LUXE CODE ISSUE 1

MUMBAI OCTOBER 2017

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STOCKHOLM OFFERS ART AND DESIGN AS A WAY OF LIFE

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PEOPLE

OLIVIER ROUSTEING PUSHES BALMAIN TO NEW HORIZONS

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SURYA PRAKASH ON HIS EVOLUTION AS AN ARTIST

OMEGA AND NASA MAKE HISTORY WITH THE MOON WATCH

ART

THINGS

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EDITOR’S NOTE

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rt is a bridge between the inner world of our imagination and the outer world of experience – experience of life through people, places, art, and things. The vision of Luxe Code is to reimagine luxury, and explore how good design and art have always been fuelled by passion.

The launch edition offers a heady mix of places to visit, artists and designers to follow and innovative products shaped by their creators. We delve into the ‘Why’ behind every narrative.

In the People section, while designer Anita Dongre discusses how she is helping artisans preserve their craft; Olivier Rousteing talks about his vision for the Parisian couture brand Balmain. Design and art also traverse the lines of lifestyle through architecture and we see how both Croatian productdesigner Ana Tevši Naukovi and architect Mustafa Eisa channel their deep love for stylised spaces in their projects.

In Places, we take you from the deserts of Rajasthan, and the beauty of a warrior fort, to modern-day Stockholm where simplicity is cherished and design is a part of daily life.

We listen to artists Surya Prakash and Kalpana Shah in our Art section, as they tell us how they translate their imagination and creativity onto canvas and also the deep bond between art and spaces.

Collaborations are important for good products and, in our Things section, we show you how NASA and watch-brand Omega came together to create a functional watch for the the manned mission to the moon. Tesla is on its own mission towards a sustainable future and we look at the Model 3 car and its Gigafactory to understand the vision better.

As the Luxe Code team put together this edition, we found that art is not confined to galleries and museums; it is in everything — from gadgets to cars, there is a beautiful symphony of aesthetics with functionality, which continues to drive innovation.

RINI MUKKATH rini@luxecode.in

Printed and Published by YOGITA R AGRAWAL on behalf of WARE INNOVATIONS LLP, Printed at M/s. SILVERPOINT PRESS PVT. LTD. A-403, TTC INDUSTRIAL AREA, NEAR ANTONY MOTORS, MAHAPE, NAVI MUMBAI 400 709 and Published from WARE INNOVATIONS LLP, RAGHUVANSHI MILL COMPOUND, NEXT TO ADDRESS HOME, SENAPATI BAPAT MARG, LOWER PAREL, MUMBAI 400 013.

EDITOR : RINI MUKKATH

Art Director: Aloysius Dsouza Senior Designer: Aishwarya Sanchety OCTOBER 2017

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CONTENTS OCTOBER 2017 WWW.LUXECODE.IN

11 PLACES

12 TOUCH OF THE EUROPEAN VERNACULAR How a 1980s bungalow was transformed into a stunning family coastal retreat.

20 FOLLOWING THE SUNLIGHT A trip to Stockholm in Sweden reveals to the writer the long summer days can be used to take in the art, history, and life of the city.

24 REGAL AND BOLD The Alila Fort Bishangarh is a unique travel experience as it is steeped in history dating back to its origins as a warrior fort in Rajasthan.

30 HIDE AWAY IN A MINE How a limestone quarry became a boutique hotel in Sweden.

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PEOPLE

36 BE STRONG, BE SOFT From the time of its founder Pierre Balmain to its current custodian Olivier Rousteing, the French fashion house has championed the cause of freedom of expression for women.

44 CREATING BEAUTIFUL TOMORROWS Designer, Anita Dongre discusses her sustainable clothing label and why she wants to work with artisans to help preserve their craft.

50 PASSION PRINCIPLE Architect Mustafa Elsa on his work, philosophy, and design themes.

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56 CAPTURING LIFE THROUGH CLICKS In between her trips, photographer and travel journalist Erinn Springer offers a glimpse into her life, work, and what inspires her.

COVER

Touch of the European Vernacular Photo courtesy: Felix Forest for Alexander& Co. 26

pLACeS

stockHolM offErs Art ANd dEsIGN As A wAy of lIfE

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olIVIEr roustEING pusHEs bAlMAIN to NEw HorIZoNs

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suryA prAkAsH oN HIs EVolutIoN As AN ArtIst

Omega and nasa make histOry with the mOOn watch

ART

59 GREAT LOVE, SMALL STUDIO The Love Ana Studio in Croatia focuses on deep interaction between product and user.

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CONTENTS OCTOBER 2017 WWW.LUXECODE.IN

74 63 ART

64 THE ABSTRACT IS IN THE EYE With a retrospective of his works having recently concluded at the National Gallery of Modern Art, Bengaluru, Luxe Code profiles Surya Prakash and his evolution as an artist in a career spanning almost six decades.

70 ART REQUIRES PATIENCE Artist, gallerist, and collector Kalpana Shah talks about her journey and the arts in India.

74 WHERE DESIGN MEETS THE WORLD Design Miami showcases the latest in product design every year. Here is our pick of a few of the highlights from the Basel show and what to expect at the Miami show in December.

78 EATING THROUGH YOUR EYES We set out to find you Instagram accounts that showcase delightful food, healthy eating, and cooking endeavours that every food-lover should follow.

83 THINGS

84 ROAD TO THE FUTURE Tesla is on the forefront of sustainability and innovation with the Model 3 and the gigafactory project.

90 KEEPING TIME NASA’s James H. Ragan talks about how he worked with OMEGA to create the iconic moonwatch.

94 CLEAN IN EVERY WAY A look at sustainable fashion in India.

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96 A TOUCH OF UNIQUENESS Watch brand DWISS introduces their latest model in partnership with the e-Motion-Niobium project.

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PLACES SYDNEY ■ STOCKHOLM ■ RAJASTHAN ■ GOTLAND

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PLACES

TOUCH OF THE EUROPEAN VERNACULAR How a 1980s bungalow was transformed into a stunning family coastal retreat.

Principal Architect: Jeremy Bull and Charlene Cong Photographer: Felix Forest (www.felixforest.com) @felix_forest Stylist: Claire Delmar (www.claredelmar.com.au) @clairedelmar

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hen architects Jeremy Bull and Charlene Cong, of architecture and interior design firm Alexander & Co, were asked to renovate Iluka House, a holiday villa on 537 square meters of waterfront property on Palm Beach, Sydney, the brief was simple: to open up the house and adopt a traditional European vernacular and give it a handmade and bespoke quality, with detailing, materiality and architectural framing “With the existing house ineffectively dealing with scale limitations, the brief was primarily to explore how we could reintroduce a higher quality of spatial resolution. The plans and volumes were subsequently rationalised around better

circulation, view corridors and access to the water, ” say Bull and Cong.

With emphasis on architectural framing and the suitable transition from interior to exterior, the garden was refined, designed with proportion in mind in order to achieve a sense of privacy as well as maximise use of amenities. The largescale opening explored the opportunity for external living and dining, thereby addressing the need for entertaining spaces, essential for a ‘home away from home.

The focus was upon the ‘handmade’. Fittings, finishes, lighting and claddings all expressed an artisanal reference point.

The paired back interiors, subdued palette and handmade

THE FOCUS IS UPON THE ‘HAND MADE’. FITTINGS, FINISHES, LIGHTING AND CLADDINGS ALL EXPRESS AN ARTISANAL REFERENCE POINT. THE PAIRED BACK INTERIORS, SUBDUED PALETTE AND HANDMADE QUALITY CREATES A ‘LIVED IN’ ATMOSPHERE, AN IMPORTANT ELEMENT TO EXPERIENCE A SENSE OF PLACE AND HISTORY.

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THROUGH THE EXPLORATION, WE WERE SUCCESSFUL AT CREATING AN OPEN SPACE THAT SPILLS OUT ONTO THE OUTDOOR GARDEN AND ALLOWS FOR THIS CONNECTION BETWEEN THE BUILDING AND WATERFRONT.

quality created a ‘lived in’ atmosphere, an important element to experience a sense of place and history.

The dwelling, pushed back from the water’s edge, presented challenges due to the lack of physical connection that was evident in neighbouring properties. The core idea focused on neutralising the exterior in a way that fit with the landscape to avoid detracting from the surrounding beauty. A contemporary and minimalist approach for the garden allowed the view to become the main focus.

“Through the exploration, we were successful at creating an open space that spills out onto the outdoor garden and allows for this connection between the building and waterfront. The design of the home as a holiday house meant that the open plan living space and garden were to become the central focus,

as entertaining and hosting guests is a regular activity. Subsequent thresholds and vistas between the inside, the balconies/ courtyard and the exterior provided the ability to open up out onto the garden area in such a way as to assist the need for flexibility,” say Bull and Cong.

The use of natural materials was highlighted with the use of the dark, herringbone timber floors in the living and dining areas, which was then complemented with the white Carrara in the kitchen. The same white Carrara was seen on the center island and behind the stove and counter.

The use of white marble-tops with dark walnut wood bench was beautiful in its contrast element. Overall, the use of subdued palette of warm tones created a contrast with the white furniture and touches of black metal keeping it both minimal and fresh.

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FOLLOWING THE SUNLIGHT

A trip to Stockholm, Sweden, shows how long summer days can be used to take in the art, history, and life of the city.

Words and Photos: Aishwarya Sanchety

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t’s confusing yet intriguing. The sun set at 10:30 P.M. and rose at 3:30 A.M. The dusk and dawn overlapped on a cloudless, clear night. I spent three days and two nights in Stockholm in July, and experienced just a few patches of darkness. The long summer days and the short nights makes it seem like time has come to a halt. Days are not limited by the usual parameters. You’ll discover that longer days are incredibly rewarding, especially in Stockholm. You can walk and bike between the islands, see the past and present collide in a charmingly sophisticated manner. The weather is nice and breezy, some days are sunny and others cloudy, but never too cold; just the right temperature for exploring the city.

One way to enjoy the summer weather is to walk around Gamla Stan, Stockholm’s quaint old town. One of the best-preserved medieval city centres of Europe and home to the Royal Palace, the town is an intriguing mix of ancient and modern.

Walking through Gamla Stan is like walking through Swedish history. The architecture is a mix of colors and textures, the alleyways with low arched passages, and the medieval cobbled streets are utterly sublime. There are small cosy cafes everywhere to enjoy a nice coffee with one of their mouth-watering cakes. Immersing yourself in the city’s café

culture is an experience. Swedes head out every afternoon for fika, which means break. Removed comma here and made the a caps A coffee break also includes sweet baked goods. The fresh cream cakes, cinnamon and cardamom buns are removed ‘the’ here local favourites that are found in every bakery.

A café is the best place to people watch. You’ll see lots of men holding a coffee cup in one hand and rocking a stroller with the other because Sweden has some of the most generous paternity benefits in the world. Families receive 480 days of paid leave per child, and parents are encouraged to split these between them. Everyone has a minimum of five weeks of vacation, and most people have vacation homes.

Since almost everyone speaks English, I didn’t face too many challenges.

