Hooray to the BBC for bringing fashion stars Shilpa Chavan and Martin Churba together for their Collaboration Culture Series. Their upcycling-themed crafty odyssey on the streets of Mumbai is a maker's dream. Read on for news on how you can catch up on their very stylish adventures.
Lately I've been getting hooked on the BBC's ongoing Collaboration Culture series on the BBC World News. Where else on TV - or the internet - would you see a milliner who's worked with Lady Gaga going through rubbish heaps with South America's top textile designer?
Recently the very sought-after Shilpa Chavan and fabric genius Martin Churba got together on the streets of Mumbai to do just that. Their theme - junk into art - is right up my crafty street. Unsurprisingly, these two craft stars handily demonstrate the sort of fabulousness that's possible when you take a second look at the sort of stuff most people just throw away.
Left: the very talented Shilpa and Martin in a Mumbai auto rickshaw.
"My basic raw materials are definitely Indian fabrics. I use a lot of toys in my work, I use bras, stones, glasses, twigs, stainless steel strainers, slippers, feathers, everything," Chavan told the BBC. In other words, local products and straight-up rubbish. Brilliant!
Other ace collaborations in this series include work by Bollywood dancers and Bob and Roberta Smith - but this fantastic fashion project seemed too maker-friendly not to share.
Visit the project homepage to see a truly fierce gallery of Martin and Shilpa at work, plus video from their tour of one of the world's truly great cities. And check out this amazing roster of all of the artists involved in the series.
