Claude

Nila is in the process of developing an extensive textile archive. Large, white hardback books line a stone bench, and in each one, swatches of fabric – particularly khadi – are numbered and marked with varying weights, colours and yarn counts. “This is one of my favourite elements of the project,” says Barrell. “As a designer, it is such an exciting resource. It is completely transparent.

We record who the makers of the fabric are and where they are based, so a designer can come to Nila, look through the books, select the weight they are interested in, find out who the weaver is, and connect with them directly to source the fabric. When I first arrived in India three years ago, I knew I wanted to work with khadi, but I didn’t know where to go – these things are so often undocumented. The archive is a work in progress, and always will be.”