RUSHNYKA – CURATOR – JDADA2019

“Fashion is art, culture, history and everything I love combined.”

—- Blair Waldorf —-

Designers Manali Jain and Nithisha Reddy’s collection “Rushnyka” in Ukrainian means ritual cloth and is believed to ward off evil. The collection is inspired by the pull thread embroidery of Poltova city in Ukraine and the basic cross stitch of Ukraine.

Ukrainian embroidery occupies important place among the various branches of Ukrainian decorative art. However, embroidery is not just limited to clothing and fabrics in Ukraine, but is also found on the 11^th century frescos, miniatures alongwith decoration of homes and churches. The motifs and colours used for the embroidery denote different meanings.

Just like any ancient civilization, Ukrainians lay emphasis on the elements of nature and mythology. Hence, the designers have used floral motifs in their collection which are one of the three groups of motifs and it depicts beauty and nature. The colours used in the collection are classics like black and white alongwith red. The classic Black colour symbolizes earth, for the primary occupation of the Ukranians – agriculture. Red, the colour associate with romance signifies passion, happiness, love and cheer. Whereas, White, is used in hemstitch embroidery stands for purity, integrity and sanctity.

Though the designers have taken inspiration from ancient techniques, they have used modern silhouettes. They have practiced sustainability by using recycled jute and organza for their collection. The threads pulled out while doing the pulled thread embroidery was further incorporated for embroidery on the garments.