CLOTHES FOR POETS EKÀ, a design studio based in Gurgaon, Haryana state, India, near the national capital, New Delhi, creates garments that transcend boundaries of shape, age, and race to offer universally adaptable clothing. In Issue 124, Rural, Brinda Gill interviews EKÀ’s founder Rina Singh. We hope you enjoy this extract: Brinda Gill: How were you drawn to handmade textiles? Rina Singh: I hail from a family of agriculturists, and grew up immersed in crafts and culture. During the summer months, in my ancestral to the house in Saharanpur, in rural North India, weavers would come home and install their khadi looms and weave dhurries. Yarns would be hand-spun on charkhas (hand-spinning wheels) on the verandah. My grandmother would sit with the weavers and hand knot the textile edges. I have memories of her spinning on a charkha. It was a beautiful ecosystem. BG: What is the philosophy behind EKÀ? RS: EKÀ means one in Sanskrit, an ancient Indian language. I thought the kind of creativity I was drawing upon to create my brand was not just my own. I felt I was assembling a lot of craft skills and sensibilities of centuries-old textile traditions in India. I was just one part of the whole. I thought this whole community was one, and so I thought EKÀ sounded philosophically and morally right. EKÀ’s philosophy is rooted in sustainability. It is about creating consciously, working with craftspeople, working with their intelligence to provide solutions, sustaining crafts to carry them to the next generation, sustaining livelihoods, and not losing sight of aesthetics as an important ingredient of how we want to live our lives. To find out more about EKÀ and Rina Singh, pick up a copy of Issue 124, Rural. Head to the link in bio for details of stockists or to purchase online. @ekaco - #HandmadeTextiles #IndianCraftsmanship #KhadiLove #WovenStories #CraftHeritage #TextilesWithSoul #SlowMadeFashion #EthicalStyle #ConsciousClothing #SustainableStyle #MindfulMaking #WearYourValues #CraftedToLast #ClothesForPoets #PoeticStyle #TimelessClothing #SimpleBeauty #EleganceInSimplicity #CraftAndCulture #SelvedgeMagazine