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2010 Neiman Marcus Collection Starting to Appear

The first of my 2010 Holiday collection is starting to appear at Neiman Marcus online, click here. This is the first of a series of four collections in gorgeous silky velvets and shimmering tissue embroidered by master craftsman of India.

We will keep you updated as each new collection is released online through this link to my website. We can’t, obviously, link to all our products online, but will do our best to point to the significant ones.

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National Geographic Fall 2010

Designs by Sudha has had the great honor of featuring our designs in The National Geographic Catalog. Many of you know National Geographic through their magazine, but their Mission aligns with one of our basic Missions, cultural preservation.
National Geographic has just released their Fall 2010 catalog and their amazing richness and taste is reflected here. In case you have missed it, you can view their catalog here.
Master printers in Jaipur created this skirt using an age old printing technique of “Khadi” in gold. “Ghagra” a staple in Indian women’s wardrobes was the inspiration for the skirt I did exclusively for National Geographic. Made with printed cotton in the tradition of homespun
fabric. Lightweight and flattering, the crinkle finish adds to the richness of the look.

Another National Geographic Exclusive, the Mughal Garnet Hoop Earrings are crafted from vibrant red garnets on a hand crafted silver hoop in the Mughal style. They were crafted in the northern Indian city of Jaipur, which remains an artistic center to this day.
Last that I’ll feature from this exciting catalog are the Jaipur Garnet Earrings. Known as balis, the earrings often combine a flat front surface with gems. We have crafted this offering for National Geographic using master jeweler’s techniques with a simpler shape that lets the faceted garnets sparkle against a gold-vermeil hoop.
To see all Sudha items from this catalog, click here.

We are finishing last minute prepartations for some special customer meetings in New York where we hope to bring more innovative and lush designs to all of you through our network of retailers. Supporting the cause of preserving hand craftsmenship has been an integral part of our mission for the past 25 years ago. We are proud of retailers for supporting our mission.
Following New York, we head to India where we continue to find the best artisans to create the most elaborate and intricate designs using time honored traditions. Thank you all for your support, I will follow up from India soon.

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Inspiration from the Bazaars of India

Tradition has been an important back drop in the way arts and crafts are viewed and practiced in India. This is because it forms the foundation for new art forms! Unlike the arts, crafts are things we use in everyday life.
All tools are essentially an extension of the hand in the craft movement. The tools help the artisan to finish an object with quality and perfection. Decorative elements are added and it becomes an object of beauty. Form and function merge!
In this series I want to explore the various crafts that are present in “Designs by Sudha”.

People often ask me how I get my ideas for new designs. The Indian “bazaar” is a formidable design play field. One discovers colors and patterns that are not
normally seen in the city life. Driving through rural India, there is this harmony between people, animals and nature. They all seem to co-exist without conflict. The inherent chaos provides rich fodder for design ideas.
The artisan was also the trader who plied his wares after making them in his village. With people like me in the midst, he is allowed to practice his craft with the designs given by me. I am then responsible to market his hand work and he is free to practice his craft without the challenges of the marketplace!

It is a fantastically exciting, rewarding, and sometimes a frustrating endeavor. We have an excellent staff in India and outstanding artisans – the true cream of the crop; so, obviously, our experience after 25+ years is very streamlined and reliable. Many of the functions are fully automated and runs seamlessly. Customers and competitors who try to work directly with India often revert back to us. We are able to succeed where others fail, because of our unique understanding of both the crafts and the families that do them. We also have a 24/7 presence in India.

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Amritsar and the Ista Hotel

On my last trip to India to work on Fall 2010 production, Ed, Craig and I took a few days off to visit Amritsar and see the famed Golden Temple, the Memorial at Jallianwala Bagh and the ceremony at the Wagah Border, which is the only open border between Pakistan & India. All three locales were special and incredible in their own way, and really made for a fascinating weekend journey.

While in Amritsar, we stayed at the Ista Hotel and the service was phenomenal. The rooms, service, and restaurant were first rate. Ista provided us with a car and driver at a reasonable rate for the 1st day, and the driver was courteous and very knowledgeable of the area. The hotel also offered a shuttle service, free of charge to the Golden Temple for the night ceremony. Unfortunately, we were late arriving back from the border ceremony to catch the shuttle, but the hotel sent us in one of their vans, when we were ready to go, at no charge anyway!

Then a minor tragedy occurred. We realized that my husband’s wallet was pick-pocketed in the huge crowd at the border. We had consolidated everything into his wallet and were left without cash or credit cards for the rest of the weekend! Luckily, our passports were in another pocket that was not pilfered, so we were not completely hapless.

Back at the hotel, we needed to check out but had no money to do so. The credit card we had used to check in with had been cancelled by Amex (due to the theft) so they were not able to run the charge on there. The staff quickly told us that it was no problem and that we could send the money once we returned back to Delhi, or when we had a chance! Unbelievable! They even gave us some money so we had some cash if we needed it for the rest of the trip.