A trip to Skansen, Sweden’s first open air museum and zoo just minutes away from the city center, is a great way to spend the afternoon in the sun. There are around 150 traditional cottages places all around Skansen, most peopled by characters in period dresses and working on handicrafts or playing music and joyfully answering questions about the people whose lives they’re recreating. The glass blowers’ cottage was especially fascinating. Watching intricate, mesmerising forms appear

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from glowing liquid glass is hypnotising. Skansen is also home to several Nordic animals such as wolves, reindeer, wolverines, seals, and other wildlife.

Stockholm is undeniably a ‘design’ city and there are diverse museums and galleries to discover. Of the many, the Fotografiska is the one I found most captivating. A permanent home for photography that showcases a diverse group of artists, it is an exhibition-based museum where the collections on display are constantly rotated. There is no permanent exhibit, making each visit to Fotografiska distinctive. Located in the southern part of Central Stockholm, in Södermalm, the museum looks out over the water and its surrounding islands. The restaurant on the top floor has a sweeping view of the lake and the city. The food is mostly vegetarian and the handpicked ingredients are combined based on color, texture, and aroma to give you a satisfying culinary experience.

The city hall is one of the most famous Stockholm silhouettes and is best known for being the venue for the annual Nobel Prize banquet. Located on the eastern tip of the island of Kungsholmen, it is quite close to Gamla Stan. The grounds of the building itself are worth a visit.

The statuary garden between the water and the main building is a great place to watch boats and enjoy view of Gamla Stan and the island of Södermalm. The City Hall Tower can also be visited during summer. Half way up you will find the Tower Museum and you have fantastic views of the city from the top.

Another way to explore Stockholm is by water. A day trip out to the islands of the Stockholm archipelago is a must. With nearly 30,000 islands, islets, and rocks, with each having its own distinctive identity. Craggy nature blends with the island’s rocky cliffs and sandy beaches. The islands are easily accessible by ferries that depart from the main stations in Central Stockholm. The city itself is on an archipelago and is made up of fourteen islands that are connected by canals and bridges.

There are several tours that take you around the islands under these bridges.

There are also various tours that take you to different castles around Stockholm via water. I took a day trip to Skokloster Castle, three hours from Stockholm, which stands by the shore of Lake Mälaren between Stockholm and Uppsala. Considered one of the world’s greatest baroque castles, it was built in the 17th century by Carl Gustaf Wrangel. Wrangel was a collector and a consumer of luxuries, and he eventually built up a remarkable collection of paintings, furniture, textiles, tableware, and weapons in the four-storey building. A part of Skokloster has been turned into a museum that you can explore on your own or through a guided tour. The building provides striking sights from both within and outside. You can visit the castle park and take a stroll down the avenues of trees, and picnic on the lawns under the apple, chestnut, and lime trees by the water’s edge.

While it’s easy to be overwhelmed by the art, creativity, and design of Stockholm, it is the low-rise skyline, charming architecture, and long summer days that make it memorable.

Returning home will be hard, the buildings won’t look as mesmerising and you feel cheated when the sun sets at 7:30 pm.

ABOVE: The grounds of the Skokloster Castle are decorated by trees that have stood in this Baroque garden since the 1680s.

LEFT TOP: The Stockholm City Hall located minutes away from Central Stockholm in Kungsholmen.

LEFT BELOW: The Skokloster Castle, home to a charming collection of painting and furniture from the 16th century.

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REGAL AND BOLD History beckons from every corner of The Alila Fort Bishangarh, a medievavl warrior fort in Rajasthan.

Photo courtesy: Alila Fort Bishangarh

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erched magnificently atop a granite hill, the striking Alila Fort, Bishangarh, appears to have been sculpted from the surrounding rustic terrain, overlooking 360degree views of the impressive Aravalli Hills. The resort boasts 59 stately suites each individually designed to capture the stunning views.

Perhaps the only warrior fort that has been converted into a heritage resort, the Alila Fort is a unique example of the Jaipur style of architecture that has both Mughal and British influences. Jaipur-based architects, Sthapatya, designed the suites with much care given to the ecological restoration of the 230-year old building. The resort still features the fort’s original two-meter-thick walls. Over the course of its transformation, they not only recreated the courtly flavor of Shahpura’s royalty but also retained its stark and inherent simplicity.

The fort has four specialty restaurants designed to offer traditional delicacies with a contemporary touch and freshest

ingredients, which have been carefully crafted by well-known chef, Ranveer Brar.

Nazaara, the beautiful al-fresco restaurant, overlooks the village of Bishangarh. Led by a secret door, the specialty restaurant reflects a strong sense of place with Shekhawat and Bishangarh specialities prepared by authentic Rajasthani sand cooking methods of local produce. Madhuveni, a bar and cigar room, introduces cocktails with ultrasonic infusion. Guests can pair a choice of smoked dishes with preferred malts from a wide collection in addition to a selection of cigars.

The Kachhawa lounge welcomes guests with 4C’s: coffee, cakes, chai and champagne. Designed with a maze-like architecture, it offers a special tea tasting and a virtual tea processing experience. For coffee lovers, Kachchawa offers aroma tours of coffee plantations from across the world.

Guests can also take a souvenir of their own created Kachchawa tea-blend using Ayurvedic herbs. Amarsar, a spe-

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ciality restaurant based on the Silk Route, features restored Rajasthani ‘thikri’ work and hand painted wall-art.

Alila Fort Bishangarh is easily accessible from both Delhi and Jaipur and serves as an ideal base to explore Jaipur’s tourist attractions.

With Alila Journeys, guests can choose from a variety of half day or full day excursions and activities that connect with the local culture of Rajasthan. The Alila Experience comprises of five themes: Cultural Learning (love of history and artisanship), Conscious Living (wellness, environs and community), Active Spirits (outdoor sporting pursuits), Culinary Arts (Cooking School and Food Trails) and Couple Celebration. The team will curate the Alila experiences to suit guests’ preferences for a memorable holiday.

A typical historical day begins with a brief lesson on Rajput and Mughal history, where guests visit Amer Fort, Jaigarh Fort and City Palace. Breakfast in an old structure on the river bed

Bishangarh is a quaint village in Shahpura district and was established by Rao Manohar Singh in 1584.

The Shahpura thikana had been a part of the Jaipur Darbar, ruled by the Suryavanshi rulers from Amber Fort. Fort Bishangarh was built by Rao Bishan Singh, the ruler of Shahpura district from 1793 to 1810 as a warrior fortress in the last few years of the eighteenth century.

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PLACES

and lunch at the City Palace will be arranged post the tour.

Guests seeking adventure can experience a combination of off-roading in a Land Rover, driving ATVs, horseback riding and trekking in the Aravalli Hills. Art and culture enthusiasts can visit jewellery manufacturing units/workshops/showrooms to learn about semi-precious and precious stones, Aandhi marble mines to learn marble carving, a textile museum, a textile factory or artisans for hand-block printing. Alila Leisure Concierge team also organises an excursion to Sariska Tiger Sanctuary understand about conservation of tigers and maintenance of a balanced ecosystem. Those inclined to culinary journeys can farm at an organic farm and greenhouse within the resort and villagers; agricultural farms while interacting with the local farmers.

Spa Alila at Fort Bishangarh offers guests unique and customised spa experiences in an opulent and authentic environment. It uses natural handmade products for therapies.

In addition, the spa offers a range of yoga classesalong with a variety of self-care recommendations to maintain a balanced sense of well-being. The charming interiors and warm ambient lighting of the spa together with soothing scents of essential oils, offer a comforting prelude to their treatments.

The extensive and exclusive spa menu combines both Eurasian and Ayurveda therapy techniques. Guests can choose from a wide range of therapeutic massages and beauty rituals.

These include deep tissue, relaxing, nurturing and a special pregnancy massage for expectant mothers. Customisable spa treatments include specialised facials, body scrubs, and nourishing wraps and detox baths. Spa Alila also takes pride in its nurturing techniques passed down for generations but rarely practised in today’s spa treatments. These nurturing movements, known as “Sayang Sayang”, calm not just the body but also the mind and spirit. Guests are also invited to build their own spa package with a variety of interchangeable product elements and treatment enhancements.

Located at Bishangarh Village in the Jaipur district, approximately 6km off the Delhi-Jaipur National Highway, Alila Fort Bishangarh is easily accessible from both Delhi and Jaipur. For further information email bishangarh@alilahotels.com call: +91 72300 58058 or visit www.alilahotels.com/fortbishangarh.

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TOP: Enjoy the subtle Swedish sunset by the pier next to hotel.

BOTTOM: All the rooms use classic Scandinavian minimalistic design.

RIGHT TOP: The electricity-free Hermit cabins are located a twenty-minute bike ride from the hotel.

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HIDE AWAY IN A MINE How a limestone quarry became a boutique hotel in Sweden.

Words: Aishwarya Sanchety Photo courtesy: Design Hotels (Fabriken Furillen)

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n isolated, dissipated factory in a former limestone After an hour’s flight from Malmö to Visby, I made the hourlong drive north to Furillen. A striking gray building stood out refinery doesn’t sound like the most promising setting for a hotel, but former fashion photographer from a mile away. When I arrived, It almost felt like another country. The repurposed masterpiece starkly stands out Johan Hellström expands beyond the mines to against the sparse and calming landscapes that surround it bring us luxury. Hellström travelled across the globe all year round and having slept more in hotels than his own home, he while simultaneously acting as an innate part of it, emulating the former quarry’s shapes and colors. saw an opportunity to design a unique and remarkable travel experience. Along with his wife, he invested in an old quarry The Fabriken Furillen has 18 guestrooms with warm welcoming interiors. You can sleep in a lovely studio, a spacious that they discovered in the 1990s on the deserted peninsula of suite, a double or twin room that has an enchanting view of Furillen, on the Swedish Island of Gotland. the Baltic Sea or the quarry’s grandiose gravel hill. Alternately, Initially Hellström planned to create a photographic studio you can find absolute solitude in one of the two electricity-free and started by using the site and its wild surroundings as a backdrop for commercials and rock videos. However, when hermit cabins that are a twenty-minute bike ride away from word spread about the space, he decided to convert it to a the hotel. small boutique hotel. Preserving the original infrastructure, Hellström’s inspiration for the interiors comes from his early visits to South Africa. he created an eco-friendly hotel, combining minimalTHE REPURPOSED MASTERPIECE “Around the time I visited,” he ist Swedish design with its says, “there were only a few big STARKLY STANDS OUT AGAINST hotels. Mostly there were small industrial surroundings using recycled local materials such guesthouses with nice hosts and THE SPARSE AND CALMING owners.” as concrete, limestone, and LANDSCAPES hardwood.

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EACH MEAL IS COOKED USING SEASONAL PRODUCE AND HERBS GROWN IN THE HOTEL’S FARM. Once you’re settled in, explore the islet on one of the bicycles provided by the hotel.

The landscape is full of pine trees, rugged gravel formations, cliffs, and sandy and pebble deserted beaches alongside rocky coastlines. During summer, farm animals are roam freely among the orchids and wild herbs, on the southern end of the peninsula.

Discover the fishing hamlet Lergrav, take a ferry to the rustic island of Fårö, or enjoy the day on a nearby beach. Furillen also offers several engaging activities like truffle hunting, cooking classes, horseback riding, yoga, massages, kayaking, and golf amongst others.

