Gaurang Shah is not trained in textile design. He is an “ordinary graduate”, yet, he has the cream of the film world draping themselves in his designer creations. That’s right, Gaurang boasts of clientele including Sonam Kapoor, Kirron Kher, Chitrangada Singh, Vidya Balan, and Sonali Bendre among others.
“I have been working with weavers for the last 14 years. It was out of sheer passion that I took to designing. My father had a fabric store in Hyderabad, where I spent ample time after school and also helped him out in his work. I grew up seeing hand-woven saris. Those days hand-woven saris were the in-thing. I was eight years old at that time. That’s where the passion for fabric grew,” recalls Gaurang, who went on to start his own store as “people encouraged me to design and said they liked what I did.”
Once his outlet was established, off went Gaurang to train himself. No, it was not a design institute that he enrolled himself in to, but went to remote areas to live with weavers across the country to “learn all about looms and the weaves. Once I learnt their traditional works and patterns, we sat together and worked out how we could use these traditional weaves in contemporary designs, colours and textures. This happens either in print or embroidery and we use that trend in weaving. We also try and revive old traditional designs in the weaves. Staying with them exposed me to their difficult situations. It’s such a laborious process to set up the looms itself. Today, I am happy that they are getting their dues and that there will be a second generation of weavers. That’s how my label Gaurang was born,” beams the designer.
He then adds that he works in seven Indian States with “400 plus” weavers. “It’s a chain reaction. Since we work together and our products do well, I am able to sustain the weavers financially and provide them with work through the year. Khadi is worn in summer, but we weave it through the year. We are working on new concepts and designs much ahead in time. It’s inspiring because even the weavers wait for me to come up with more intricate and challenging designs.”
Gaurang promotes “only saris. It’s the most beautiful outfit a woman can wear. But I also do kurtas and kalidar designs only when I have the demand from clients.” He visits his new outlet on Lavelle Road once a week. His saris are priced between Rs. 14,000 and 4 lakh.
