Founder and creative head, Mehak Khosla of the knitwear practice Meko Studio, was brought up in Mozambique, Africa surrounded by the arts and a rich heritage. Coming from a family of all doctors, design was never on her radar, yet she found herself deeply fascinated by the crafts and textiles in her vicinity. Her interest in fabric developed further while observing the inventive and artistic ones coming from Mozambican culture, and thus, Mehak became keen on pursuing her passion, leading to her shift to India. “I moved to India to pursue my bachelors degree in design from the prestigious NIFT, New Delhi, where I was awarded a Gold Medal from The Ministry Of Textiles in Knitwear Design. It was here where I truly was enthralled with developing garments from scratch. From creating my own knitted fabrics, to fabric manipulation, pattern making, and finally watching your ideation come to life, was beyond exciting for me.”
We’re in conversation with Mehak as she tells us more about Meko and her love for knitwear.
What does your practice stand for?
Meko is a slow fashion knitwear brand that explores our symbiotic relationship with nature. The brand ethos is to create valuable timeless pieces that last you a lifetime while working with our local Indian artisans.
I started Meko with the aim of bringing knitwear to the frontline, which I think has a big gap in India. Also, the amount of waste fabric and dead stock that ends up in the landfills was one reason for me to kickstart my own fashion label and develop garments which would cause minimal harm to the environment. We at Meko try to incorporate all the little steps in our power towards being an environmentally conscious brand. Each garment is ideated with the vision of making it last year after year without causing harm to the environment. I believe in the concept of 'buy better and buy less’.
Hence, at Meko, we work with hand flat knitting machines to create our own knitted fabrics, which cause little to no harm as they are operated by hand, being a labour intensive technique. Each fabric structure is knitted using recycled cotton + recycled pet bottle yarns that are Global Recycled Standards (GRS) certified. Along with these yarns, Meko also sources one hundred percent cotton yarns from warehouses with dead stock yarns. These steps and processes are undertaken in order to reduce our carbon footprint, by using what is already available or what was going to waste around us, and converting them into meaningful and timeless pieces. Another important value to us is the upliftment of the Indian artisans. It has always been of utmost importance to me to ensure that we work very closely with our artisans and that they are paid fairly and are recognised for the work that they do.
What led you towards knitwear in particular?
My love for knitwear has been my biggest inspiration. My real inclination towards knitwear really kicked in during my fourth year at NIFT, during my graduation project, when I was closely working with a unit only specialising in making knitted garments for the Indian market. The whole journey of working with this unit made me realise the endless possibilities of knitwear — the fabrication, the structures and the designs. It also made me aware about the market gap in India for knitwear.
Take us through your creative process.
I’ve always aimed at translating what I love into garments. A lot of my inspiration is drawn from my personal experiences with the environment in which we live. For my latest collection, Tranquil, the idea came from the emotions we feel on a daily basis. The ebb and flow of the waves, where the sun is giving off its last rays, invites us to embrace the everlasting highs and lows of our paths untrodden. This collection is very close to my heart, as it represents my journey as a brand. For me, the calming ocean waves always bring in a sense of tranquility and remind me that progress is never linear. The knit structures have been developed by my interpretation of the textures, shapes, forms and colours of the ripple effect when the sunset reflects on the ocean waves.
Whenever I sit down to sketch out my ideas, I always start off with a mind map. I begin jotting down whatever pops in my mind. I've always tried to make garments timeless — something one can pick out from their closet after five years and still find it fresh to wear. I'm not the one to follow trends. So, whenever I begin sketching out my vague ideas, I try to ideate garments that are to be cherished for a long long time. During college, we would visit a lot of craft clusters across India, which made me want to work with artisans and all that they had to offer. I've always kept this as one of the most important pillars for me. Hence, my knitted fabrics and garments are made with the help of our lovely artisans with whom we collaborate.
Finally, what do you think the fashion of now should look like?
I believe fashion is and should be about representing yourself. Fashion, and the definition of fashion, is always changing, I strongly believe fashion should be about telling your story and only yours. Whatever one feels confident in, is what fashion to each should look like.
Words Unnati Saini
Date 01-05-2023