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are layered by distinctive textures of felt, wool, wood, concrete, and metal. The pleasantly subdued interiors allow the guests to fully appreciate and enjoy the island’s natural beauty. The decor blends in seamlessly with the mechanized, industrial character of the buildings and the colors of the surrounding untamed landscapes. However, the comfort at hand is anything but industrial: hotel rooms are furnished with lush Hästens bed, B&O television and stereos, wireless Internet, and Byredo bathroom amenities.

When Hellström was re-imagining the factory’s existing infrastructure, he started with the crumbling factory worker’s canteen, which became the restaurant. As you enter, heavy chains and hooks still hang from the ceiling. However, as you move in further, the environment created in the dining room is stunning. Long wooden tables without tablecloths are set in a brightly lit room, and tall empty wine glasses are placed next to the beautifully folded napkins. The tables stretch across the room producing a house like ‘one-table-for-all’ atmosphere, ending with floor to ceiling French doors, left slightly ajar to let in the scented fresh summer air.

Every summer the hotel also offers its guests a five course meal for dinner and an incredibly satisfying breakfast, which Hellström hosts with his adorable toddler every morning.

Each meal is cooked using seasonal produce and herbs grown in the hotel’s farm. What’s more, Hellström also produces his own gin and has plans to retail outside Sweden. “Our gin in made with juniper berries and wild roses. The flavor is so touched by nature that you don’t have the normal taste of strong booze. Our intention is to not sell around the world but if we could find one bar in Manhattan and one in Berlin, that would be great.” he says.

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BALMAIN ■ ANITA DONGRE ■ MUSTAFA EISA ■ ERINN SPRINGER ■ ANA NAUKOVIC

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BE STRONG, BE SOFT

From the time of its founder Pierre Balmian to its current custodian Olivier Rousteing, the French fashion house has championed the cause of freedom of expression for women.

Words: Rini Mukkath Photo courtesy: Balmain

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“

D

ressmaking is the architecture of movement,” said Pierre Balmain and almost all his work reflected this. From bouffant skirts and rounded, statement shoulder lines to cinched waists, he created fashion for elegant yet powerful women at a time when France was reeling from the World War II. Masters that came after him may have veered from his feminine design aesthetics but have always paid homage to his belief and style.

THE PAST

Born in 1914 in St Jean Maurienne, a small alpine village in France’s Savoie region, Pierre Balmain was among the visionary designers that guided French fashion to its renaissance after World War II. While he studied architecture, Balmain quit to pursue a career in fashion as an assistant to master Parisian couturier Lucien Lelong, working alongside fellow greats Christian Dior and Hubert de Givenchy. He left Lelong to establish his own house in the autumn of 1945. Much like Christian Dior’s designs around the same time, Balmain’s signature “Jolie Madame” style offered a startling contrast to the relaxed and utilitarian looks of the day and its immediate popularity showed that French women were eager to forget wartime hardships and embrace Balmain’s boldly feminine and opulent offerings. Stars like Audrey Hepburn, Ava Gardner, Brigitte Bardot, Katherine Hepburn and Sophia Loren were drawn to Balmain’s richly embroidered fabrics, nipped-in waists and long fuller skirts.

After Balmain’s death in 1982, the house was guided by strong designers, like Erik Mortensen, Herve-Pierre, Oscar de la Renta, Laurent Mercier and Christophe Decarnin. They were all inspired by the colours, fluidity and elegance of Balmain’s signature “Jolie Madame” aesthetic. When Olivier Rousteing was named the label’s designer in 2011, he took the brand forward with his critically and commercially acclaimed collections. Influenced by the unique and confident style of the modern woman as well as the work of the masters before him, he incorporates the house’s well-known mastery of tailoring, embroidery and traditional techniques of classic couture into his collections.

Just as Pierre Balmain stressed that his first objective was “to always dress women in the right look for the right moment”, Rousteing aims to create designs that are in sync with the women of his generation. The young designer’s couture spirit — seen in his careful attention to unique and handwrought details — is balanced by his very modern silhouette.

THE NOW

Olivier Rousteing has catapulted the brand into another league with his collaborations. He has worked with L’Oreal on a makeup range; designed costumes for Renaissance, a new ballet by Sebastien Bertaud at the Paris Opera; and just launched the new Melrose Avenue store in Los Angeles. His Resort 2018 collection has beautiful constructed lines and a mix of chains, tweeds and fringes. With this line he gives an American twist to Parisian familiarity. “Much of today’s collection reflects a pride in the achievements — cultural and political, historical and contemporary — of my nation. A recent collaboration with the ballet of the Opera de Paris allowed me to spend long hours ensconced within Garnier’s magnificent

PIERRE BALMAIN STRESSED THAT HIS FIRST OBJECTIVE WAS “TO ALWAYS DRESS WOMEN IN THE RIGHT LOOK FOR THE RIGHT MOMENT.”

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OLIVIER ROUSTEING, Creative Director, Balmain

“TODAY, THERE’S A PALPABLE SENSE OF PRIDE AND POSSIBILITY IN THE AIR, HELPING TO PUSH ME AND MY TEAM TOWARD AN EMPHASIS ON PARISIAN FASHION’S CLASSIC CODES. COMPLEMENTING THE DUAL FRENCH INSPIRATIONS IS A STRONG INJECTION OF THE SIGNATURE LOOK OF THE AMERICAN WEST.”

palace, poring through an extraordinary archive and collaborating with artists and craftsmen for whom nothing seems to be impossible. And, one doesn’t spend day after day surrounded by such beauty without being inspired. I soon found myself channeling the refined spirit of centuries of French classical ballet into my sketches,” he said.

Rousteing’s collaboration with the Opera de Paris proved how the designs of Balmain hold a significant place in the Parisian couture world. In the collection for the ballerinas, he used pearls and rhinestones in intricate designs, the collection had to be fluid and agile, but he did not compromise on using embellishments, again a play on strong constructed outfits with the elegance of pearls thrown in. Much of the Resort 2018 collection, is inspired by the Opera de Paris collection, you can see him challenging notions of femininity, when he uses soft textures with the playfulness of denim, “What you are seeing in this collection, though, is not just another take on the pastels, tutus and surface fragility of a classical ballerina. While working with the company, what most impressed me was the talent, daring and power of its dancers — making clear the obvious connection between ballet’s strong women and the members of today’s Balmain Army. That inspired a playing of contrast, highlighting the pairing of traditional codes of femininity with the confident outlook of modern, powerful women, while adapting ballet’s classic signatures to the recognizable Balmain style and silhouette.”

Fashion has always been political and the house of Balmain has broken stereotypes before, paving the way for women to dress with freedom. Rousteing cherishes his French heritage in this collection and, given the political climate in both America and France, he uses fashion to bring the two countries together, much like his own current identity of being OCTOBER 2017

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“WHILE WORKING WITH THE COMPANY, WHAT MOST IMPRESSED ME WAS THE TALENT, DARING AND POWER OF ITS DANCERS—MAKING CLEAR THE OBVIOUS CONNECTION BETWEEN BALLET’S STRONG WOMEN AND THE MEMBERS OF TODAY’S BALMAIN ARMY. THAT INSPIRED A PLAYING OF CONTRAST, HIGHLIGHTING THE PAIRING OF TRADITIONAL CODES OF FEMININITY WITH THE CONFIDENT OUTLOOK OF MODERN, POWERFUL WOMEN.”

French and spending a lot of time in America. “At the same time as I was working on that collaboration (Ballet collection for Opera de Paris), my country was making a historic choice, rejecting a fear of the other and choosing instead to embrace the core values of the great thinkers of our past and my generation’s hopes for the future. Today, there’s a palpable sense of pride and possibility in the air, helping to push me and my team toward an emphasis on Parisian fashion’s classic codes.

Complementing the dual French inspirations is a strong injection of the signature look of the American West. Our preparations for the soon-to-open Balmain flagship in Los Angeles helped to remind all of us what we love about that unique, diverse culture, as well as the connections between Balmain’s love of adventure and exploration and the appeal of America’s beautiful open spaces. I’m looking forward to my next trip out there,” says Rousteing.

Just like the founder, Rousteing is about giving women a voice through fashion. His designs hark back to the origins of this iconic French brand and, with Resort 2018, he once again tries to capture the movement of the woman of today, one that is both strong and soft.

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CREATING BEAUTIFUL TOMORROWS Designer Anita Dongre discusses her sustainable clothing label and why she wants to work with artisans to help preserve their craft.

Words: Rini Mukkath Photo courtesy: House of Anita Dongre

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“IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN MY DREAM TO CREATE BEAUTIFUL CLOTHES, AND AT THE SAME TIME CREATE BEAUTIFUL TOMORROWS FOR OUR PEOPLE, PLANET AND CRAFTS.” Anita Dongre with an artisan.

With five brands, there’s never a moment of boredom! There is always something exciting to look forward to everyday and the learnings are manifold. I started small and worked very hard to build successful brands under House of Anita Dongre by making work my religion. One of my first learnings was to believe in what I do and trust my gut instinct. If I had to bullet them I would say my greatest learnings have been hard work, dedication and belief in myself.

What triggered the need to start a label that is more sustainable and socially conscious?

It has always been my dream to create beautiful clothes, and at the same time create beautiful tomorrows for our people, planet and crafts. Anita Dongre Grassroot is the embodiment of my core passion — to design clothes that hold a purpose.

Every piece in this collection celebrates the crafts of India in contemporary wear. It also provides artisans a sustainable means of income in their villages, thus driving economy back through textile crafts. This is a journey that took twenty years but meeting the women of SEWA changed everything.

How did you go about picking the artisans? What was the process of getting them to work for you?

One of the first steps was to visit them and understand their work. At this stage, we might discuss innovations. The second involves sketching out developments and designs that we want to achieve. This is sent out into the village for sampling.

You have built one of the largest fashion houses by a single designer in India. What are some of the lessons you have learnt about what makes a brand sustainable in India?

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THERE IS A MULTI-FOLD EFFECT TO SUSTAINED ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT AND THAT IS WHAT WE ARE WORKING TOWARDS.

With Anita Dongre Grassroot, we typically have one village that weaves the fabric, which is then sent to us; we mark it for embroidery and sent to the right village (depending on the design and technique) for embroidery. When it comes back to us a master cuts to the decided pattern and another stitches the piece. It then goes through a process of finishing and quality check. This usually takes at least 3 months.

While this makes it seem like a steady process, we have to keep in mind that this is handwork with no two pieces exactly alike. So very often one idea goes out and, with all these craftspeople working on the idea, an entirely different (and often exciting) finished product comes back.

India. Our responsibility to the artisans is to give them the one thing they want — consistent, respectable work for remuneration that appreciates their skill. There is a multi-fold effect to sustained economic empowerment and that is what we are working towards.

What is the larger vision for Anita Dongre Grassroot? Where do you see this brand going?

The journey to launching Grassroot started 30 years ago. It has been a slow journey getting to the point where Indian crafts are celebrated on a global platform. It was always my dream to see Indian craftspeople receive the attention they deserve from global fashion influencers and the store in New York was one step towards this. In the long term, my dream is to create enough demand for Indian textile crafts and to provide employment to every craft family. What I hope for is a future where parents proudly pass their craft traditions down to their children for the gift that it is.

