took a four month trip to India, and came back with a bursting suitcase to sell her stock at London craft markets. A four-colour cushion with bold silhouettes of cows sold particularly well. “It was fun, graphic and bold, and I think people liked its simplicity,” she reflects. “After that I carried on developing prints with block colour and really graphic, quite clean and modern designs,” she says. Since those early days, Arora has exhibited her work at the V&A Museum and at Design Junction, produced a successful limited edition collection of cushions for Heal’s, and now sells her designs through retailers including Future & Found, Smug, Heal’s and the Southbank Centre shop.
Cushions are screen printed in water-based pigment colours – including neon – on 100% cotton by Arora; while other pieces, include a bright collection of quilted hot water bottle covers, and a range of pure wool rugs produced in collaboration with Floor Story, all made to Arora’s designs in India. This September sees the launch of a bed linen collection for Urban Outfitters.
Read more in the India issue of Selvedge
www.kanganarora.com
Vivid colour and graphic pattern are textile designer Kangan Arora’s home territory. Born and raised in the Punjab in the north of India, Arora says that her designs are rooted in the country she loves, even though she is now a permanent resident of North London. “Whenever I go home, I go to the truck workshops and document them quite seriously,” she explains (photography is another passion). “They all know me, because I go back every year and sit and watch them as they paint.” It is the hand painted, vinyl and radium cut-out designs that interest her most. “They provide the inspiration to create a mood – the colours, the patterns, the different styles.”
For her first collection she took a four month trip to India, and came back with a bursting suitcase to sell her stock at London craft markets. A four-colour cushion with bold silhouettes of cows sold particularly well. “It was fun, graphic and bold, and I think people liked its simplicity,” she reflects. “After that I carried on developing prints with block colour and really graphic, quite clean and modern designs,” she says. Since those early days, Arora has exhibited her work at the V&A Museum and at Design Junction, produced a successful limited edition collection of cushions for Heal’s, and now sells her designs through retailers including Future & Found, Smug, Heal’s and the Southbank Centre shop.
Cushions are screen printed in water-based pigment colours – including neon – on 100% cotton by Arora; while other pieces, include a bright collection of quilted hot water bottle covers, and a range of pure wool rugs produced in collaboration with Floor Story, all made to Arora’s designs in India. This September sees the launch of a bed linen collection for Urban Outfitters.
Read more in the India issue of Selvedge
www.kanganarora.com
Kangan Arora will be showcasing the new collection 'Fluorescent Forest' at Designjunction during London Design Festival 24 - 27 September, Victoria House, 37 Southampton Row, London, WC1B 4DA