Q&A with Minty Sisodia
Minty Sisodia is the founder and creator behind the British-based, sustainable fashion brand, Kalpanik, which she founded in 2022. Minty’s designs are a joyful celebration of colour and print which translate her nostalgia for her ancestral home of India with her love for all things art and travel and infused with her inimitable curiosity for the world.
Faire magazine in conversation with Minty Sisodia
Faire: Can you tell us a little about yourself?
Minty Sisodia: I come from a family of farmers. Both my grandparents were farmers in Gujarat, India, and my parents grew up working on farms. However, creativity and design have always been a huge part of our cultural heritage.
Traditionally, men would tailor-make their clothes with custom embroidery, and have a very individual style of turbans; women make their own blouses with bold colour combinations of patchwork and hand-stitched design details that are unique just for them. They would also use beadwork and embroidery décor items for their homes and coverings for animals.
My parents moved to Dubai for work when I was about 7 with my older brother and sister back in 1997, and I remember it being a big change. But my parents were passionate and wanted to explore and grow, something they’ve taught us well, along with an appreciation for the creative values that have been passed down through generations. We’d go back often during school holidays. My parents have built a farmhouse there with a huge garden by our farmland, full of roses, peacocks, and jasmine. It’s heaven.
Faire: What are your earliest memories of creating?
Minty: I loved drawing from a very young age as most children do. I remember around the age of 8 or 9 I enjoyed illustrating things I would see in magazines etc and I would create a file of all my artwork.
My very first introduction to western art was in an encyclopedia book. I came across works by the ‘old masters’ and was fascinated by them. I feel like the desire to create sparked around that time. I wanted to be able to create and be a part of the world that creates beauty in some way and be able to share it with people.
Faire: How would you describe your creative style?
Minty: The first word that comes to my mind is eclectic, I feel like my designs are a melange of many different influences, so eclectic seems right. I also think my designs fall in-between maximalist and traditional classic. I love to layer elements and colours, so sometimes the design motifs are heritage-inspired but in a very loose, almost whimsical style.
Faire: Who do you have in mind when you sit down to create your work?
Minty: I create designs that I’d like to wear myself or find visually stimulating. So perhaps someone like me, who loves colours with an appreciation of different kinds of arts and cultural heritages.
Faire: Can you take us behind the scenes and describe the steps in your creative process?
Minty: It all starts with a mood or a mental picture of what I want the collection to look like. It gives me an idea of the colours that will be involved. Then I deep dive into research, having a good research board really helps me define the design elements that I will be using. And then I start sketching or painting my artwork, this gives me the freedom to play and manipulate the forms of a design. Sometimes a mistake becomes the essential element of a design and I love that. But I am a bit messy, so for final artwork I trace out my designs on the computer and then play around with the layout and colour combinations till I’m fully happy with it.
“And I realised that my story is the brand’s story. All the things that I draw inspiration from, are things from my nostalgia of India, memories of Dubai and all those magnificent objects of beauty that I’ve seen around the world whether at the V&A, Uffizi, MET, Vatican or Kunzthaus. All of them floating in my mind, at a place that I created with a longing for somewhere to belong but simultaneously wanting to be everywhere. ”
Faire: What informs and inspires your work more generally?
Minty: I’d say cultural and heritage art, be it in any form from around the world is what inspires me.
I think that that form of expression is universal, perhaps because it always stems from nature, everyone can relate to it.
I also enjoy gardening; I like to believe it’s in my blood. My parents are avid gardeners, they’re always collecting plants from their travels and have an organic kitchen garden at the farm. So, while it doesn’t directly influence my designs, it is a huge part of the process as it grounds me, and helps me be more patient and mindful in my work and in life.
Faire: When, where, and how did you learn how to do what you do?
Minty: I’m not entirely sure what made me take up fashion design for my bachelor's but I’m glad I did because it opened a whole new world of creativity for me. My final collection was called ‘World through a kaleidoscope’, purely because of the number of colours and prints involved. The idea of the collection was that of a global nomad, a melting pot, and a coming together of different cultural influences.
It was during the final year of my degree that I discovered my love for print design and I have tried to pursue it ever since.
I met my husband shortly after my graduation and we got married soon after and moved to his home in London. The following few years brought opportunities to live in several different places like New York (U.S.) and Pune (India), and we took them up as avenues to explore the world. I created a small collection of homeware linens and started selling them online and at local markets. However, moving the production base around turned out to be a bit challenging.
When we came back to London, most of 2019 was taken up with settling back in and fixing up our flat. During this time, I was feeling a bit disconnected and drained creatively so I took a break and started volunteering in London and then came 2020, and we all know how that went.
Faire: Can you talk to us about how you decided to create your company Kalpanik? Did you experience any challenges or are there any learnings you feel comfortable sharing with us?
Minty: My long-term aim has always been to make something of my own. I didn’t really have a specific idea of what exactly it would be, whether fashion or homeware, painting etc. I knew I wanted an outlet to create in some way, where I could create at my own pace and share my creativity with others.
I never set a specific timeline for this because I felt that I still had a lot to learn.
Whilst I enjoyed moving around a lot and working mostly by myself, what I was really seeking was to be a part of a creative team, where I could learn new things and grow and be around other like-minded people. But I never found the right team. I was growing frustrated and self-doubt was seeping in. I had thought that perhaps things were not working out the way I wanted for a reason, and if I didn’t do it now then I’d just keep pushing it further away.
So, I just went for it. There were a lot of questions I had to answer initially, like what is the brand going to represent? Is it authentic? What is the story? Am I going to be able to make products the way I want to?
And I realised that my story is the brand’s story. All the things that I draw inspiration from, are things from my nostalgia of India, memories of Dubai and all those magnificent objects of beauty that I’ve seen around the world whether at the V&A, Uffizi, MET, Vatican or Kunzthaus. All of them floating in my mind, at a place that I created with a longing for somewhere to belong but simultaneously wanting to be everywhere.
And that’s how I came about the name and the concept of the brand – ‘Kalpanik’ which in Sanskrit means made of or born from imagination. And all my designs come from this imaginary place where all these wonderful things exist in harmony.
Faire: How have the worldwide restrictions of COVID-19 impacted your business and have you had to adapt or change these last few months?
Minty: I’ve only just launched my brand, so COVID has not really impacted it luckily.
But before launching it really got me thinking whether what I wanted to do was relevant or needed in a world already up to the brim. However, the desire to create was strong, so I was very conscious of my approach and process. As I am always mindful of what I buy and how it’s made.
So, I took the lockdown time to just really work on my design skills and find my aesthetics and a true voice for my brand.
Faire: What have been your biggest challenges with your creative business? And your greatest accomplishment
Minty: My biggest challenge I’d say has been trying to get over my self-doubt. I love creating, but it has always been for myself, and while people have bought things that I’ve made in the past, setting up an actual brand meant really putting my work out there and that was quite scary. It still is as I’m only just starting out, but I’m taking each day as it comes with small steps towards the future. Sustainability means slow. Slow being the operative word.
I’d have to say Kalpanik is my biggest accomplishment yet. As it took form after quite a frustrating and dry spell of creativity. But it is also an embodiment of everything that I cherish, my memories and experiences. And while it is still in its infancy, it has brought me a huge amount of contentment.
“The best advice I’ve received? It might be cliché but, life seldom goes according to plan, some elements might, many won’t, but often it leads you to where you need to go and if you’re open and curious, you’ll be able to create the life you want, whether personal or professional.”
To find out more about Minty and ‘ Kalpanik’ visit kalpanik.co.uk or follow @kalpan1k on Instagram.
