PADMAJA

Born in Kolkata, a city known for its subtle aesthetics and furious creative energy, Padmaja Krishnan stepped into the local khadi shop with her mother to pick fabrics and discovered jamdanis, balucharis, and tangails. After completing her studies in fashion design, she worked as a design consultant for the handicrafts sector, which took her to several remote villages in eastern India. This grassroots exposure helped to find her true calling in making slow, handmade clothing. Padmaja set up her studio, Padmaja, to integrate the work of traditionally skilled artisans with modern design practice and to combine sustainability and social responsibility with humour and delight.



In her design, tradition is respected as it dances with the contemporary: a frayed hem left open refers simultaneously to the weaver’s loom in midshuttle, to grunge, to an old Vreeland saying, “Never explain, never apologise.” Polly Leonard–What is your first memory of a textile? Padmaja Krishnan–My earliest memory of textiles is the matching dresses my mother sewed from a roll of soft khadi cloth. I was so embarrassed to be dressed the same as my siblings, but recently, my sisters and I have made ourselves identical dresses in an ode to our childhood.

Meet Padmaja at The Selvedge Fair, The American Museum, Bath on 9 September www.selvedge.org.

Find out more:
padmaja.shop
@padmaja_studio