Vaishali S

Hand-woven textiles and handloom weaves that beautifully showcase the nation's rich culture and textile heritage is the DNA of Vaishali S since its launch in 2001. The luxury label has since stayed committed to the indigenous weaver. Her e-commerce portal shares fashion designer Vaishali Shadangule's vision, connects with the global consumer, takes them on a tour of her new store in Mumbai and retails her handwoven hand-worked couture collections.

Indian couture brand Vaishali S is born out of textile and fashion designer Vaishali Shadangule's love for classic Indian weaves. Since its inception in 2004, the label has explored authentic hand-woven textiles from Chanderi silk to Khunn- a Karnataka native weave that Vaishali helped revive- while narrating culturally rich tales of the country's textile heritage. The luxury fashion brand endeavours to take these diverse, indigenous textile traditions to the global stage through her renditions of classic weaves in unconventional globally relevant silhouettes- making each Vaishali S creation a masterpiece of wearable art.

Hand-woven textiles and handloom weaves have traditionally been the brand's DNA. Since the inception of Vaishali S almost two decades ago, the couture brand has stayed committed to the indigenous weaver. Vaishali Shadangule envisions the handloom weave making its way into everyone's lives on a much higher plane — she perceives and treats Indian hand-woven textiles as wearable art. 

"I have always been inspired by the beauty and simplicity of Indian weaves and by the dedicated vision of its weavers. Since the early years of my life, I have seen these weaves worn by village women, for everyday activities. They are comfortable, sustainable and beautiful…" she tells Explosive Fashion. "This is why I love to go and sit with them when they begin working on a fabric: I feel each weave has some part of me in it, and that sets the feelings, that particular piece will have. My love for design and experimentation has done the rest — trying to give them a more global language, with huge success from the most critical audiences of catwalks around the world, particularly New York and Milan." 

Vaishali Shadangule has been showcasing at New York Fashion Week since 2015 followed by Milan Fashion Week and then Paris Couture Week as a guest-member on the official couture calendar by the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture. By participating in global fashion weeks she hopes to bring Indian craftsmanship in the form of hand weaving techniques, fabrics and hand embroideries to the forefront of global fashion. 

Per Vogue: ‘Not a newbie to the international market and audience, Shadangule has been showcasing at New York Fashion Week since 2015. A sign of her thriving business, last year the Mumbai-based designer opened the doors to her expansive Mumbai flagship store at Kala Ghoda… Now completing two decades in the industry and reaching fashion hotspots like New York and Milan.. she is taking her label to Paris.'

The aim is to shift the “Made in India” tag from behind the scenes to mainstream design. And the entire focus is on weaving, keeping the soul of this traditional craft form untouched throughout the design process. The core team consciously chooses to work with female artisans and weavers across the country, empowering and enabling them to make informed choices that progressively enrich their lives.

Per Vogue: 'The brand has always held a couture sensibility, focusing on elements like circularity, ingrained with a deeper social impact that combines traditional handwork techniques with modern innovative methods. So entering the higher, more elevated world of haute couture seems only natural for Shadangule. Widely popular for her signature technique of manipulating textiles into cords, her design language sees the use of hand-weaving techniques on indigenous looms to shape her silhouettes into new and interesting forms.'

Vaishali S' garments are almost free of stitching. This allows her design to literally flow on the body of a woman, enhancing her freedom of movement and ease of wearing them. And while her ensembles are perfect for a red carpet soiree, wearers can also style it differently so it can be worn during the day. The designer offers a multi-faceted element in each piece she designs. While the capes can be a statement piece, she also offers jackets that meet the daily needs of a working lady. This is taken to the extreme with bridal wear, where the  bridal ensemble can be worn as separates in daily wear. This takes care of creativity and wearability and also of sustainability.

Sustainability and circularity, threaded with a deeper social impact that combines traditional handwork techniques with modern, innovative methods- is the brand's mission. “Weavers are the depositary of ancient techniques, and when they really understand my design language they are able to innovate in the motifs themselves, while keeping the roots of the technique in protection" she tells Explosive Fashion. "They just need to be guided. In this endeavour of supporting traditional weaves though we must take into consideration that these craftsmen need to make a living too. On my end, I make sure to strongly promote villages I work with and to keep their weaves in my future collections, therefore sustaining hundreds of families."

And while Vaishali S is a slow fashion brand the fashion designer keeps up with technology. Her e-commerce store was an acceleration forced by the pandemic, on something her team was already experimenting with since they perceived it as a way of tele-transporting part of the Vaishali S boutique experience into clients' homes, widen the reach of the brand and keep in touch with loyal clients. All the while sharing her emotions of the moment.

In recent times the luxury fashion brand has been diversifying into interiors- using repurposed textiles. Per Vogue: '"The world of interiors has come as a natural extension of my fashion universe. It all started when I created textile lamps with leftovers from my fashion collection" says Shadangule… "Interiors in a way are similar and different to garments in the manner that they are preserved and consumed. They are kept in your house but they also enjoy an intimate relationship with your clients. It is also another expression of the brand, enabling a wider channel of communication with our clients."'

Sustainability and circularity- threaded with a deeper social impact that combines traditional handwork techniques with modern innovative design- is the couture brand's mission. All her garments are consciously made to last a lifetime. Many sets — especially bridal wear — can also be worn as separates as evidenced in the newest collection which focuses as much on handloom, exquisite design and artistry  as on wearability. Moreover, the fabrics used in all collections are hand woven on her own designs. The couturier believes that today this approach is required to sustaining languishing weaver and artisan clusters.

Hand-woven textiles and handloom weaves — that beautifully showcase the nation's rich culture and heritage — is the DNA of 'Vaishali S' since its launch in 2001 and the label has since stayed committed to the indigenous weaver. Fashion designer Vaishali Shadangule envisions inspiring a new approach to fashion that completely relies on artisanal textile crafts. The Indian couture brand aims to bring back the fading skill of hand weaving and hand embellishment to a global luxury level and share its immense cultural value and social potential with the world.

Vaishali Shadangule focuses on reviving near-extinct Indian weaves by travelling across the country to explore these handcrafted textiles, be it khun, paithan or maheshwar, with an aim to put them on the world map through her handcrafted collections. It could be pashmina or weaves from Karnataka and Bengal used to painstakingly create her globally relevant ensembles with zero-waste production.

For Spring Summer 2021 Vaishali S' post- pandemic phygital showing was critically acclaimed. Per Explosive Fashion: ‘Her determination to create a success story for weavers resulted in an artistic presentation where her expertise in crafting globally relevant wearable art from indigenous weaves was visible in each look. I loved the Chanderi silk jackets and dresses constructed with her signature cord work and engineered draping…The effect was quietly impressive.’