Loise Braganza Editions 1 - 12

Editions

1

12

Editions

1

12

Is a collection of twelve garments printed in London, UK and tailored and patterned in Bombay, India.

It is a limited edition of 12 pieces only.

Hass Maricar and I met in Bombay before he left to pursue his degree at LCC, London.

While studying, his interests inclined towards printmaking. We were regularly in touch over Skype, exchanging ideas on art and design, and what was happening in our work. This was when the idea for a collection involving printmaking happened. Having known each other for a while, an understanding in context of ideas happened effortlessly, and there was always talk of working together. When I mentioned I was interested in making a collection of garments, he suggested that I look into printmaking. Thus our conversation turned into a collaboration for Editions 1- 12, bringing together his knowledge in printmaking and graphic design and mine in fashion and art.

The ideas of what kind of print the collection would use had begun to develop while we were photographing the corrugated tin walls of slums housing in Sion. At the time, I was also working on a preceding collection called Urban Survival.

We were enchanted by how surfaces weathering the elements created its own art. The layers of paint on the corrugated walls of the slum reacting with natural elements over time had created what we felt resembled abstract painting.

I prepared for the printing of the fabric, first by cutting from a taka, twelve sheets of silk of specific dimensions. It was then transported via the Braganzas from Mumbai, via Dubai and then through exchange of hands and pleasantries to the Maricars in London.

Hass created the prints reminiscent of our experience in the slums of Sion, but with an organic movement of paint reacting with fabric combined with techniques of relief printing. While he created in London, we kept up our conversation about the direction of the collection, and aesthetic choices in printmaking so we knew we were on the same page.

Eventually the silk that travelled from Bombay to London was brought back for tailoring production. Hass’s printmaking had transmuted the silk into papery, tactile, finished fabrics strong in colour and texture.

I wanted to contain this colour and fabric within a definite shape. So I took from the linear form of the salwar- kurta, so simple and elegant at once, and drew from seeing labourers in the city, their baggy trousers marked by paint stains, worn out from the various odd jobs they had done throughout the city. I also noticed a woman crossing a congested traffic road, and thought of how it was important to be quick and comfortable while doing so. It made me realise Bombay’s bustle needed sporty chic wear that was

crisp and urban lite.

My creative spark was ignited by Bombay’s contrast, its grit and glamour. The people, their survival in a city that has mostly one season, temperatures never go below 10° C at any given time of the year.

The result is Editions 1-12 are created with an approach that is non-conformist to the existing fashion system, combining comfort and style with prints that bring to mind the abstraction of Bombay.

A collaborative intention to make all pieces one off without scope for reproduction.

I love Mumbai Loise Braganza

EDITION 1

EDITION 2

EDITION 3 (Pant piece) & Off-White blouse

EDITION 4

EDITION 5 + TP 11

EDITION 6

EDITION 7

EDITION 8

EDITION 9

EDITION 12

Grey Piece

TP 12

Loise Braganza Inquiries

+91 983 354 4598 loiseb@gmail.com loisebraganza.com Credits Print maker: Hass Maricar, www.hassmaricar.com Photography: Andrea Fernandes, Loise Braganza Make Up: Priya Gonsalves Models: Gitanjali Dang and Rathi Verma Book Design: Kunal Anand; www.cabein.com Tailor: Mohammad Farooq Sheikh Assistant Designer: Vidhi Jain Art Direction: Loise Braganza Copy-edit: Phalguni Desai Printing: Comart, Mumbai Special Thanks Suresh Chandra Handa, Weavers Service Centre, Rashida Maricar, Salih Maricar, the Braganza’s, Nikhil Chopra, Madhavi Gore, Kini Srinivas, Manou, Shaibya Patel, Sukant Panigrahy, Sophie Winquist, Shivani Gupta, Joy Datta, Ashita Misquitta, Shefali Kothari, Romain Loustau, Phillipe Callia, Bernadette Karl, Kunal Anand, Mario Pfeifer for spurring me on and inspirational thanks to designers Katrien Van Hecke and Louise Gray.