In 1980, as a fresh graduate from the National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad, textile designer Neeru Kumar decided to indulge her fascination for the various kinds of hand-weaving techniques in the country.

“Thankfully, in those days, the emphasis was not so much on machine-weaving and one could still come across weaving communities in unlikely places like Munirka Village in south Delhi and just across the Yamuna. I began work with just two looms on durries, and picked up momentum as I went along, spinning out quilts, cushion covers, bedspreads over time,” she says.

Now, the two looms have been replaced by over a 100, and Kumar has over 700 weavers, from Bengal, Bihar, Orissa, UP and other parts of the country, interpreting her designs through their traditional weaving skills.

Away from the razzmatazz of the ramps and the bling of the fashion industry, Kumar has been hard at work for over two decades, experimenting, with and contemporising the craft tradition. Khadi has been an enduring favourite, but she has also dabbled with jamdani weavers from Bengal, tussar workers from Bihar, ikat weaving communities from Orissa, bandhej workers from Rajasthan, banjara handiwork from Adilab in Andhra Pradesh and tribal weaves from Karnataka.

“I would buy raw wool from Panipat and Bikaner, weave it with tussar from Bhagalpur, and that’s how, my first patented design for home furnishing was born. I call it my ‘First Design’. It went on to be a rage, and was exported all over by the Handloom and Handicrafts Export Corporation of India,” she says.

“In those days, home furnishing had not entered the urban vocabulary in the same way as it has today, so putting together Indian crafts for a every day use was quite unique,” says the 50-something designer. Today, her label sells from about 60 stores across 15 countries, including Selfridge’s in London, Bloomingdale’s in New York, and Le Bon Marche in Paris, besides making regular appearances at the prestigious Maison d’ Objet fair in Paris.

In fact, it was during the course of one of the exhibitions in 1988, that Kumar came in touch with Tokyo’s Kaori and Chiaki Maki, the famed Japanese weaving exponents known as the Weaving Sisters.

“Chiaki saw my work and got in touch with me. We have worked together for a long time since then, particularly on shawls and home furnishing. That work even got me a consultancy with Muji in Japan (one of Japan’s largest lifestyle boutiques with 300 stores in the country and 70 overseas),” she remembers.

Kumar has also ensured that there is sustained livelihood for communities she has worked with. About 200 weavers have found home in Delhi as permanent members of her studio, while there are more from whom she commissions work on a regular basis. Kumar’s fascination with textiles, in the meanwhile, had also extended to apparel, with splendid sarees, stoles and shawls being churned out at her studio.

Now, her clientele includes power names like Sonia and Priyanka Gandhi, Mira Nair, Arundhati Roy, Shabana Azmi and Rekha. But Kumar’s work is still far from over.