While artisans are involved in this project from a production perspective, are you also looking to broaden this involvement?

Anita Dongre Grassroot was born out of the need to create sustainable livelihoods for craftspeople in the villages of

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PASSION PRINCIPLE

Architect Mustafa Eisa on his work, philosophy and design themes Words: Rini Mukkath

MUSTAFA EISA, architect and founder, MED.

Sohnos Villa, Goa

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Sohnos Villa, Goa

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Sales Gallery, Lokhandwala Developers

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The Good Wife, Mumbai

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y designs depends on my passion principle, my work is about constant innovation and reinvention”, says architect Mustafa Eisa about his designs. A Mumbai-based architect who established Mustafa Eisa Design(MED) in 1993, and has worked on some stunning home and commercial projects in India and around the world. He studied at Sheffield School of Interior Design, New York and then Parsons School of Design. Guided by the able and renowned master David Brogna, Mustafa topped his class, flew homeward and marked his debut in the world of the interiors.

at the Parsons School Of Design in New York. On my return in 1993, I set up Mustafa Eisa Design and, in the last 24 years, have done varied projects ranging from malls to multiplexes, residential to commercial and several F&B and nightclub spaces. We have also worked and continue to work with some of the largest property developers in the country (who only in the last decade have realised the importance of interior design in their projects).

Who are your inspirations?

My current favourites are Marcel Wanders and Martyn Lawrence Bullard. If you are familiar with their work, you would EXCERPTS FROM AN INTERVIEW: know that they have totally different styles. And you would Tell me a little bit about your background. What drew you understand that design, to me, is variation. I don’t believe in signature designs. I believe in changing with the times and towards architecture and design?

I started my career as a model at the age of 16, and did that trends. The basis for design is creativity. I don’t see creativfor 12 years.I was always artistically inclined, but my affinity ity in the repetition of a formula that works. Creativity is to Interior Design started when about fresh ideas and constant ART DECO CONTEMPORARY I did a couple of my own homes. reinvention. In my body of work, After that friends asked me to do you will see that I began as a FUSION IS THE EMERGING theirs, and I happily obliged. contemporary and minimalistic TREND IN DESIGN. Later I formalised my training designer. I then switched to clasOCTOBER 2017

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Restobar, Pune

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Sales Office, Lokhandwala Developers

sic fusion and did a lot of work with Asian fusion followed by Baroque fusion. I have argued both sides of the statement - “Less is more” and “more is more”, and truly believed my argument at both phases. Now I have come round the full circle and am returning to Contemporary Design.

MY PHILOSOPHY TO DESIGN IS TO CONSTANTLY REINVENT MY STYLE, I GET BORED OF DOING THE SAME STYLE OR “SPECIALISING” IN A SPECIFIC STYLE.

What are some of the trends in the industry that you think are popular right now?

Sometimes the challenge comes in the form of a given space, the budget or a new style that I haven’t yet tried.

My philosophy to design is to constantly reinvent my style, I get bored of doing the same style or “specialising” in a specific style.

I would say Art Deco contemporary fusion is the emerging trend in design.

When you think of luxury and architecture, what are some key elements you would explore?

I think luxury should be subtle and not in your face, yet make a statement.The elements that I take into consideration above all are practicality, with may be a couple of elements that stand out which are not necessarily practical. When doing luxury interior architecture, I believe that the designs should be timeless and not totally contemporary .Though I personally like to fuse a classic style with contemporary elements.

What is next for MED?

I’m currently working on interiors for rMinerva (a 90-plus storeyed Residential building by Lokhandwala) rA holiday Home in Matheran rA building project in Goa along with some private residences there. rA Villa in Bandra Mumbai rA Resto Bar on a ship in Mumbai. rA salon in south Mumbai.

Is there a project you are working on or have done in the past that you feel truly captures your sense of design?

I have enjoyed working on projects that are challenging.

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CAPTURING LIFE THROUGH CLICKS

In between her trips, photographer and travel journalist Erinn Springer offers a glimpse into her life, work and what inspires her.

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rinn Springer has made it her life’s mission to capture through her lens the gorgeous chaos that is life. From Turkey to Peru, she traverses through places and people, living a rich life that helps her storytelling.

One of her earlier projects included leaving disposable cameras around Paris and inviting people to use them. the results were stunning. “I placed bilingual notes and fastened disposable cameras in Jardin De Tuileries & on Pont D’Archeveche. The notes said: Use this camera as a way to show yourself & your world at this very place in time. These are the Anonymous people of Paris. The fairest of them all,” says Erinn.

Erinn grew up in Wisconsin and pursued her passion for the arts through her time at Parsons Paris, studying art, media and technology, and then through a BFA in Communication Design at Parson School of Design in New York. Having already worked with brands like Baron & Baron, Sephora, LVMH, BCBG Max Azria and El Camino Travel, she splits her time being a photographer on commercial design projects and being a travel guide who chronicles places on her personal site: www.springerinn.com.

EXCERPTS FROM AN INTERVIEW: Can you tell us a bit about your upbringing/schooling?

I grew up in a very small family in a sports-oriented town in Northern Wisconsin. My childhood was very “Americana”. I spent my days climbing trees and playing on a farm. I went to school in New York so that I could have the most contrast from the first 18 years of my life. I always knew I wanted to live in New York because it was so different to where I was raised. The year I spent abroad in Paris is when I really started shooting and travelling. Living in Europe encouraged my early curiosities for different ways of living to flourish.

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can we expect from you?

I spent most of the spring working on my first gallery show in Mexico City. Since returning to New York, I’ve been working in post production at Baron & Baron on editorial campaigns.

Photography-wise, I’m pretty excited about having just shot a documentary project for Sephora... I’d like to merge the two worlds I’ve been in and shoot fashion-focused documentary work or collaborate with global brands by using a journalistic approach to portray their story and identity.

Tell us a bit about your personal style and taste in terms of fashion?

Comfort and functionality. I’m always in sneakers, my purses are always backpacks (usually waterproof). I tend to lean towards boyish a bit and wear straight jeans and men’s t-shirts.

Even my most feminine looks have a sense of utility to them. I think I try to pull textures in from different places I’ve traveled (and/or my grandfather’s closet). If I was let loose in a sporting goods store, who knows what would happen…

What is the one photograph that inspired and impacted you?

Mike Brodie’s A Period of Juvenile Prosperity. Specifically, the image of the young woman looking out on the train. There’s a sense of freedom and timeless youth that instantly spoke to me.

What drives you to travel?

A desire to be well-educated, well-experienced, and have the strongest and most diverse sense of self. My work and personal life reflect each other so, if I can see the world and photograph periods of myself through the people along the way, it ultimately becomes an exercise in self discovery.

What were some of your early influences in terms of art and your work?

Australian photographer Nirrimi Hakanson. A friend showed me her blog one night when I was a freshman in college. I felt the emotion in her photos in a way that allowed me to feel like I understood her personality. That’s something I took with me and subconsciously portray in my work now. It wasn’t until probably early last year though that I took note of artists and truly learned about their life and outlook. I realized how valuable that can be to understanding my own process. This year has been all about Cass Bird — she just gets it.

Have you had a moment where you were surprised or some preconceived notions of people and cultures were dispelled?

Hmm… I usually go into trips with a very positive expectation. Casablanca was the most shocking because it wasn’t nearly as romantic as I had expected. But, in general, I try to go as a bit of a blank slate because it usually turns out different than expected (depending on the people you meet, the food you find, and the rhythm of your explorations).

What draws you to the moment of capturing an image? Are there Erinn-filters to things you see?

What set your career going? What are some of the projects you have been involved in that really helped the trajectory of your work life?

It is mostly emotion for me, really. This might be a silly analogy, but it’s sort of like when a good meme is created… they’re thoughts or visions we all have but don’t know how to put them into a single scene or single image. Images that convey those “YES” moments to people are the most impactful. Memes are funny, while photographs are touching. Both acquaint you with what’s already going on in your head, sometimes undefined until you just see it and feel it.

There wasn’t a singular event that catalysed any major shift or career movement. It was a gradual process across a lot of disciplines. I studied graphic design, interned in video production, and pursued photography on the weekend. My first internship was with a creative director in the perfume industry who then introduced me to a production company that filmed runway shows and couture culture. I stepped out of fashion after I started travelling extensively and worked with a documentary platform in New York called Jungles in Paris that really fostered my interest in global storytelling. All of those things play a part in the photographer I am now.

Is there something you always do when you go to a new place?

Yes! I always seek out the best supermarkets and pharmacies.

It’s so fun… I love beauty products and food and I’ve found them to be so revealing of a culture. I could browse and sample for hours.

What are you currently working on and what future projects

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GREAT LOVE, SMALL STUDIO The Love Ana Studio in Crotia focuses on deep interation between product and user.

Photo courtesy: Mateja Vrckovic

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ade exclusively by local craftsmen and only from materials available in Croatia. Designed with great care and meticulous attention to detail and, most importantly, love. Handmade and only in a small series. These lines describe the products of Love, Ana, a small Zagreb-based design studio and store. The design focuses on the functionality of the product, leaving its form clean and simple. The wood has no other finish except a coat of natural linseed oil. This not only makes the products eco-friendly but also promotes a deeper level of interaction between an item and the user, as the user have to give the items an occasional coating of oil. “I wanted to create a space where our creativity would be boosted and challenged daily, but at the same time to show all the possibilities of a single

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ANA TEVSIC NAUKOVIC, product designer and founder of Love, Ana studio.

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I WANTED TO CREATE A SPACE WHERE OUR CREATIVITY WOULD BE BOOSTED AND CHALLENGED DAILY, BUT AT THE SAME TIME TO SHOW ALL THE POSSIBILITIES OF A SINGLE SPACE AND ITS ROTATIONS TO ALL THE PEOPLE THAT VISIT US space and its rotations to all the people that visit us. It was challenging achieving that balance of calm vs chaos, but I feel that the overall feeling of atmosphere is present and that our visitors can truly experience the meaning of work in a design studio,” says Ana Tevšic Naukovic, product designer and founder Love, Ana studio, about the store.

‘Love, Ana’ has collaborated on several projects with foreign companies. Among their best work is limited product collections for Cartoon Network, Medvedgrad brewery and Haga jewellery company from France. The studio won the Bronze at the 2013 International Design Awards in the Professional / Office Category for Interior Design. The Traveller Lamp received the 2015 AZ People’s Choice Award for design excellence, Silver in Home interior products/ Lighting category at the European product design award 2017 and is currently nominated for German Design Award 2018.

The studio’s work has been recognised both within Croatia and across the world. Several products have been listed as Best Buy, Best New Products or Best of Wood by magazines such as Elle Decoration, IDFX, Damn and Absolute. The concept of the studio is to provide a place where a visitor can learn more about the products but, more importantly, talk to the designer, work or just hang out. It’s all-white interiors and windows change on a weekly basis making it more of a gallery than a shop.

Despite being limited by space, the interiors and use of light-coloured wood and lots of white makes it feels large and homey. Good things do come in small sizes.

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ART

KALPANA SHAH ■ SURYA PRAKASH ■ DESIGN MIAMI ■ FOOD STYLING

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Flight, 1988.

