Walking into Fabindia’s first store in Singapore is like walking right into a rainbow. Fabindia presents a collection of Indian-inspired womenswear, menswear, personal accessories, giftware and home furnishings in a myriad of colours and natural fabrics that are crafted by the more than 80,000 Indian artisans the brand works with. It’s almost like wearable-art if hand-crafted techniques are appreciated.
Fabindia Singapore – A Plethora of Colours
Fabindia has been producing organic, crafted products using age-old techniques and hand-based processes since 1960. The brand which has a strong presence in India is the bridge between consumers and artisans located in craft clusters in rural India, enabling a platform for artisans to showcase their art to the world and to participate as shareholders.
The shop presents fabrics draped over racks and on showcases that encourages a “touch and feel” experience for its customers. Let’s take a walk through some of the crafts based techniques and fabrics used by Fabindia for its products:
Hand block printing
Hand block is an ancient craft that is popular in Indian textile and has become a signature for the brand since its beginnings. Hand block painting involves designs painstakingly hand-dyed and block-printed to form a pattern. Hand blocking produces distinctive designs.
Indigo dyes
Indigo dye is the world’s only natural blue pigment derived from the leaves of the plant ‘Indigofera Tintoria’. Increased demand for the dye led to the development of a synthetic version to make blue jeans at the turn of the 19th century. Indigo dyeing is an important heritage that Fabindia continues to preserve through its work with artisans who practices the craft.
Bandhini
Bandhini comes from the Hindi word ‘bandahn’ which means ‘tying up’. The name reflects the technique of tying and dyeing of fabric which has a long history in India where Bandhiniis used on a wide range of fabric. Bright colours are often incorporated in the designs of fabrics produced using this technique.
Fabindia is located at #04-04/05 Paragon, 290 Orchard Road, Singapore 238859. Opening hours are from 10am to 9pm daily.
