Silk from Bedouin tribes of North Western India is being used to create high fashion hats in Hale
The rainy season in northern India can play havoc with the hats at a small boutique on Park Road in Hale. Adriana Galimberti-Rennie and a team of young designers use silk which is hand woven by the nomadic Bedouins of Rajasthan is used to create high fashion headwear and accessories.
‘Everything has to revolve around a completely different way of life. We have to adapt to their pace. The weather affects the silk, so in the rainy season, we just have to wait. What we do is concerned with eco-lux and being sustainable and ethical,’ said, Adriana, a former psychologist.
‘I took six months off work and went walking in different parts of the world. That gave me the chance to decide what I was going to do. I had been a psychologist for 20 years and I wanted to know what to do with the next 20 years.
‘The final walk I did was in Rajasthan and that’s where I saw these traditional skills which are going to be lost if people don’t use them. At that time I knew nothing about silk or hat making, although I have always had a design eye and my mum and my grandma always designed their own clothes.
‘We are doing our tiny bit to try to keep those skills alive and to bring the most amazing silks here.’
And when they arrive Adriana and her team of designers from universities across the North West use the silks to create hats which are proving popular with race goers and fashionistas eager to stand out from the crowd.
‘We are blending old skills with new talent,’ Adriana added. ‘Our shop is away from the main shopping area but people are starting to find it.
‘Our customers are people who are looking for something different, something unusual, something not many people know about, something with exclusivity and next season we will also have some hats available for hire.’