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THE ABSTRACT IS IN THE EYE With a retrospective of his works having recently concluded at the National Gallery of Modern Art, Bengaluru, Luxe Code profiles Surya Prakash and his evolution as an artist in a career spanning almost six decades.

Words: Samrat Chakrabarti Photo courtesy: Surya Prakash

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work for over a decade, consumed by a single theme.

This kind of intense creative meditation, spanning years, on a single subject is not unusual for a painter. The creative life of artists is often marked by a kind of obsession with a single theme, technique, pattern or motif, sparked by a moment of inspiration around which coalesces a vision that consumes years of output. In time these are recognised as artistic phases in the painter’s life. In Prakash’s motif-heavy art, this is even more the case. In a career spanning almost six decades, hundreds of his works can be organised under just a handful of motifs, each carrying enough depth of inspiration to have occupied himfor a decade and more.

“It’s a continuous activity without gaps. You are pushing and pulling (the motif/subject) and you are not thinking about anything else. But when you are nearly done with it, when you’ve extracted all that you wish to extract from it, then it shows. It plays on your mind that you are repeating yourself. That you are no longer being creative. Then, automatically, something drives you to take a slightly different route that is connected and you arrive at something else,” says Prakash.

Prakash’s journey, with motifs to be “pushed and pulled” until they give way to another, started in the 1960s. During an inspiring sojourn in Delhi, his world expanded by the city’s art scene and his interactions with Delhi’s avant-garde

he LV Prasad Eye Institute (LVPEI), Hyderabad, is renowned in the world of ophthalmology. It is a temple of modern medicine meant to fix a single organ: the human eye. Its single task is to stand between vision and blindness among Indians and, over its lifetime, claims to have served 15 million pairs of eyes in need of a medical intervention.

But among all these pairs of eyes passing through the institute every day, one pair serves an altogether different purpose — to remind us, one canvas at a time, that a greater marvel is when the gift of sight meets the art of looking.

A hospital is a strange place to find a painter in the pink of health and in full possession of his faculties, in need of neither doctor nor diagnosis; only a little quiet to go about the gentle business of prescribing acrylic to the white of canvas, urging it to divulge his dream of fall colours. In this seemingly absurd juxtaposition of concepts — the whites of a hospital and of a canvas, the stroke of a blood vessel and of a brush, the cold clinical detachment of an operating room and the warm sensuous clutter of a painter’s studio — the art and career of painter Surya Prakash finds a place. His studio is a narrow room on the fifth floor with a single window that shines light on an adjacent paint-splotched wall. Here, amid finished canvasses that monopolise most of the space, Surya has been at

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PRAKASH WOULD LOOK FOR INSPIRATION ON THE STREETS OF HIS CITY, AND WOULD FIND IT IN A VISUAL, PARTICULARLY URBAN; A TALL JUNK HEAP OF RUSTING AUTOMOBILE PARTS DISCARDED IN A YARD NEXT TO A LARGE BUS TERMINUS. artists (Tyeb Mehta, Shanti Dave, G R Santosh), the young Prakash had been made aware of the need for a visual idiom that he could call his own. He was a budding abstractionist.

As a student, he found inspiration not in the figurative and narrative traditions of Indian art but rather in the works of American abstractionists such as Pollock, Rothko, Motherwell and Louis. “When I saw the Ajanta paintings, which were already vandalised, it was the fragmentary nature that attracted me and which I found interesting,” he once told art scholar Ashrafi Bhagat.

In addition to this predilection for abstraction, Prakash was also drawn to cityscapes. By the time he returned to Hyderabad from Delhi, both these inspirations were showing significantly in his works. Row of Houses (1962), House Tops (1964, 1963), A Street Lamp Post (1965) were all abstract visions of a cityscape, sans people, its forms diffused and invoking feelings of quiet and solitude. In Delhi, he lived in a barsati from the roof terrace of which he would observe a city’s visuals; crisscrossing power lines, piled-up construction, halfcompleted structures. Not surprising then that, on his return to Hyderabad, animated by a new energy, Prakash would look for inspiration on the streets of his city, and would find it in a visual, particularly urban; a tall junk heap of rusting automobile parts discarded in a yard next to a large bus terminus.

Prakash still talks about it with emotion, like a fantastical revelation he chanced upon on a street. This was the beginning of Urban Detritus, a series that would occupy him for close to a decade starting in the mid-1960s. A series inspired by automobile junk in which Prakash would find anthropomorphic forms — skull, a human heart, a reclining nude, a beady-eyed gaping mouth — to convey human character to rusting metal while enriching it with vibrant colour. In that pile of automobile junk piled high like the dead carcasses of technology past its use, Prakash found a creative trope to articulate a form of urban grotesque.

By the late 1970s, Urban Detritus had led and given way to Prakash’s second series and, perhaps, his most abstract. The lines, forms and shapes that he first encountered in juxtaposing anthropomorphic shapes over automobile junk were

TOP: Untitled, 1966.

BELOW: Flight, 1993.

RIGHT: Canvas One, 1969.

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dynamism, which he achieved through the use of colour, that somehow made the forms seem living.

These organic folded shapes that evoked the world of flesh and bone would undergo a transformation by the late 1980s.

Prakash had started to notice fallen leaves and become fascinated with how leaves changed form, shape and colour as they dried up. By the late 1980s, those enfolded shapes that were once the evocation of muscle and bone became vegetal.

In a series of paintings titled Flight, Prakash suspended these leafy forms, in varying stages of decay, over landscapes, often

extended until they became free-floating organic shapes, intricately folding in on themselves. He removed any visual reference to object or space. If Urban Detritus still had a visual reference to a discernible radiator, chassis, engine or headlight, this new series had none. Nothing to locate these enfolded shapes in object or space or anything familiar, except the vague organicity of the shapes themselves, which would sometimes evoke a human heart, cartilage, bone or other body parts. This was Surreal Abstraction and its achievement lay not just in the folded forms and shapes, but also in the

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parched, like the arid, rocky land around Hyderabad. Sans — get centre stage. It is like a floral arrangement made enpeople, and with the expanse of sky and faraway horizon, tirely of leaves in various stages of life. Prakash circumvented these images seem like sombre postcards from a place at once the cultural connotations of the lotus flower by eliminating it fantastical, desolate, foreboding and alien. Some of these from his compositions and keeping the focus entirely on his images would not be out of place on the cover of old scienceinspiration, which was the play of light and shade in an aspect fiction paperbacks. Interesting to note by this time was the inof Nature. version that Surya’s art had undergone. From finding organic Now in 2017, Prakash is 12 years into the series that folshapes in the inorganic metal of automobiles, he had by parts lowed Pool of Life. In the early 2000s, Prakash, who had almost found the inorganic in a decaying leaf. exclusively worked with oil until then, discovered acrylic. With Prakash’s abstraction is always rooted in reality, in a specific it, his art took an unusual turn. “My early works focussed on object. In the form of the drying leaf, he focussed increasingly small areas of content but, after discovering acrylic, my world on the structural details of the leaf until it ceased to be familhas expanded.” From automobile junk to surreal abstract iar and became simply an abstract shape and form. Much like forms onto a meditation on leaves first dying, then living, what happens under a microscope, an object can be peered at Prakash, now paints landscapes where the leaf has receded to until it loses its familiar context and becomes simply a visual a mere point in a forest exploding with colour and vegetation. field of alien shape and form. “I used to literally hold the Dream of Nature — the title of the ongoing phase — is a series leaves right up to my face and paint what I saw,” says Prakash. of landscapes rendered in dots, drops and points, capturing As abstract as his art can get, it is always rooted in the obserNature preening in an effulgence of colour and vivacity. The vations of an actual object that exists in reality. landscapes are often crowded in, composed without By the early 1990s, Prakash was once a horizon in sight, and still without bird, aniagain thirsting for a new subject. This mal or wind. They invoke a quiet, but one time a motif that would allow for a that is serene and tranquil rather than greater exploration of light and dark and foreboding. In these paintshade, taking him in a thematic ings, one still senses Prakash’s predirection different from the dilection with abstraction, somegloom and desolateness he times in the diffused boundaries had pursued thus far, while of the various elements making still allowing him to be up the landscape, but mostly in abstract. He found it waiting the emotion and mood that he outside his front door. In a has tried to evoke with a scene, small circular pool, he had as if chanced upon through a built for the purpose, the walk in the forest. lotus pods he had planted It is this that now occupies bloomed with leaves that him between 10.00 am and 6.00 spread and spilled with life, pm on his fifth-floor studio at the beyond the confines of the little eye hospital. So how did Prakash tank. Prakash was fascinated by end up in a hospital? the subtle changes in the leaves’ Prakash belongs to a small select tone and texture, in the changing group of artists (that includes Laxma light of a single day. In the way the light Goud and Thota Vaikuntham) who put played off the glistening leaves, Surya Hyderabad on the contemporary art map found a new world to explore, resultof India. Equally importantly, Prakash is CCMB WAS A BIG ing in Reflections and Pool of Life. universally credited with bringing modern PLATFORM FOR ARTISTS art to Hyderabad and playing a leading Reflections is the more abstract of the two. Here the leaf shapes subrole in transforming the art scene in the IN THE 1980S AND merged below a water’s surface are city. The opportunity to play this role 1990S. WE BROUGHT came from an unlikely source. rarely detailed and act merely as a reference while the eventual painted surThe late Dr PM Bhargava, scientific A MAJORITY OF THE face becomes a patchwork of abstract administrator par excellence and widely ARTISTS FROM ALL space. Prakash main achievement considered to be the father of modern with Reflections was with colour. In biology in India, was an unusual scientist.

OVER UNDER SOME its adroit use, he brought to mind the He was a connoisseur of art who firmly PRETEXT OR THE lush tranquillity of Nature when she is believed that science and art spring from drenched and teeming with flora.

OTHER. WE HAD MANY the same creative urge in humans leading Pool of Life, similarly, is a meditathem to search for truth and beauty. In ACTIVITIES OVER THERE the early 1980s, Dr Bhargava was setting tion on Nature and takes as its inspiration the pool of water overflowing up his institute, the Centre for Cellular — ART CAMPS AND with lotus leaves. In Pool of Life, the and Molecular Biology (CCMB) in HyEXHIBITIONS. leaves — often with their stems intact derabad and, in keeping with his belief, OCTOBER 2017

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TOP TO BELOW: The Pool of Life, 1996; Untitled, 1989; Untitled, 1990.

years, I worked with them.”

Prakash was roped in as the artist-in-residence at CCMB and became the go-to person to achieve a symbiosis between art and science at the institute. “I have designed parts of CCMB — Bhargava’s room, lecture hall, including furniture.

My main job was to see that aesthetically it was very pleasant.”

Surya contributed to the aesthetics with his own sculptures and murals. He made two murals from beaten steel-sheets and industrial paints — one depicting entwined cells and the other in the main lecture hall showing forms inspired by biological cells and human anatomy. During the inauguration of the new CCMB complex, he organised an art exhibition that drew such artists as MF Hussain, Tyeb Mehta and Ram Kumar.

Over the following years, his main job for CCMB would be to put together the Institutes own art collection.