They really handled what could have been a nightmare situation for us with great caring and understanding that made what could have been remembered as an awful weekend, an absolutely delightful one.

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Spring Sundance Back Cover

Hand-hammered and beautifully inlaid wtih Sterling Silver on wood, these bangles are featured on the back cover of the latest Sundance catalog. The artistry is reminiscent of gold inlay work that Maharanis wore in India. They are at once classic and contemporary.

See these in the Spring 2010 catalog, as well as many other designs by Sudha.

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2009 – Great! Somehow…

We have just come off of a fantastic holiday selling season. Sell through numbers from major retailers carrying our collection has been very encouraging. It was good news for us in an otherwise down economy. Our quality and design stood out in an otherwise ho-hum environment. Personalized products and value based pricing gave us an edge as well. Our best performers were our high end stores, which were out of many items well before Christmas!

2010 promises to be an even better year. Fresh ideas and new avenues will all help make this year fun and productive.

2009 – Great! Somehow… Read More »

Indigo Printing

As I travel through this vast country, I am constantly amazed at the speed and direction of change that is taking place. India has transformed from a primarily agrarian society to a high tech leader. There is a buzz that money has created. It brings new twists to my approach to printing fabrics. I will talk more about this in my next blog.
I have used traditional age old techniques in the remote regions of Rajasthan to create an indigo bedding group for a museum catalog. I am proud to say that because of this resurgence in indigo, we are able to keep a village active with its craft of dyeing, block printing and shipping superior quality bedding that is not only unique, but beautiful.
With the introduction of large scale factories and chemicals, we were constantly threatened with the extinction of the hand blocked printers and dyers. The mission of the House of Pennathur is to preserve age old crafts and support the master craftsmen in the handicraft and textile sectors in India. With this in mind we chose this printer’s family in Jaipur. It is a family run studio. The sons help him do the book keeping and overseeing of the printers and he as the old master personally supervises the mixtures in the vats, the printing and dyeing, because he is a sole owner of a relatively small plant of printers and dyers. Their family has been a resident of Sanganeer for centuries and has specialized in printing since the 19th century. Our printers have been following the same technique of printing for centuries and the family has been printing in Sanganeer for the past 200 years. . This family has handed down the technique of vegetable dyeing and printing from father to son and is famous for their award winning designs and printing.

Conscious of using only materials found in the earth, they do all the printing from vegetable dyes which is organic and is eco sensitive. The process of indigo dyeing is labor intensive. For instance, the indigo vat has living organisms – molasses slaked lime, water, etc., and are kept till the materials are ready to be dyes – about a 3 week process. Then areas of the fabric are coated with a viscous material of an organic paste of earth, gum from trees, slaked lime. After each printing, sawdust is applied so the next layer laid on it doesn’t smudge; the printed cloth is dried in the sun and then dipped in the vat. Although the cloth looks green when removed from the vat, exposure to the oxygen in the air changes the indigo to a beautiful blue color.
Indian dyers were considered magicians by travelers, who saw them putting a white cloth into a pale liquid of indigo dye and when the cloth appeared from the dye bath it was still white. It was only when it came into contact with oxygen and it became blue. Multiple immersions and exposure to the air enriched the color. People felt this was a magical transformation. Printed fabrics were in common use throughout North India, as well as for home use. They also became important export items.

Long known for its superb hand block printing, Sanganeer is primarily a textile printing town and is about 20 km from Jaipur in the desert state of Rajasthan. The most important cotton printing center, it follows the traditional technique of printing, which is only found in the desert belt. Here people specialize in the use of alizarin, indigo and a range of vegetable colors.
Lore has it that Indigo is the color of the playful Lord Krishna and is auspicious. In both the Sanganeer and Bagru prints, the colors are picked carefully. Each has a separate significance. For instance, red is the color of love, yellow of spring, indigo of Lord Krishna, and saffron of the yogi (seer).
This dyer worships Lord Krishna and takes great pride in his printing.
The day usually starts late for the printers around 10 am and after a leisurely cup of tea they open the printing operation. Due to the extremes of heat and cold, often the printers will work in the evening hours as well. Dyed fabric is carried in carts pulled by camels and carry it through the desert for finishing. Printing is not only a career, but a passion to these artisans who have perfected this art of printing and dyeing.
Asked what the sons were planning to do they reply “take over my father’s printing business of course…so I too can be a well known printer and win awards for my work!”
I feel strongly that through the work we do with the national museums in the USA we can keep these age old crafts alive.


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Neiman Marcus Holiday Book

(The gecko on the left and the gold cross on the right are mine. Click the picture for a larger view.)
I just received the new holiday book from Neiman Marcus. Look to page 146-147 for a couple of my things. These items and many others are available at your local Neiman marcus – but hurry, I hear that many styles are already sold out!

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