PAITE – CURATOR – JDADA2019

Designer Katrie Niang Lian Ching and Puja Chavan’s collection “Paite” means “a group of people marching” and is a line of smart casual inspired by the traditional Puandum fabric. The puandum fabric is used to make the traditional clothing of the Paite people.

Paite are tribal people found in certain north-eastern states of India. The Puandum is a black fabric that forms the base for the traditional clothing and different coloured stripes are incorporated to this fabric to make it colourful. The different colours hold traditional and cultural significance. The designers have given a twist to the traditional dress of the Paite people and created fashionable smart casuals. The colours used in the garments are midnight black, emerald green, pineapple yellow, carmine red and snow white.

The Puandum used in the collection is made of woollen yarn woven using the traditional method of weaving on the loin loom and handloom machine. The traditional method of weaving is time consuming, but, highly sustainable and the colours do not fade away easily. The weaving of this fabric is done predominantly by women and the earnings, they make out of it, help them to be financially independent.