“CCMB was a big platform for artists in the 1980s and 1990s. We brought a majority of the artists from all over under some pretext or the other. We had many activities over there — art camps and exhibitions. Art camps were the way I have collected works for CCMB. It was the cheapest way. I also bought artworks directly ( from artists) whenever I travelled.

Visiting friends’ studios and picking up works and sending them cheques later.

I used to explain to them that this is not a gallery or art museum. This is what we are trying to do; it is for a cause. The artists liked what we were trying to do (encourage art appreciation) and gave us their works. This way we collected more than 250-300 works of art from all over India. Of course, the ethos vanished after Bhargava left.”

But before Bhargava departed, the institute he had created managed to inspire others with its engagement with aesthetics. “CCMB set an example for LVPEI. Scientists ( from the eye institute) visited and took inspiration from CCMB. Bhargava set an example and that influenced these people to do the same.”

So when Dr. Gullapalli Rao, the founder/director of LVPEI, wanted to recreate that symbiosis between art and science in his own institute, he sought out Prakash to be the artistin-residence at LVPEI and do what he had done for CCMB. Prakash’s aesthetic influence can be seen throughout LVPEI. Here too he has contributed with his own art work in the form of sculptures, murals and installations, besides collecting art for the institute, which is installed throughout the complex.

With his decades-long association with institutions that have made space for aesthetics within its corridors and halls, what does Prakash think art achieves in institutional spaces such as these?

“That anybody working here would be able to tell if I removed all the works of art for a month. If I leave all the walls blank, what would you look at? It’s not that they are lovers of art, but they get used to working in spaces where art is projected. Over months and years, it becomes part of your environment and, in its absence, you feel like you are missing something and that certainly is a great loss.”

art and aesthetics was to be an integral part of his vision for the institute. “Bhargava approached me. He said, ‘I can’t pay you but you have to help me being a friend.’ I agreed. I had my Vespa scooter and was paid `400 for transport. For nearly ten

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ART REQUIRES PATIENCE Artist, gallerist and collector Kalpana Shah talks about her journey and the arts in India.

Words: Rini Mukkath Photo courtesy: Kalpana Shah

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t was a typical Mumbai monsoon day, as I made my way to Tao Art Gallery in Worli. I was to meet with gallery owner and artist, Kalpana Shah, and what could have ended up as a high-brow discussion about art and the business surrounding galleries, turned into a warm, meaningful introspection into Shah’s personal journey into the art world. To say that Shah is consumed by art and sees it as an extension of her own being would be an understatement. “Art for me is a way of life; it’s personal. I know it’s not the same for everyone but I have always been drawn to this world of creativity,” says Shah.

While she is the chairperson of her family enterprise, Satellite Developers, she continues to manage and successfully run the gallery and devote time to engaging with the art world.

enjoy the process of creating, with a condition never to sell them.

How did you set up Tao Art Gallery?

It was only in my 40s that I realised that this was something I wanted to do formally. My husband encouraged and helped me set up the gallery space and there has been no looking back. I remember that art was not taken seriously, especially before 2000. But there was definitely an artificial bubble and people were just trying to talk about art and invest in it because it was in vogue. The prices skyrocketed because demand was so high but it was not a genuine appreciation. The people that were serious about art took a backseat during this time.

The people that invested in art around this time did so without doing proper research. But then the recession hit in 2008 and artists suffered; trust in art was completely lost. We have been slowly recovering from this.

EXCERPTS FROM AN INTERVIEW: Were you drawn to art as a child? Did you undergo any formal training?

My art teacher saw my potential, but I took it for granted. I remember now my fingers moving involuntarily to make sketches of people coming home, my mom showing my drawings to guests.

But for me, it was just a matter of simple pleasure. The secondary aspect was the measure of praise I received from teachers for my academic performance.

When I met Pankaj, fell in love and got married soon after, he didn’t know about my artistic leanings. Once, when he came home from office and saw one of the sketches I had made, he was astonished and urged me to pursue art. He also said I should

INDIA HAS SUCH A RICH CULTURAL HISTORY OF ART. IT IS SAD THAT, INSTEAD OF STUDYING IT, PEOPLE JUST LOOK AT ART AS AN INVESTMENT. YOU HAVE TO IDENTIFY, SPEND SOME TIME WITH THE PIECE THAT YOU WANT TO BUY. THERE IS IMMENSE PATIENCE REQUIRED TO TAKE HOME A PIECE.

Having been surrounded by great artists, was it a natural progression to create art yourself ?

Like any self-taught artist, I embarked on the journey, excited by the different styles and repertoire of various artists.

I was influenced by Raza and by the Romantic Movement. But painting was never a regular exercise. I dabbled in it at whim, when Pankaj travelled or there were no guests at home. Our children would then be given their own paper or canvas board to paint on to ensure I was undisturbed. Surrounded by master artists as I was, and unsure about my work, I hoped that perhaps in my next life God would be more accommodating. I also painted while in Dubai and just before returning to Mumbai, Husainji came to

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meet us. He saw the works with unconcealed amazement and said, ‘Do you realise what has come out of you?’ When Husainji offered to buy one of my works, I folded my hands and said, ‘I shall take just 11 dirham or rupees from you. You are my first collector and it is such an honour.’ My family witnessed the scene and my joy knew no boundaries. Next day I was in Mumbai and our guest room became my studio.

ART SHOULD NOT BE JUST WITH THE ELITE. IT SHOULD BE ACCESSIBLE TO ALL.

What do you think about galleries shutting down because of the lack of patrons? How do you see the art scene in India changing?

Yes, galleries are shutting but I know some new ones have also come up. So it’s always a wave. There will be ups and downs.

India has such a rich cultural history of art. It is sad that, instead of studying it, people just look at art as an investment.

You have to identify, spend some time with the piece that you want to buy. There is immense patience required to take home a piece.

My sensitivity for art has helped me to sustain this gallery through the years. You must not lure people with the money and investment angle. I encourage people to come twice or thrice before they decide to buy a piece. You have to be serious about the purchase, come with your family and imagine this piece in your home, in your daily lives. I don’t care how big or small your budget is; we want you to spend time in the gallery and find something that you can feel and be moved by. Art becomes a part of life for people who truly spend their lives immersed in it. Art should not be just with the elite. I strongly believe that it should be accessible to all and awareness needs to be created. It is my responsibility as a gallerist and artist to make more people aware. Like how you run your business is a testament to your ethics and practices; similarly, while running a gallery one has an important role to play, which I hope to fulfill.

What are your hopes for the future of Tao Art Gallery and yourself as an artist?

I want to continue exploring my own talent through different mediums and I also want my daughter Sanjana and her generation of art lovers to find the gallery an inviting space. We want to do more activities to make the space more interactive as well. The onus is on us as a gallery to promote the culture and heritage of art. To inspire artists and art lovers, alike.

KALPANA SHAH at TAO Art Gallery.

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Marjan va Aubel

WHERE DESIGN MEETS THE WORLD

Design Miami showcases the latest in product design every year.

Here is our pick of the highlights from the Basel show and what to expect at the Miami show in December.

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Jimenez Lai

esign fairs are important avenues for artists and buyers to come together. In the world of product design, Design Miami holds its own. Started in 2005, Design Miami is held annually in December in Miami, Florida. Its sister show, Design Miami Basel, is held annually in June, in Basel, Switzerland. When the show began in 2005 as Design.05, it was declared an instant success, and it expanded into Switzerland, and was renamed Design Miami.

Both shows run parallel to the Art Basel and Art Basel: Miami Beach sister shows.

Each fair has influential collectors, gallerists, designers, curators and critics from around the world celebrating design culture and commerce. The recently concluded Design Miami show in Basel had the world’s top galleries present museumquality exhibitions of 20th and 21st century furniture, lighting and objets d’art.

What to expect this year?

Design Curio is Design Miami/’s newest exhibition platform.

It invites designers, curators, innovators and gallerists to present cabinets of curiosity throughout the fair. Each Curio reveals a total environment of objects, textures, artefacts and ideas that challenge and contextualise familiar design narratives. The programme spans the 20thand 21st centuries, and emphasises surprising installations of scientific and technological research alongside handcraft and creative production.

The Curios are interspersed among Design Miami’s core galleries, infusing the fair’s exhibition programme with inventive snapshots of today’s design landscape.

The Panerai Design Miami/ Visionary Award celebrates individuals who have significantly contributed to the field of

Studio Job OCTOBER 2017

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Alex Israel

Scholten and Baijings

Oscar Humphries presents Teatro Mollino OCTOBER 2017

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Hanging Lamp by Ettore Sottsass 1957 at Friedman Benda

Atelier Swarovski Home

design, such as collectors, curators, architects and luminaries who influence and are engaged in design in the broadest sense. The laureate is recognised as having a continued, tangible and lasting impact.

Previous recipients include SHoP architects (2016), Yves Behar (2015) and Peter Marino (2014

OUR TOP PICKS

GALLERIES TO WATCH OUT FOR THIS YEAR:

Cristina Grajales Gallery will present the entire collection of Bambú furniture from Mike and Doug Starn’s May 2017 show, Sits Like a Man, But Smiles Like a Reptile. The artists’ Bambú furniture consists of several stand-alone pieces composed primarily of bamboo and rock climbing cord and is an outgrowth of the Big Bambú installation series that premiered on the roof of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York in 2010.

Architect’s desk Samsonite Black

by Hans Wegner Label `24,000; samsonite.com

88 Gallery presents Robert Goossens

Magen H Gallery will present a solo show of works by prominent craftsman and architect Pierre Chapo (1927-1987). The pieces are part of the first-ever retrospective of Chapo’s work, exhibiting at Magen H Gallery in November to coincide with the 30th anniversary of Chapo’s passing.

R & Company’s showcase will include an intricately carved door by The Haas Brothers from their 2016 gallery show ‘King Dong Come’. The door is hand-carved from black walnut and depicts a walrus on one side and octopus on the reverse in an irreverent style characteristic of The Haas Brothers who are known for creating worlds animated by unusual forms and creatures.

Casa Galli wall lamp

by Gino Sarfatti and Vittoriano Vigano

OV project presents Elias Hansen and Oscar Tuazon

The Table.Video Courtesy of Label Dalbin, Paris

December 6-10, 2017 Meridian Avenue & 19th Street Miami Beach, USA OCTOBER 2017

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EATING THROUGH YOUR EYES

We set out to find you Instagram accounts that showcase delightful food, healthy eating, and cooking endeavours that every food-lover should follow.

Compiled by: Aishwarya Sanchety 1

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1. @xlbcr: Singapore-based food stylist and photographer Chun Rong finds his inspiration in different cultures and combines both classic and contemporary techniques to create comforting healthy food.

2. @themodernproper: Started by two mothers who share a passion for food, The Modern Proper uses the freshest ingredients to create recipes of seasonal meals from scratch.

3. @b.f.life: Japanese law student Mika started the blog The Delectable Pantry to document her cooking and travel experiences. Her motto for cooking is that, “Anybody can cook with simple ingredients and no special technique.�

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4. @ful.filled: Bella Karragiannidis and her husband chronicle their journey and share their passion for “real food, true health, and living life with purpose” through their instagram account.

