A dynamic design studio based in Gandhinagar, Gujarat; Morii was born in 2019, out of an ever-growing reverence for Indian craft and a taste for the contemporary. Morii is an amalgamation, a union of two, past and future. It is an artistic interpretation of age-old legacies. An erudite conversation in a language fading away. A manifestation of global sensibilities rooted in Indian traditions. Every creation of Morii is formed out of a slow, meditative process and anchored in the strength of an unwavering relationship with our makers.
HOW DO YOU DEFINE YOUR BRAND AND THE TYPE OF COLLECTION YOU PRODUCE ?
We are mainly a textile brand and we work with the traditional textile techniques with the artisans all over India. Currently we are working on textiles with hand embroidery techniques but we are planning to move on to other techniques and create more dynamic designs in the rare future. The collection we produce is a co-creation process and it isn't like personal design I do rather we organise art workshops with artisans and create the design and the product with a simple design language and mood.
FROM "A STITCH BY STITCH IDEA" HOW DID YOU GROW INTO A CONTEMPORARY LINE TODAY?
Stitch by Stitch idea was to highlight the cluster form of designing which is obtained as one stitch dosen't make sense in the beginning but when stitches are made by different artisan altogether and then an artwork is produced it gives a theme and language. The pathway is mainly directed by nature & everyday lifestyle. The process is very intensive and is build layer by layer and define us more as an art brand and our work is a like a flow in a painting.
WHAT IS YOUR IDEA BEHIND THE DESIGNS OF YOUR CLOTHING LINE?
So, right now we are doing a lot of textile wall arts with embroidery techniques and we want to depict that same thing in our clothing line and the garments. Our idea is to make the garments a wearable art work inspired from our wall art pieces.
CAN YOU TELL US SOME OF YOUR WALL ART INSPIRATIONS AND THE DESIGN PALETTE?
The wall art inspirations are achieved after working with the artisans all over India with a time span of 4-6 months. It's majorly the heritage textiles that the artisans have been doing over time. We create a stitch library of all the stitches that we do with the different traditional artisans of India and after that we learn and study them and finally create our artwork from it. Though we produce a contemporary line of artwork but at the same time not losing the traditional aesthetics and design. The main idea is to bring the craft aesthetics and bring them up to an international level with recognition along with the amalgamation of modern art.
HOW DO MORII "SPEAK LOUDLY ABOUT THE ANCIENT ARTISANAL PRACTICE OF INDIA AND THE HAND WORK THEY ARE DOING"?
The more we go deep and study the traditional art forms of India and the language of the artisans the more we realise how valuable that is and to be preserved and given recognition to. There have been alot of motifs & forms that we come across all the time which might not have been mentioned in studies as they are historic designs from different regions of India and we highlight them in our artwork. Most of the designs the artisans have are derived from their surrounding regions and locals. Our target is to blend all the designs from the different geographic locations of Indian artisans. There are lot of artwork we make which has the landscape of these villages as a direct inspiration. We find beauty and inspiration from these barren lands & deserts to create our pieces and give it a perceived value.
HOW DOES MORII VALUE AUTHENTICITY AND TRANSPARENCY?
The authenticity of our products and designs are absolute as we work with the traditional artisans directly. We seek out for the artisans, we go personally to their villages and work with them. The factor of transparency is pretty much highlighted in our brand as we give the commendation to all the artisans who work with us to create our designs by co-creation. We give the artisans full freedom to add on their own creativity into our pieces.
IS THERE ANY FUTURE COLLECTIONS OR DESIGNS YOU WISH TO SHARE WITH US
Yes, of coarse we have lot of new designs coming up and for that you have to stay tuned with us. A new show is coming up for us and we are creating new pieces for that. There are lot of textiles processes that happens from tie n dye, to embroidery in our pieces. There was once a collection of 10 artworks and that travelled all over India for different processes for 6 months and then the final pieces were obtained. On an average we take up to 2 months to develop an artwork.
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