The lure of Chintz

ISSUE: 136

Shambhavi Tiwari delights in creating hand-painted designs that are digitally translated onto fabric for use in a range of lifestyle products

hare your experience of working in industry. How did you decide to venture out on your own?

ST: After graduating from NID, I did a short stint at a very reputed home furnishing export house. Though very grateful for the opportunity, I realised it was not something I wanted. I have always been very clear in my mind what I would like to do. I visualise things and then manifest those visuals in my head and work towards executing them. For me, being creatively stimulated and being in charge of making creative decisions is very important. While I was working at the export house, the owner purchased a substandard Indian floral design made by an atelier in Paris for exorbitant prices, and the first thought that came to my mind was that I could make a better one! So, after quitting my job, I honed my print making skills and created a body of work that I could showcase to get clients. I set up a home studio and worked on projects as an independent designer for six years before starting StudioST.

How do you collaborate with brands?

ST: We collaborate with brands mostly on a project basis. If their requirement is recurring, then we work with them on a retainer model. We help young brands grow, helping at every stage from providing external consultation or taking up projects right from conceptualisation to reaching the end product. We partner with the best printers in Jaipur and Delhi to give the best quality printed fabric.

What’s next?

ST: I have a lot of plans for the studio. We want to start our own range of fabrics, and showcase them at PrintSource, a trade fair that happens in New York. I also want to take my love for block printing to another level and maybe start a range of hand block printed wallpaper and custom painted furniture. It’s all in my head and somewhere in the pipeline. I will try to realize all these visuals in my head one by one. Personally, I love teaching, so maybe there will be workshops by StudioST for people not from a design background. I’m taking each day as it comes, manifesting each vision when the time is right!

Purchase Designindia 135 here. Read the digital copy of Designindia on Magzter, or POOL App which you can download from AppStore, Google Play.