Manali Shah, founder of the label Threadology, was brought up in Pune. She believes for herself to be gifted with the art of putting things together, be it articles in a compass box or adding pockets for coins in a garment. During her design school days, she would curiously observe everyday wear, making visual outlines of elements of clothing that would fit together like a puzzle — the collars, sleeves, pleats, and other design details amongst the crowds, helped her get through. This exercise grew onto her and helped her develop her own voice. Below, Manali, talks more about her pursuit of creating functional garments that can be worn frontwards or backwards and over and under pieces.
THE PRACTICE
Threadology is made in India, by locals with love. The objective of Threadology is bridging skills of traditional weavers and craftsmanship from all across India, which are handed down generations after generations. The sensibility of Threadology is adding colours of love to threads, from weaving to making. Sustainability has many definitions, the prime for us is maintaining a balance between production and supply chain. We strive to make calculated pieces and keep most at made-to-order. Sometimes, we get questioned about growth. But isn’t it subjective? For us, growth is this article that is getting published, and all the love and orders we receive from our homegrown community, and also a few global buyers.
THE INSPIRATION
Inspiration for collections at Threadology come from a strong relation between nature and mankind. Not only promoting conscious fashion, but also giving the audience food for thought about conscious thinking. Collections are a mix of experiences, emotions, and perspectives. Creative process begins with long nights that become morning (in a blink of an eye) with endless research and creative thinking on a variety of questions on crafts, colours, and techniques. Our fabric story constantly consists of ‘80s handloom muslin cotton, handwoven medium-weight feel good khadis and pure cottons. Colour story varies, like the last collection had natural whites, liquid pastel tones as secondary in details.
THE FASHION OF NOW
Fashion for all times should look like comfort. Although, I believe what goes around comes back around (in fashion too). Fashion/ trends always go in circles, from maximalism to minimalism, and so on. Ever since the era of slow fashion began, I have witnessed so many clothes getting discarded and a new effort, guided with awareness, at making wardrobes more compact. I hope we won’t fall prey to the same cycle again. Another observation I made is that with changing times, earlier youth borrowed clothes from their mothers. I notice quite the opposite these days where clothes are shared for reuse from daughters to mothers as the bond becomes vital (we must be responsible to impart valuable clothing however ways).
THE FUTURE
In 2021, I moved to the Himalayas for a year and recently launched Classico (@classico.india), curation of pieces from old world’s charm. Classico is a sister brand of Threadology. It was born from an age long love for old things, poetic and timeless, vintage, one-of-a- kind pieces. A curious eye looking out, I’ve always had a fond habit of collecting handmade pieces and memories from locals on travels. Shopping markets always have an alley of curious collectors — a shop full of displays of art pieces. Unique products that have a sound and touch of their own. These days, I see so many second hand/thrift shops coming up but very few that sell Indian handcrafted prod- ucts online, so I decided to bridge the gap and give voice to these craftsmen, helping them grow globally online. On a side note, we are designing a new collection for Threadology called #nodrycleanonly, composed of classic styles from the brand with only natural colours and feel-good textiles, expected to launch by October end.
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Text Unnati Saini
Date 24-10-2022