LETTER FROM THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

that these Covid adjacent times have focussed our attention on—it’s the home. Even as we rattle around in endless confinement, the four walls offer refuge from the raging pandemic but also a return to our roots. With ‘Vocal for Local’ as much of a battle cry as turns the spotlight of our design special on all things heritage, home-grown and handmade. Marrying tradition and slow fashion, our cover star is HH Radhikaraje Gaekwad from the Baroda royal family, who has taken the lead in reviving our textile legacy. Gaekwad has been working with textile experts and conservationists Asif Sheikh and Villo Mirza to resuscitate masterpieces of artisanal fabrics, buried under mothballs and frayed muslin. There are pagdis, angarakhas, nine yard sarees, brocades, layettes and lace; antique Paithanis woven in real gold and cotton along with the Gaekwadi collection of Chanderis and Baroda Shalus. She shares with her passion and attempts to reclaim and document the rich tapestry of traditional textiles that capture history in vivid colour and often startling design.