5. @lindsaysfeast: A writer, cook, and a photographer, Lindsay, started her blog to talk about her kitchen endeavours. Being relatively new to cooking, she thought it’d be interesting to write about her new relationship with food. Her instagram is a collection of beautiful, colourful imagery that makes you want to give cooking a try.

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GLAMOUR REDEFINED Gehna Jewellers’ latest collection is an ode to the spirit of Mumbai.

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he Blush Collection, which features glamorous rose gold jewellery from Gehna Jewellers, is spellbinding to say the least Its beauty is that each piece is bold enough to stand on its own yet blends seamlessly with other items. This collection is designed to salute the vibrant spirit of Mumbai, the most modern city in our country.

A collection, which like Mumbai, will never go out of style.

Gehna Jewellers has defined Indian luxury since 1986 by giving its clients jewellery that is breathtakingly beautiful and crafted with the finest materials, leading to the award of the prestigious Times Retail Icon Award, 2016.

The Blush Collection is a tribute to the Gehna woman as we celebrate more than three decades of creating trends. Enticing diamonds set in subtle rose gold signifies the romance, passion and intrigue associated with the setting sun. It makes sure that your jewellery does all the talking, as you soak in the admiringglances of all in your vicinity.

The Blush Collection features, earrings, rings, long chains, bracelets and cuffs set in rose gold.

To view this collection, visit GehnaJewellers, Turner Rd, Bandra. # 022 61201234. Follow the brand on Twitter and Instagram @GehnaJewellers1

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THINGS OMEGA ■ TESLA ■ SUSTAINABLE FASHION ■ DWISS

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ROAD TO THE FUTURE Tesla is on the forefront of sustainability and innovation with the Model 3 and the gigafactory project.

Photo courtesy: Tesla Motors

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esla has been at the forefront of innovation and, with Model 3 making its way into the market, the company is accelerating its mission to make the world transition into sustainable energy.

Like every Tesla product, Model 3 is engineered to combine range performance, safety and utility. Smart design maximises interior space to comfortably fit 5 adults and their gear. Tesla makes fast cars and Model 3 is no exception. In 2013, in an interview with automobile magazine, Franz von Holzhausen. design chief at Tesla, said that the Model 3 will “be an Audi A4, BMW 3-series, Mercedes-Benz C-Class type of vehicle that will offer everything: range, affordability, and performance� and is targeted toward the mass-market.

The high-efficiency electric motor provides zero to 60 mph acceleration in less than six seconds, making it great speedwise. When equipped with electric all-wheel drive, Model 3 provides safe and dependable traction in all conditions.

Designed with safety as priority, Model 3 should be the safest car in its class once testing completes. This, combined with over 200 miles of range while starting at 35,000 dollars before

incentives, makes Model 3 an extraordinary mid-size sedan.

POWERING THE FUTURE

Helmed by Elon Musk, the Tesla enterprise does not just stop here. They intend to infiltrate the energy industry with their solutions for non-renewable energy through the Gigafactory project. Sitting on a whopping 3,200 acres, it is considered the biggest building in the world by footprint at 5.8 million square feet. The footprint of the completed Gigafactory will equate to 101 football fields. While they broke ground in June 2014, the current structure has a 1.9 million square foot footprint. Including several levels, the factory currently is about 4.9 million square feet of operational space. This represents 30 percent of the completed building and, once completed, it will easily be the biggest building in the world.The factory is being built in phases so that they can begin manufacturing immediately inside the finished portions and more importantly adjust to improved learning as they continue to build.

The Gigafactory production line is extremely flexible and will allow for production changes inside the factory as battery

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Aerial Perspective of the Giga Factory.

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system uses numerous different treatment systems to efficiently re-circulate water.

Construction is underway for an on-site recycling facility that will safely reprocess all types of Tesla battery cells, modules, and packs for reuse in new cells or non-toxic solid waste by-product. Since Tesla battery packs do not contain any toxic materials or heavy metals, they will eventually be returned to the Gigafactory at the end of their lifecycle, where all components can be broken down and recycled to become new packs.

technology and architecture change over the next decades.

It will manufacture battery cells, modules, and other components aimed to reduce costs, ensure a stable supply, and expand Tesla’s business accordingly. The Gigafactory is producing a Tesla/Panasonic-designed-and-engineered cell called a “2170 cell,”, as the diameter is 21mm in x 70mm in height.

This offers the best optimisation of performance metrics needed for an EV at the lowest production cost. The size also works well for other large battery packs, such as Tesla Energy Products, Powerwall and Powerpack. Production of 2170 cells for qualification started in December 2016 and mass production began on January 4, 2017. The cells coming off the line today will be used in Tesla’s Powerwall 2 and Powerpack 2 energy products. Most importantly, the production for Model 3 cells will start in the second quarter of 2017.

The Gigafactory is designed to be a net zero energy factory upon completion. It will not consume any fossil fuels; there is no natural gas piped to the site nor are there permanent diesel generators to provide power. Emergency backup is fed from various electrical sources including renewable energy and storage products. The Gigafactory’s electricity will, in part, come from solar energy. The factory’s entire roof owill be covered in solar array. Power not consumed during the day will be stored via Tesla Powerpacks for use when needed. To use water efficiently, the Gigafactory will have its own water recycling and treatment facility. A closed-loop water supply

AUTO-PILOT AND SAFETY MODE

Tesla Autopilot is an increasingly capable suite of safety and convenience features that make personal transportation safer and more enjoyable. Since September 2014, Autopilot hardware has become standard in all Tesla vehicles, and the company has continued to refine and enhance the system since its features were first enabled in cars in October 2015 via over-the-air software updates. Data shows that, when used properly, drivers supported by Autopilot are safer than those operating without assistance. Eventually, full autonomy will enable a Tesla to be substantially safer than a human driver.

In its current form, Autopilot is an advanced driver-assistance system (ADAS) that classifies as a Level 2 automated system by the National Highway Transportation Safety Admin-

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THINGS

istration (NHTSA). It is designed as a hands-on experience to give drivers more confidence behind the wheel, increase their safety on the road, and make highway driving more enjoyable by reducing the driver’s workload. Autopilot’s safety and convenience capabilities are designed to add to the driver’s by augmenting their perception, improving their decision making, and assisting in their control of the vehicle. Its user interface has been carefully designed to encourage proper use and to give drivers intuitive access to the information that the car is using to inform its actions, via a detailed visual display on the instrument panel and clear audible cues. As Autopilot technology continues to be developed, more advanced functionality will be made available to Tesla owners over time nearing full self-driving capabilities; however, until truly driverless cars are developed and approved by regulators, the driver is responsible for and must remain in control of their car at all times In October 2016, Tesla announced that all vehicles in production, as well as the forthcoming Model 3, will be built with an updated hardware suite, equipping each Tesla with the hardware needed for full self-driving capability at a safety level substantially greater than that of a human driver.

Eight surround cameras provide 360-degree visibility around the car up to a range of 250 meters. Twelve updated ultrasonic sensors complement this vision, allowing for detection of both hard and soft objects at nearly twice the distance of the earlier system. A forward-facing radar with enhanced processing provides additional data about the world on a redundant wavelength that is able to see through heavy rain, fog, dust and even the car ahead. To make sense of all of this

Model 3 Interiors

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Side Repeater Camera

data, a new onboard computer with over 40 times the computing power of the previous generation runs the new Tesladeveloped neural net for vision, sonar and radar processing software. Together, this system provides a view of the world that a driver alone cannot access, seeing in every direction simultaneously and on wavelengths that go far beyond the human senses.

Vehicles equipped with this hardware will continue to become more capable as new safety and convenience features are rolled out over time through over-the-air updates. These updates will significantly advance the driving experience and are available in two options: rEnhanced Autopilot enables your Tesla to match speed to traffic conditions, keep within a lane, automatically change lanes without requiring driver input, transition from one freeway to another, exit the freeway when your destination is near, self-park when near a parking spot and be summoned to and from your garage. Enhanced Autopilot should still be considered a driver’s assistance feature with the driver responsible for remaining in control of the car at all times. rSelf-Driving, where permitted by regulatory approval, will ultimately take you from home to work and find a parking space for you on its own.

Autosteer Plus

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THINGS

KEEPING TIME NASA’s James H. Ragan talks about how he worked with OMEGA to create the iconic moonwatch.

Words: Rini Mukkath Photo courtesy: OMEGA

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n 1964, NASA began scouring the timepieces market for a chronograph to use for its manned space missions. The manned mission to the moon was the most important project and was also touted by the then American administration as a foray into the future. This is when NASA called on the expertise of James H Ragan, who had worked in its aerospace engineering for 36 years, to test a chronograph suitable for astronauts in space. Ragan was responsible for the testing and preparation of flight hardware for the Apollo programme as well.

Ragan had to pick a chronograph that could be flightqualified and ready for use on space missions. Four brands were in the race: Longines (via Longines-Wittnauer USA), Omega, Rolex and Hamilton. Chronograph watches from these four brands were subjected to the same series of tests used for every piece of hardware intended for space. Only one survived the extreme temperatures, vibrations, hard shocks, and the

vacuums of the testing process: the Omega Speedmaster.

NASA then declared the watch ‘operational for space exploration and flight certified’.

Thus when Ed White became the first American in space in June 1965, he would wear an Omega Speedmaster on his wrist. It would be five more years before Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong would walk on the moon on July 21, 1969, as part of the Apollo 11 mission.

In this interview Ragan recalls the chronograph tests, reflects on life at NASA in the 1960sand 1970s, and on the future of space exploration.

You played a key role in the approval of the OMEGA Speedmaster for NASA’s manned space flights. Could you comment on NASA’s long relationship with OMEGA?

It started as a business relationship. OMEGA was acting essentially as a contractor to NASA. NASA procured the

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OMEGA STROVE TO PROVIDE NASA WITH THE BEST CHRONOGRAPHS AND INSURED THAT NASA GOT THE MOST RELIABLE AND SAFE CHRONOGRAPHS POSSIBLE.

chronographs directly from OMEGA and performed all the qualification testing and work required to ensure that they were safe and would fulfil the astronauts’ requirements. The long-term relationship that developed over the years turned out to be fantastic. OMEGA was an ideal partner in the quest for space. It was always ready to perform testing, provide maintenance on the astronaut chronographs and suggest improvements. OMEGA strove to provide NASA with the best chronographs and insured that NASA got the most reliable and safe chronographs possible. They also developed chronographs for commercial sales, which incorporated all the requirements NASA had for its chronographs. In terms of longevity, I believe that OMEGA has been the longest-serving single provider of hardware to NASA.

different case. This model was designated 6126 (USA designation). The model 6049 was used throughout Gemini and I started using the model 6126 model for Apollo and beyond.

The OMEGA Speedmaster X-33 was created so that it could be handled by astronauts wearing their bulky gloves. Was it also possible to manipulate the Speedmaster Professional with gloves?

Yes, the crew was able to push the buttons but it was not easy.

For EVA (suited) operations, the crew usually started their chronograph when they were ready to go out and let them run without using the buttons again until they returned.

NASA has announced its long-term intention to send a manned mission to Mars. When the first NASA astronaut sets foot on the Martian surface, will he or she be wearing a Speedmaster? Will it have to be adapted to the planet’s climate extremes?

Were any changes in the Speedmaster (related either to comfort or engineering requirements) mandated by NASA?

