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Five designers—Jenjum Gadi, Karma Sonam of Kuzu, Daniel Syiem, Richana Khumanthem and Aratrik Dev Varman of Tilla—used a Lakmé Fashion Week Summer/Resort showcase called North East Mojo to translate textiles from Nagaland, Sikkim, Meghalaya, Manipur and Tripura into contemporary clothing. Their work shows modernization as careful adaptation: changing scale, silhouette and styling while keeping a material’s technique, history or community identity visible.
The five designers and the textiles they reworked
The showcase presented distinct regional practices rather than one uniform “North-East” aesthetic. This overview identifies the material or technique at the centre of each practice; the design and cultural decisions are explained below.
| Designer | Regional connection | Textile or technique | Contemporary direction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jenjum Gadi | Arunachal Pradesh/Nagaland | Nagaland loin-loom weaving | Deconstructed motifs and relaxed tailoring |
| Karma Sonam, Kuzu | Sikkim | Nettle, rabbit and yak fibres; Lepcha loin-loom weaving | Layered, anti-fit and deconstructed garments |
| Daniel Syiem | Meghalaya | Eri silk, also called ryndia | Silk developed into full contemporary wardrobes |
| Richana Khumanthem | Manipur | Meitei ShamiLanmi embroidery | Historic motif used as graphic garment detailing |
| Aratrik Dev Varman, Tilla | Tripura | Riah with fine Tripuri cotton | Breast cloth reimagined as drape and accessory |
What the North East Mojo showcase set out to do
The event connected regional craft with wider fashion markets, with support from the United Nations and British Council. The account of the showcase was published on April 16, 2018, so it records a moment in these labels’ development, not a current ranking or guarantee that every collection, retailer or stockist still operates in the same way.
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Across the five practices, modernization does not mean stripping away provenance. It means making a textile usable in new proportions, garments and wardrobes while giving its makers a reason to continue producing it.
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Jenjum Gadi: Nagaland’s loin loom in pared-back geometry
A back-strap loom with a highly specific visual language
Gadi worked with Nagaland’s loin-loom weaves. The loom is non-mechanical: a bamboo frame is strapped around the weaver’s lower back, so the body itself helps maintain tension while narrow strips are woven. Instead of reproducing complex motifs literally, Gadi deconstructed them into minimal geometric patterns.
From narrow strips to an urban wardrobe
His runway looks included fringed waterfall-collar jackets, tasseled shirts and roomy trousers. Traditional jewellery and woven backpacks extended the textile story beyond the garment, making the woven elements part of a complete contemporary look rather than an isolated craft panel.
“I wanted to retain the textile’s essence without it looking typical,” Gadi said. He launched his label in 2012; the 2018 profile reported sales through multi-designer boutiques in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata. Those retail details should be treated as historical.
Kuzu by Karma Sonam: Sikkim’s fibres and layered dress
Design as collaboration with craftspeople
Karma Sonam’s Kuzu practice focuses on reviving crafts that were losing ground and treats the designer as a collaborator with the people who make the cloth. She identifies Sikkim’s nettle yarn, rabbit wool and yak wool as important material resources.
Rank #2
Her collection drew on Bhutia layered clothing and Lepcha loin-loom weaves traditionally used for women’s coats. The profile noted that these weaves had traditionally been made from nettle yarn but were, at that time, being produced with cotton—a material shift that matters when discussing both authenticity and continuity.
Loosening traditional layers
Sonam translated the references into deconstructed jackets and vests, anti-fit culottes and ruffled dresses. The silhouettes preserve the idea of layering while allowing the pieces to function as separates in a modern wardrobe.
“Textile plays a significant role in making our social and cultural identity,” Sonam said, adding, “We must ensure that weavers benefit economically to continue [with] it.” Her stated aim was to fine-tune traditional techniques and motifs so they could be globally viable without losing their values, meanings and stories. Kuzu began in 2016, according to the 2018 account.
