Founders | Women Series | Rina Singh
Women series is a monthly edit to explore creative entrepreneurship amongst women globally. Through this series, we wish to understand creative journeys, challenges, inspirations and develop a community. This month we interviewed Rina Singh of EKA, an indie textile based fashion brand.
Tell me how your creative journey started. Did you have creative influences growing up? What education/ training did you receive?
I've lived across Kurukshetra (my hometown) and Saharanpur (my maternal hometown) as well as Rajasthan and in boarding school in Himachal. Hence, I've been influenced by daily lives of agriculturists to pursue a simple living and also life in a boarding school taught me articulation of my thoughts. I would always make clothes and curios at home and was considered good at making things and styling them. Later, after finishing my under graduation at Jodhpur university, I pursued studying fashion on scholarship at Wigan & Leigh College as well as a post graduate diploma in fashion from the UK.
What has been the source of inspiration for you( people, travel, places, cultures etc)?
Largely Culture, I am from a family of agriculturists. So simple living, making things locally, and wearing ethical clothes ( khadder or khadi ), growing our own food, sourcing local and other means of sustainable living had been ingrained in my life philosophy early on. Later through education and working with institutions like NIFT and ITC and travelling across the globe made me more aware of local knowledge and wisdom. I am extremely charmed by rural life in India, especially weavers and their life style has a simplicity that motivates me. And also getting the kind of response we get to the earnestly of the product from across the world adds fuel to the fire. It gives us larger recognition and originality of thought.
“simple living, making locally, and wearing ethical clothes ( khaddar or khadi), growing our own food, sourcing local means of sustainable living had been ingrained in my life philosophy early on. ”
Can you also talk about your experience of working in the Indian Design industry and the challenges you face. With a growing trend of Artisanal products, how do you keep your story and product relevant? Do you think your cultural identity brought influences at work?
Indian Design Industry like the country itself is varied. There is no single way to describe it. There is a taste for 'more' and there is a growing taste for 'less' on the clothes. There is a rising awareness for ethically produced, natural textiles and home grown designs that are relevant to climate, culture and is not driven by trend. It is a step in the right direction. I think, as long as we are able to keep our focus intact and grow our consumers. I always go back to restart from the roots and work strongly on the product. Each season is a learning as the product is evolved and edited, and one can’t learn, unless the same path is followed. Nothing takes away your story, your learnings and your product so long as I don't waver with the changing market and loose focus on what I set out to do. Yes culture definitely affects the work and its outcome, its representative of entire lifestyle and thought cycle and doesn't only pertain to a season or a trend.Therefore there is longevity of a value preposition or idea, or a reconnection each season with the originality of the collection.
What is the step forward for your personal projects? Would you like to share any? Could you comment about 'being a creative soul' and How does travel facilitate your ideas?
I am still exploring and my mind is opening to cross cultural collaborations, in materials, spaces and products. Creativity if fuelled with the right thought and can only grow, expand and evolve from there. It finds a direction of its own. Slowly it starts editing, emulating, and reconnecting. It’s amazing how it flourishes with travel, finding new expressions to common ideology, even noticing how different the doors, the ceilings, the space design, the architecture, the colours could be from one place to another. Its all design driven. Creativity I think frees you of boundaries of many kinds, its unlimiting and expansive. It’s a blessing if you are always true to your self.
“ I always go back to restart from the roots and work strongly on the product. Each season is a learning as the product is evolved and edited. I believe nobody can learn unless the same path is followed. ”