ABOUT CALICO

“Calico” has its roots in the lightweight and comfortable handwoven Indian fabric that traveled the seas and captivated Japan and Europe over three hundred years ago. In Japan, its unheralded arrival gave people the option to wear garments from a fabric other than hemp or silk, and increased the adoption of cotton cultivation and weaving. In Europe, its popularity and the desire to create a fabric as remarkable as Calico led to the invention of spinning machinery, sparking the Industrial Revolution. This development of mass production was a turning point in history, forever altering the relationship between people and their clothing.
Today, even in such an era of industrial mass production, many villages across India continue to follow the timeless rhythms of “fabric time”. The heartbeat of these villages is vividly expressed in the making of cloth—a vibrant counterpoint to convenience and
uniformity, nurturing a rich individuality as the delicate skin of life itself.
CALICO is a name that represents an effort to preserve and celebrate these traditional methods still practiced by artisans in Indian villages. It is dedicated to crafting handwoven and handspun cotton (khadi), jamdani, kantha embroidery, ajrakh dyeing, and weaving using heirloom cotton and wool. These textiles, rooted in time-honored craftsmanship, are reimagined as contemporary traditions to be cherished and passed on to the future.
It is also a prayer—a call to restore the joy of touch long lost in our modern lives, to reclaim the culture of rich fabrics and clothing, and to create a new world of textiles that bridges our present with the future.

CALICO: the ART of INDIAN VILLAGE FABRICS

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