BB: What’s the story behind Jodi?
Karuna: So we both worked at ELLE together and quit around the same time and we always spoke about how there was a gap in the market where we wanted clothing that was handcrafted but it was always either too expensive or it was too high street like Zara but there was nothing that was using Indian crafts in a more modern, cool and inexpensive way. So we started talking about these things and we both always had a love for travel and culture, Indian craft and all things design. So that’s how it all came naturally to us.
BB: You yourself work with Indian textiles and hand block prints, so what’s your take on slow fashion picking pace in the last few years?
Gauri: We are a handcrafted product based brand so we are that brand that is trying to bridge that gap. We are that brand that is doing things that are more organic but we are also doing it at a more retail business model so I am all for it. I mean I prefer wearing cotton, wearing breathable fabrics and I believe what doesn’t harm nature doesn’t harm your body right. So I think we are finding a way to put that into retail too.
BB: You only work with organic fabrics, tell us about the processes that you have put in place in terms of sourcing fabrics and the craftsmen that you work with?
Gauri : We work with block printers as of now. That is the craft that we are focusing on just now. Our fabrics come from around India. A lot of our cotton comes from the south, denim comes from merchants in Maharashtra and chanderi comes from merchants in Pune so it’s a mix of places, as we say we are a geographically secular brand so we get our fabrics from everywhere.
BB: So while you invest your time in getting the Indian textiles, the fun twist to the tale is that unlike most organic brands the prints you work with are vibrant the colors you use aren’t boring, the graphics are very young, so who designs those?
Gauri: It’s a mix, it’s a collaboration. We both are part of the research, we make mood boards we decide on the colors we want to go with, what motifs we want to use, what is inspiring both of us at that point and then we discuss it and once we have both okayed it, I do the print development bit and then again we sit on it and figure out whether it is working. So it’s the both of us doing everything but in terms of skill I end up doing the print development aspect and she ends up doing the garment aspect. So we are both equally involved in everything.
BB: What’s that one philosophy that drives Jodi Life?
Karuna: The idea is to basically use traditional techniques but to have a global and modern approach to it and to make it fun. So we are a slow fashion brand that is bridging the gap and trying to get slow fashion into retail. So if you look at our price points they are all retail price points, if you look at our website it is a retail model.
Written by Khubi Amin Ahmed on Sep 01, 2015