Nila House opens in Jaipur to showcase and promote local textiles and crafts

By

Isabelle Crossley

Published
Nov 14, 2019

Nila House has opened on Prithviraj Road in Jaipur as a store and exhibition space dedicated to textiles and artisan crafts from the region, supported by the Lady Bamford Charitable Trust. 

The space retails clothing, accessories, homeware, and craft items all created around Jaipur using heritage techniques. The space measures 10,608 square feet, is built around a central courtyard, and houses looms, block printing presses, and textile dyeing facilities.

Nila House also hosts on-site workshops, artist residencies, and research projects.

"Nila House is not about retail, it's an experience: embracing what traditional craft means and how it can reflect the modern-day world," Anuradha Singh, the store's director, told Dezeen.

The initiative was backed by the UK-based Lady Bamford Charitable Trust, a charitable initiative of JCB with Carole Bamford. “Lady Bamford has had a connect with India for over 40 years, and with her love for textiles and crafts, she’s always had this dream to conserve, promote and strengthen artisanal communities,” Nila House director Anuradha Singh told The Hindu. “She believes, as do I, that the people in our country take these traditions for granted.”

The retail section of the space launched with a range of blue products to celebrate India’s historical natural blue dyes with clothing by UK-based designer Anna Valentine. The design team is currently searching for weaving clusters and designers to work with on the next collection.

“From researchers and designers to weavers, students and even botanists, we want to put everyone on the same platform to share knowledge,” said Singh. “We want to connect the dots. I think this is what is going to make a larger impact.”