Designer Payal Jain celebrates a woman’s journey through the convergence of art, fashion and sustainability

“I grew up in a home that had music and art… We would go to see art exhibits when I was barely four years old,” recalls designer Payal Jain in a conversation with YS Life. 

Jain started out in the Indian fashion design space at a time when most people looked at designers as ‘glorified tailors’. There were only a handful of big names such as Neeta Lulla, Ashish Soni and Tarun Tahiliani. However, Jain was confident that she could create a niche for herself. 

Through her journey spanning over three decades, Jain has melded art, fashion and sustainability in equal measures. And her retrospective exhibition ‘Soul of a Woman’, being displayed at New Delhi’s Innovation Gallery within the National Crafts Museum and Hastkala Academy, is no different. It is a testament to the enduring and harmonious synergy between the natural and creative worlds. 

“I had grown up with art. My mum, an artist, started playing sitar just before I was born,” says the couturier.

Jain’s commitment to sustainability can be attributed to her father, Prem Jain, who initiated the green building movement in India. 

“I think it has been in my DNA since I was young… At this juncture, I wanted to marry these genres and have a different expression of my design journey,” she explains. 

The idea was to express something more static with a longer lifespan, beyond the current season's trends or a few couture outfits.

“I had this larger-than-life art in my head. I started sketching and converting my ideas into real textile pieces, which took a year-and-a-half or so,” Jain elaborates. 

“I started with proportions and elements that inspired my work through the years. But I also wanted to bring in sustainability to the mix.”

Thus, the 30 pieces that are a part of the exhibit, which is on until November 1,  involve repurposing and reusing discarded scraps of fabric and marrying them with materials like wood, metal, paper, shell buttons, ghungroos and beads. 

At the same time, she has also experimented with traditional crafts and techniques such as bandhej, kantha, crochet, stitch and tie, and more. 

Love affair with textiles 

In her early years, the designer wanted to study architecture. She also received guidance from professionals in the field over summers, but her heart lay elsewhere. 

“The best part about architecture was sketching… But I was not cut out to sit on construction sites or work with municipal corporations. I was always an artist at heart.” 

That’s when someone suggested she take up fashion design. However, her father was reluctant and insisted that Jain must complete a basic degree before pursuing her dream. 

“I did my B.Com from Delhi University. At the same time, I began researching more on fashion. There was no internet back then. So, I went to libraries, found brochures of fashion schools and read about them. It was all hands-on research,” says Jain. 

She also hung out at an export factory, and thus began her love affair with textiles. 

“I also remember my mum having woven sarees… She had a specific weaver who would make them,” she recalls. 

Later, Jain went to the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in San Francisco, United States, to pursue formal training in fashion. This is where she learnt the technical aspect of the trade—from pattern making to understanding different tools and skills. 

“I sat on the machine myself, learnt how to make a pattern or construct a garment,” she shares. 

After her return from the United States, Jain opened her atelier in 1993 on the cobbled streets of Delhi’s Hauz Khas village, at a time when people in India didn’t understand what couture meant. Over time, she came to be known for her classic and contemporary silhouettes, rooted in Indian traditional craft, textiles and embroidery. 

In the last three decades, Jain has launched multiple collections that reflect this aesthetic. Her maiden fashion edit was inspired by the mirror work embroidery of the Rabari tribe in the Kachchh region of Gujarat. 

The designer has presented myriad interpretations of indigo, through the ‘Inde Bleu’ collection in 2014, ‘Chasing the Clouds’ in 2022, and ‘Neel’ in 2023. She has also created the uniform for some of the top hotels in the country, including The Leela Goa. 

Behind the scenes

To celebrate 30 years of her journey in the fashion industry, there was no better way than through an ode to the rich textile traditions of Bharat. That’s how The Soul of a Woman was conceptualised. 

For this exhibit, Jain worked with weavers in Varanasi, Kachchh, Maheshwari, Chanderi, Sonpur, Kota, and Kanchipuram, among other centres, creating contemporary silhouettes merged with Indian heritage.

“Each textile they create carries a piece of their soul, meticulously planned and intricately detailed in their minds even before they touch the loom,” points out Jain. 

Soul of a Woman, as the name suggests, is woman-centric. Jain says she had a lot to say in this respect. 

“I work with women artisans and I dress women. I think there was a need to express what women are experiencing and feeling as they are multi-tasking. They are managing everything from their careers, to kids, to their husbands, parents, and whatnot. And they do it so well,” she says. 

In her installations, the silhouette of the woman in black is mounted with a white outfit. Each artwork is associated with a past collection, narrating the story behind it.  

Yet again, the marriage of art and fashion takes centre stage. 

“The Soul of a Woman reflects the dichotomy of what a woman is balancing every day in her life. It’s an artistic expression,” highlights Jain. 

Breaking down the thought process, the designer shares how sustainability forms an important aspect of her installation. Like always, her work shows her commitment to the cause. 

“Since I had done several collections in white over the years, there was a lot of white scrap fabric sitting with her. Hence, we didn’t buy any fabric or material; everything was repurposed.”

The fabrics were cut up and scraps were made and joined together. It was all done by hand. Initially, Jain wasn’t sure how it was going to end up, but as the first piece began to take shape, it all became clearer to her. 

Sustainability in fashion

Many people, Jain points out, believe choosing sustainability is an expensive proposition. Quashing this myth, she says, “That’s because the life cycle of the product isn’t being mapped sustainably. You can’t talk about sustainability at the end of the journey of selling the product. It has to be a conscious effort from the time you design the product, including the fabric.”

Many other aspects fall under the ambit of sustainability. 

“What are the conditions a garment is being woven and manufactured in? What are you doing with the scrap? Do you have a healthy space for your workers to create? All of this is part of sustainability.

“Are you putting the scrap out into the environment or are you recycling it? Are you repurposing it? There are a billion such questions that have to be ticked off before you claim that you believe in sustainability.”

Jain urges all garment manufacturers—big and small—to be responsible. 

“We are huge polluters and play a big part in creating landfills. I am not a proponent of fast fashion but if you’ve to do it, please do it responsibly,” she says.

Inward journey 

Jain calls herself a nomad and believes her travels drive her explorations and help her reinvent herself and her work. 

“It’s more of an inward journey than outward, more about my introspection of where I am heading,” she says. 

Who are the artists who inspire Jain, whose work is a convergence of art and fashion?

The designer is quick to respond, “Over several collections, two come to mind. I was obsessed with Frida Kahlo for the longest time; so I unveiled a line called ‘Forbidden Love’ inspired by her life and paintings. Another collection was inspired by Gustav Klimt that was marked by concentric circles and was very ornate.”

What’s next?

Jain will showcase a collection titled ‘Rising Sun’ at the upcoming Lakme Fashion Week in Delhi. 

Rising Sun, which is inspired by her cultural exploration of Uzbekistan, features design elements drawn from the stunning mosaics of Registan Square, the turquoise domes of Samarkand, and the intricate woodwork of Bukhara,    

“The collection captures the beauty, proportion and scale of Central Asian architecture, the enchanting confluence of myriad cultures, and the bold kaleidoscope of hues that lend Uzbekistan its historical glory, with a surreal vibe,” gushes Jain. 

The designer is also working on a collection that would marry fashion with music. “It’s early days yet. But you will hear more about it,” she concludes.