No, NASA never mandated any changes. However, the first chronographs that NASA bought were model 6049 (USA designation). These were to be used for the Gemini programme. During crew usage for training and flight, I found that it was very easy to bend or break the chronograph function buttons on the side. The case did not provide any protection for them. I asked OMEGA to consider redesigning the case to provide a little recess to better protect these buttons. This configuration became the new version of the chronograph. It has the exact same movement – just a

Yes, I believe there will always be a requirement for a personal chronograph on all future manned missions. I also believe that, when the first astronaut sets foot on the Martian soil, the chronograph that will be worn will be an OMEGA. Additional thermal protection may be required. Extensive testing will be required to verify how much protection will have to be provided.

Do you think that we will ever experience another era whose

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safety of the astronauts and to providing them with the best possible vehicle and equipment to achieve our national goal of putting a man on the moon and returning him safely to earth within the 1960s. It was basically a 24/7/365 job.

As an engineer, it was almost impossible to switch off NASA and your projects. Failure was not an option; therefore, it was necessary to leave nothing to chance. I took very little leave and was away from home more than 50 per cent of the time.

Often, at the Kennedy Space Center, it was necessary to work many long hours to meet the scheduled launch dates. Only after the start of the Shuttle programme did it become possible to re-enter the real world.

enthusiasm for space exploration will match that of the 1960s and 1970s?

Yes, I believe we will see and experience another enthusiastic space exploration that will match and probably exceed the 1960s and 1970s. Human beings are the only explorers on our planet. History has shown that it is mankind’s destiny to explore new places and open new frontiers. We continue to have that desire. It has to be a goal that has never been achieved before. It is paramount that it literally be beyond our current terrestrial experience.

What do you miss most about working at NASA?

I miss the camaraderie of being part of a highly skilled team of individuals working toward a common goal. Being part of the team that provided hardware and support for a journey that had never been made before has no equal that I have found.

Could you share a couple of the highlights of your long career?

There was a sort of “we-can-achieve-anything” mentality in those days, particularly in scientific, medical, and technological areas. Are we too jaded and cynical now to return to that mindset?

As you can imagine, there were many, but I’ll name three: Playing a part of this new history-making frontier was one of the highlights of my career. It was truly a unique experience that only a few were afforded the opportunity to experience.

Providing hardware to and having a part of man’s first lunar landing and then five additional successful landings and safe returns of the crew.

Working as System Manager for Crew Accommodations for the Shuttle program was also particularly gratifying.

The world has changed since the 1960s and 1970s but the desire to achieve has not. I think that the “we-can-achieveanything” mentality is still alive and well. If a new national or international priority goal is set, the best of the best will again assemble to achieve this goal. It is past time we returned to this mindset.

The Mercury, Gemini and Apollo years must have been particularly intense times for those working at NASA. How would you switch off your engineer/system manager brain and re-enter “the real world”?

NASA’s association with Omega began in 1962, when astronaut Walter Schirra strapped his personal Omega Speedmaster (CK2998) on the six-orbit, nine-hour Mercury-Atlas 8 mission on October 3, 1962.

Most of the people who worked for NASA in the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo years were totally consumed with the

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PEOPLE

CLEAN IN EVERY WAY A look at sustainable fashion in India Words: Sriya Narayanan

Willow Zip-Around Wristlet Natural

by Arture.

F

ashion tells stories that are as varied as the trends.

To wearers, clothes are an experiment in creativity, a means of recreation or an instrument of rebellion.

However, a story that’s often told only when it’s too late is that of the men and women – and, sometimes, children – who spend their lives making these garments for abysmal wages in dangerous conditions.

Labour practices in the fashion industry came under the spotlight on 24 April, 2013, when the Rana Plaza garment factory in Bangladesh collapsed, killing 1,137 people, of which over 200 were children. The factory, which violated building safety rules as well as worker rights, was found to be a supplier for several top international fashion brands, reinforcing what fair trade activists had been saying for decades – that many luxury or fast-fashion labels rake in billions in profit by exploiting labour in developing countries where rules and regulations are rarely adhered to. Every year since, the tragedy’s anniversary has been termed Fashion Revolution Week, an initiative that aims to hold apparel retailers accountable for their treatment of workers, and also educate consumers who have the power to make or break these brands. Influential public figures and ordinary consumers wear their clothes inside out so the label is visible, post pictures on social media and demand supply-

chain transparency from their brands by using the hash-tag #whomademyclothes.

The slow fashion movement rejects the practice of producing large volumes of clothing with little regard for the people who make them, and the habit of discarding these clothes after minimal use only to start the buying cycle all over again. Instead, it advocates sustainability: a concept that involves creating and consuming fashion without hurting people or the environment. While the movement is still in its early stages, India has already seen the rise of slow fashion brands that are spearheading the concept here. Led by young social entrepreneurs, these companies make and market fair-trade clothing and accessories that score high on design, quality and ethics, and provide consumers a viable alternative.

Apurva Kothari —, who founded No Nasties, India’s first 100% organic and fair-trade clothing brand — describes the fabric used in their garments as “soft, luxurious, hypoallergenic cotton”. The label’s stylish apparel range, designed by Shweta Deliwala, includes casual wear for men and women. His decision to launch a fair-trade fashion brand was motivated by a desire to empower farmers and workers.

“Many garment factories in India are unregulated, there is widespread use of either child labour or unethical work practices such as unpaid overtime, unsafe working condi-

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Boho Jumpsuit: Vega by No Nasties.

Adveta Dwivedi and Thasneem Masood, the brand prides itself on creating practical ready-to-wear designs for women using organic cotton. Additionally, their bags and clothes use vintage or dead-stock fabric and upcycled garments as a means to reduce waste. As part of this goal, Rossbelle organised a clothing swap to spread awareness about reducing consumption and wastage, and also received a large number of clothes as donations for less privileged senior citizens. The start-up that also has a vegan, animal cruelty-free skincare range is a firm believer in compensating vendors fairly. “We don’t negotiate with them, and work out a method where both of us are happy,” says Masood who ensures that their creations are long-lasting and high quality. She believes that the fair fashion movement can grow from its current niche status to a mainstream one when consumers educate themselves about fabrics. “Always look for the label and check the fabric mix — get a fabric that will last long and also see if it will create a carbon footprint when washed,” she says. Unlike polyester, which sheds micro-fibers when washed leading to marine pollution, organic cotton fabrics are safe for the environment.

Sustainable fashion also addresses issues such as animal welfare and water pollution and, in this regard, Keshsa Vasant and Shivani Patel, co-founder of Arture, decided to launch a range of bags and wallets for men and women using a durable and eco-friendly alternative to leather. They discovered the power of cork, a soft-as-sponge, water-proof material derived from the bark of cork oak trees without cutting them down. They also undertook extensive surveys to find out what people needed FAIR-TRADE most from their wallets and bags. “We want FARMERS HAVE tions and forced labour. Lack of regulato be the brand that listens to people,” says tion means many of these practices go Vasant who says that their wallets with simRAISED MONEY unnoticed and unpunished and the end slots and a ‘pull tab’ that makes it easy AS PART OF THE card consumers aren’t aware of what they’re to extract your most-used cards are a result supporting,” says Kothari. “At the farm of this research. They also make two-colour COMMUNITY level, non-organic farming implies the use tote bags that allow you to get two PREMIUM PAID TO reversible of carcinogenic pesticides that are not bags in one by turning the handbag inside only unsafe but also extremely expensive BUILD SCHOOLS, out and then gently ironing the surface to get for small-scale farmers, leading to massive different look from the same product. VasBUY COMPUTERS aant, debt and, unfortunately for many, suicide. who volunteers with Foothills Animal Organic and fair-trade practices ensure Shelter, Colorado, says that they also plan to AND HIRE none of these conditions exist. There are foray into pet collars soon. Since a conversaTEACHERS FOR no GMO seeds, no expensive pesticides or tion about fashion is never complete without herbicides, no child labour, no exploitaTHEIR CHILDREN talking about the packaging, she refers to the tion, no toxic dyes: no nasties.” He reports importance of using biodegradable packagthat the fashionistas who’ve purchased t-shirts, dresses or ing. “We used shredded paper and recycled gunny”, she says, scarves from No Nasties have drastically improved the lives adding that the material can effortlessly be reused. of the farmers who grew the cotton. “Fair-trade farmers have There is plenty of work to be done in the world of fashion, raised money as part of the community premium paid to build for consumers are often still in the dark about the practices of schools, buy computers and hire teachers for their children,” many major labels and retailers. Brands like No Nasties, he says. Kothari adds that the funds are also used to pay for Rossbelle and Arture are leading by example and becoming school fees for girls and that farming families under the propart of a small but growing lobby for socially conscious gramme have a better quality of life due to reduced financial fashion choices, and proof that style and sustainability need strain. not be at odds with each other. Years from now, they might Chennai-based Rossbelle, which identifies itself as an well be remembered as the pioneers who believed that affordable luxury brand with sustainability as one of its core shopping for beautiful things should bring happiness to the values, is also a believer in fashion that’s a win-win for the hardworking people who make them, just like it does to the wearer, the business and the supplier alike. Co-founded by ones who take them home.

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THINGS

A TOUCH OF UNIQUENESS

Watch brand DWISS introduces their latest model in partnership with the e-Motion-Niobium project.

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U

sing pioneering materials along with creative and complex engineered constructions, DWISS produces watches with innovative ways of reading time. They are all limited edition luxury watches with the highest-grade Swiss mechanical movements and craftsmanship. DWISS (Design Watch Independent Switzerland) is a design-awarded Swiss microbrand of authentic and unique Swiss made timepieces, with innovative ways of displaying time.

Created by Rafael Simoes Miranda, a Brazilian born naturalized Italian designer who has been designing watches for over a decade, with a portfolio of more than 300 watches designed for different brands, awarded with important international design awards, like the Red Dot Design Award, Rafael has also been also a teacher in watch design at the university in Milan before opening his own brand in 2011.

DWISS is the pioneer for the use of Niobium (Nb1Zr - 99% Niobium 1% Zirconium) in watch cases, this young and contemporary startup has developed the first ever watch made out of Niobium with the model CLASSIQUE, exclusively for the Brazilian mining company CBMM. This year in partnership with e-Motion-Niobium project, DWISS introduced the new model called DWISS C2. An automatic Swiss made watch with a unique and distinctive time display system. With its case also made of Niobium this model is limited Edition to the same atomic number as the metal itself, only 41 watches will be ever made.

DWISS M2 is two-time design award winner watch with DWISS’ signature display system.

Removing the hour hand, the hours are being represented through a disc that runs under the multi-layered dial and fulfil the hour’s windows with a colourful continuous rotation disc.

This bold eccentric Swiss made watch is made in 316L stainless steel. Composed of 9 parts in a complex construction fixed by the side screws and is water resistant to 10 ATM, using ETA 2824-2 elabore or topgrade movement.

Simple automatic movements are used to create “complicated” timepieces, without the necessity of expensive techniques to change the movement itself. A must-have for any serious watch collector, but also for everyone that is original and sophisticated, social active, and who looks for uniqueness and wants to stand out from the crowd.

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It makes handwashing fun and creative!

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