Cultural Evolution

A rhapsody of royal tints of turmeric and turquoise are ever-present in Rajboori’s artisanal duvets

Step back in time to the era of India’s Mughal Empire, when weavers were commissioned to create textiles from the finest silk only available to the elite, and you’ll see a glimmer of the rich history that inspired Mitun Chakrabarti, cofounder with Stephen Burks of Vancouver-based Rajboori, an artisan home textile company.

After leaving behind a career in information technology in corporate America five years ago, Chakrabarti moved to Vancouver to wed her longtime passions for design and entrepreneurship. Her goal was to join the traditional craftsmanship found in her native Calcutta with contemporary design.


 

“We wanted to highlight the great skills of the weavers and the artisans who stitched the fabrics together to create the collection we designed,” explains Chakrabarti. “With mass-market products becoming so profusely available at cheaper price points, the fear is that without adequate patronage, these communities of weavers may cease to exist and a valuable form of art will be lost.”

A rhapsody of royal tints of turmeric and turquoise are ever-present in Rajboori’s artisanal duvets, pillows and coverlets, which are fashioned in geometric shapes. Urbane hues of smoky blues and greens suit more modern sensibilities, while top-quality appliqué and quilting techniques embody the best of this ancient tradition.

Another progressive twist on tradition: Rajboori’s luxurious pieces are crafted from silk known as “peace” or “vegetarian” because the fibre-filled cocoons aren’t liberated until the worm metamorphoses into a moth and emerges from its home.    

Cerelli & Co.'s organic hand knit scarves

There's nothing better than the feeling of a soft hand-knit scarf made locally from cotton, alpaca wool and bamboo

When is a scarf more than a scarf?

When such an ordinary object that is supposed to simply wrap its wearer in warmth also imparts fuzzy do-gooder feelings because it’s local, handmade, crafted from surreal soft fibre, and a percentage of each purchase goes to charitable organizations.

Samantha Lefort, an industrial design student, needed some busywork for her hands during her daily train commute. With bamboo knitting needles in tow, she reverted to the tried-and-true knit-one-purl-two to create her decadent scarves – a multifunctional wardrobe staple (wear it low like a shawl, or wrapped up cosy around your neck) – that she now sells under her Cerelli & Co. banner.

A dedicated vintage shopper, Lefort says she often found herself scrutinizing labels trying to pin down where the products were made and unravel the mysterious mix of synthetic fabrics and dyes disguised in a blur of buzzwords.

So when it came to sourcing yarns for her scarves, she opted for organic cotton, alpaca wool and bamboo.  Loose, chunky knits make these scarves a year-round choice, and you’ll find them in on-trend colours like Magenta, Lagoon, and Chartreuse.


 

Cerelli & Co.

Available at Granville Island Organix and Planet Claire Clothing Etc. in Vancouver.

www.cerelliandco.com

     

Records remixed

Pendants and earrings with a groove

It’s no revelation that science and music are inextricably linked, so maybe it wasn’t a great leap for Vancouver technologist Tania Hennessy to turn to that mainstay of music – the vinyl record – as a medium for her Aroha silhouettes jewellery sideline.

Hennessy says the idea to use reclaimed vinyl for her striking pendants and earrings was a combination of experimentation and luck. “I was looking for a material that was black, strong, unique and most importantly, a material that could be saved from going to the landfill,” she says. “The vinyl records allow me to include intricate geometric details into the designs because of their fantastic physical properties.”

The grooves that are vinyl records’ DNA of sound add an extra dimension to the laser-cut shapes, such as stacks of books and labyrinthine cubes, transforming them into edgy 3D silhouettes.

Hennessy’s latest collection, Lucid Contrast, includes statement accessories in vivid hues, designed to punch up any outfit.    

Simply sustainable Simple shoes

Tread lightly on the planet with sustainable footwear from Simple Shoes

While you might not have surfer Joe Curren’s prowess on the waves, slip on a pair of his surf-inspired sneakers (Careen for dudes; Cartweel for women) developed by Simple Shoes, and you’ll feel like a champ where the planet is concerned.



The 100-percent certified-organic sneakers are printed with pictures taken during Curren’s travels, and the inventive outsoles are fashioned from recycled car tires.



Simple Shoes launched its eco-friendly Green Toe collection in 2005, and the company continues to work toward fulfilling its goal of producing sustainable footwear.



This year’s great leap forward? Eliminating excess glue (just five ml of glue is used in each shoe) by stitching its shoe components with sewing machines instead.



The cushy footbeds on the Gumbo flip-flops are made from reclaimed scrap carpet padding, and the outsoles on the unbleached hemp CARload shoes are made from an amalgam of natural latex and recycled car tires. And what about that black stripe that gives the hemp shoe an urban edge? It’s made from a recycled inner tube.



Simple Shoes hasn’t shied away from incorporating unconventional materials in its collection: coconut shells become buttons on bags; cork, bamboo and wool are used for their natural sustainability; recycled plastic is used to make shoelaces; and foot forms and shoeboxes are crafted from 100-per-cent post-consumer recycled paper.

Simple Shoes

www.singleshoes.com Available at Spank Shoes and Gravity Pope in Vancouver.    

DWELL: Bamboo in the Bedroom

When it comes to Greenington Bamboo's collection of modern furniture, you’ll soon forget any tired old notions of tacky tiki-style, à la Gilligan’s Island. Although bountiful bamboo has already become the sustainable star of the kitchen, it’s now getting its due in the bedroom, too.

“A lot of people are really surprised it’s bamboo,” says Gordon Guenter, Greenington’s rep in Canada, describing how the entire collection, from the Hosta bed (shown, priced from $1,400) to the accompanying dressers and night tables, are made from mature Moso bamboo, and finished front and back, so they can be floated mid-room in a modern loft.

Since the bamboo’s telltale “knots” are ground off and the furniture showcases features such as dovetail joints, it’s easy to be bamboozled by its hard-wearing beauty. Guenter says Greenington’s two lines of bamboo are so brawny they rival the strength of hardwoods, such as oak.