Journal

Notes from the atelier

What we are making, who is making it, and the occasional argument about why a garment should be allowed to fade.

Atelier · 18 July 2026 · 4 min

Born from the lotus

The flower that gives the house its name grows in still water and comes up clean. That is the whole brief.

Craft · 6 min

In Kutch, a vat of natural indigo is a living thing that has to be fed. We dip eight times and then let the colour leave.

People · 5 min

In a workshop outside Lucknow, five shades of untwisted floss become one lotus. Then it happens again, ninety times.

Living · 3 min

The volume is the point. Everything else in the outfit should get out of its way.

Craft · 4 min

The Leela kurta has no colour applied to it at all. Here is what that costs and what it gets you.

Living · 3 min

Notes from the first Padmaja space: lime plaster, one mirror, and nowhere to hide a bad garment.