The loom is a stage

At Vaishali Shadangule’s new runway show, couture starts with a thread

26 Aug 2025

For kaarigars and local clusters eternalising their regional textiles and crafts, mornings and evenings in the village are pronounced with a unique sound — the pull and swish of shuttles pacing on the wooden frames of looms, weaving the threads into fabric. Like a song, the clattering of the loom etches into memory. In New Delhi, fashion designer Vaishali Shadangule of her label Vaishali S recreated the sights and sounds of this kaarigari on a runway recently for the National Handloom Day.

Called NAAD – The Sound of Looms, the couturier with 25 meticulous years in shaping stories through handloom, collaborated with the Ministry of Textiles, Government of India, the Development Commissioner for Handlooms (DCHL), and was supported by Maharani Radhikaraje Gaekwad of Baroda, marking the show as a special retrospective.

Vaishali Shadangule with Maharani of Baroda Radhikaraje Gaekwad

Couture performance

With 52 couture looks, each outfit was styled daintily but rooted to a quintessential handloom vocabulary of India. The runway brimmed with a noticeable waft of fresh mogras and a setting that drew one’s vision to large textile installations. Weavers sat beside these pieces, working on live looms. Their rhythmic clatter set the tempo, blurring the line between process and performance, generational techniques and couture.

Known for her distinct take on cording technique and globalising India’s handlooms at international fashion calendars, the fluid drapes of her 52 looks in Delhi were paired with jewels known to be crafted over 1,000 man-hours by ISVARI Jalandhar Jewellery House.

In motion

The focus wasn’t just the runway, though. A visceral journey from fibre to garment gave the audience a deeper narrative through three dance performances by the Sadhguru Gurukulam Samskriti School, Coimbatore. The dancers enacted the lifecycle of handloom — I am Thread opened the cycle, followed by I am Loom capturing the rhythm of transformation, and I am Fabric that closed its cycle with form, purpose and an everlasting beauty.