Greetings From Mumbai, & The Start Of Spring '26 Designing! - Vol 5

In the US, you are gearing up for Fall, maybe pulling out your fall boots, browsing your new MarketPlace India catalog to find exciting styles for the cooler weather ahead! In Mumbai, where I've come to work with the artisans on Spring 26 designs, the monsoon season with its heavy rains is just finishing, but the humidity lingers on to make for some steamy heated conditions. It is decidedly not fall boot season here, but it IS perfect weather for thinking about NEXT spring. Today I have just come back from a fantastic day working w the block printers of UKK, and I'd like to share a bit about what inspires me and the team.

First, a little context about block printing compared to conventional textile printing methods—most of the world's textile prints are factory-printed on mechanized rotary screens, or printed digitally. The artwork is created on a computer, and it prints onto the fabric exactly as it looks on the screen. Block printing couldn't be more different. The prints are developed incrementally, and designs emerge block by block. There are many decisions to be made with each stamp of the block, and a textile design can change many times along the way as we explore the options.

I am always inspired by this process of block printing, and love creating prints that celebrate that. This process is a seasonless, timeless, endless source of creativity. It is a great joy to work directly with the printers, and to use wooden blocks to build the designs, printing directly onto the fabric using the labor of one's hands. I look forward to it each season, both for the outcome of the prints, but equally for the camaraderie of gathering around the block tables as we work together and experiment to build new prints. The start of a new print begins with a round of collaborative sketching as we all gather round the table after hunting around the workshop for just the right blocks out of thousands. This is a different kind of sketching from the kind one does in drawing, pencil and paper in hand, as a solitary activity. Instead, creating a sketch to test block ideas on fabric is most productive and fun as a group event, with everyone suggesting options and approaches.

Today, at the UKK print workshop, we set out to create a print inspired by this block printing process. The goal was to keep the spontaneity of the first sketches, while creating a good structure and balance in the finished textile. We explored the idea of a stripe for an early spring delivery. In the US, stripes are often a good choice to wear during transitional seasons, providing new energy without being too whimsical for the still cool weather. Stripes can also be a comforting motif in difficult times—a stripe provides a sense of structure and direction when the world feels upside down or chaotic. If you visit any block printer, regardless of their style, technique or region, you will see many stripe blocks. Stripes are useful in building many designs and become a solid backbone for a block collection.

At the block tables we are thinking about what kinds of stripes there are, what blocks do we have? We think it would be most interesting to do a mix of many stripes. The challenge is to make these different stripes work together in a versatile textile which can be easily worn with black and denim garments, and to create a fabric that will function as a layering piece to wear under a jacket and also a stand-alone shirt jacket. We are thinking about you, dear customers—what will look fresh and new for spring and simultaneously be wearable during that early March and April transition period when the US weather is still quite cool and unpredictable. We start stamping the blocks and the design accumulates...what fun!

After the first design is resolved, the hard work of figuring out how to repeat it begins. Careful measurements are taken, and a running length of the design is built on the long tables. Here's a sneak peek!

—Adele Mattern | Creative Director