Daniel Syiem: taking Meghalaya’s eri silk beyond the stole
Ryndia as more than a traditional wrap
Daniel Syiem’s Shillong fashion house, started in 2011, works with Meghalayan textiles. His ShaKiLum collection centred on eri silk, known locally as ryndia. The profile describes eri as made by domesticated silkworms and regards it as one of the more sustainable silk variants.
Eri had commonly been worn as a shawl or stole. Syiem said he had worked with the fabric for about three years to promote it outside Meghalaya through design, rather than leaving it confined to its established format.
Building a full set of silhouettes
The collection placed eri in cowl dresses, power-shoulder jackets, shirt dresses with raised quadruple collars, slouchy jumpsuits and shrugs. This is a practical form of modernization: the fibre remains the focal point, but customers encounter it across daywear, tailoring and occasion-oriented shapes.
“People have woven eri for generations, but it’s usually worn as a shawl or stole,” Syiem said. For spring-summer, he wanted the clothes to inspire visitors to travel to Meghalaya, linking the textile’s promotion with a sense of place.
Richana Khumanthem: a Manipuri motif carrying a hill–valley story
The history attached to ShamiLanmi
Richana Khumanthem’s Anaemoia collection used the Meitei community’s ShamiLanmi pattern, an animal- and tribal-inspired embroidery set against black. Khumanthem traced the motif to a shawl gifted by a Meitei king to a tribal chieftain as a sign of love and respect. In her explanation, it represents a bond between Manipur’s hill and valley communities.
Turning embroidery into structure
Rather than covering every garment, she applied ShamiLanmi as borders, piping and belts. It appeared on sheer overlays, checked jumpsuits and coordinated sets, allowing the motif to act as a precise graphic and construction detail.
“There is a story behind every motif, colour and weave used in traditional Manipuri textiles,” Khumanthem said. She also argued that respect for inherited traditions must coexist with change and evolution. Her label began in 2014; the 2018 profile reported an Imphal flagship opened in 2016 and retail in Guwahati, conditions that may have changed.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Tilla by Aratrik Dev Varman: Tripura’s riah as drape and accessory
A long breast cloth with identifiable stripes
Tilla, founded in 2010 and named after Aratrik Dev Varman’s family home in Agartala, worked with the riah, a long, narrow breast cloth worn by many tribal communities in Tripura. Reang riahs are recognised by red, black and white stripes. Dev Varman paired the cloth with fine Tripuri cotton.
Reassigning the cloth’s role
Instead of treating the riah only as a traditional garment, Tilla used it as drapes, belts and turbans with flowing dresses and separates. Coin jewellery sourced from tribal communities completed the looks, making accessories part of the regional vocabulary.
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The work was part of a British Council-funded project intended to develop supply-chain models and markets for Tripura’s weavers. At the time of the profile, Tilla was also expanding into a café, a craft film, commissioned walls and interior textiles—an example of a label building several routes to sustain craft knowledge.
“We must showcase these crafts distinctly instead of banding together under a North East banner,” Dev Varman said. He referred to 19 tribes in Tripura, each with its own colours, weaves and patterns; that number is his statement in the 2018 article, not an independently verified current census figure.
How these designers modernised traditional textiles
They changed function, not just decoration
Loin-loom strips became jackets and trousers; eri moved from wrap to jumpsuit and dress; riah became a belt, turban or drape. These are functional changes that let a textile enter more parts of a wardrobe.
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1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsThey edited motifs for contemporary scale
Gadi reduced complex weaving into geometry, while Khumanthem placed a historically charged embroidery in controlled borders and piping. Editing made the references legible without reproducing an entire traditional object.
They treated provenance as part of design value
Each practice names a place, community or relationship: Sikkim’s fibre traditions, Meghalaya’s ryndia, the Meitei hill–valley story and Tripura’s distinct tribal vocabularies. The designers’ comments also connect fashion’s success to economic benefit for weavers and to clearer communication with consumers.
What readers should take from the 2018 profile
These five designers were participants in one showcase, not a definitive list of North-Eastern designers and not a present-day ranking. Their importance lies in the different solutions they offered: deconstruction, collaborative revival, new garment categories, motif-led storytelling and supply-chain building. Because the source is historical, check directly with each label before relying on current availability, stockists, websites or operations.
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