Shari's Notes From The Design Desk

July is a month to make the most of your current wardrobe—perfect for showing off the wonderful dresses in your summer wardrobe. Also, there’s still plenty of time to enjoy more great summer styles. Arriving in our shop for End of July—first, a fabulous, not-to-be-missed, semi-annual clearance sale! We are selling off many discontinued styles at great prices starting the last Saturday in July. Did I say great prices—they will be really great! 60-70% off! Mark your calendars, and enjoy the savings—still plenty of time to wear all our fun summer prints round the lake or out and about.

First of Fall: Our Lady of Perpetual Anticipation has the word that first of fall is soon to see! Time to look ahead for our Mehera Shaw fall-preview, arriving in our shop July 25th! We will be sending out early-bird specials, so keep watching or write to us and ask to be included in our customer list. First of fall includes lots of ¾ sleeve cotton voile tops and tunics in a more muted color palate--warm grey-blues, lavender, naturals, olives and a Chinese floral print on deep maroon which I quite like-- a range of crop pants and some lovely wrap dresses.

For later in the fall, when Jack Frost starts appearing, we have many lovely, cozy quilted jackets arriving, quilted skirts, leggings, and new collections in cotton jersey, twill, corduroy, velvet, silk. Of course, as I mentioned in my Notes from Jaipur, I was actually imagining Yasminka, Mongolian princess (and current fashion muse), somewhere between Lake Baikul and Tashkent when the cold arrived—a very practical princess who knows how to dress when she happens to be in urban Minneapolis. She and I were quite pleased with many new finds on my recent trip to Jaipur--particularly the new fabric we sourced including silks, cotton silks, handloom wool, and some exceptional trouser fabric. As always, I had many new samples made and am now in the process of deciding which of those will actually make it into production for the final garment. I have really been taken recently with a number of East Asian influenced design elements: frog buttons, Mandarin collars, wrap tops and kimonos. Of course I always hope to have everything I love made, but usually I have to edit the collection based on practical limitations, or juggle the timing of the collections, especially for winter collections as the quilting alone takes an incredible amount of time. Stay tuned for Yasminka’s arrival in the Twin Cities later this fall.

New developments: I have also begun adding several new products to Mehera Shaw. We have a fuller children’s line due in our shop end of July—same type of Asian influenced designs in easy-to-wear styles with colorful prints for girls age 2-10. My 6 year old loves the clothes, combines prints with amazing style, and can climb trees quite well in our skirts, thus demonstrating the easy-to-wear aspect!

We are adding block printed cotton quilts to our collection beginning this fall—in children’s, single and queen sizes. They are unbelievably soft and cozy--great for those chilly evenings around the corner!

Down the line, hopefully by spring, we will have a new nightwear collection of both demur, vintage styles and muted colors in the softest of cotton voile as well as a more trendy line of nighties in jazzy prints. Long, quilted robes to be coming as well—just about perfect for any season.

For next summer we hope to have a limited collection of plus sizes from 1X-3X in women’s tunic tops and skirts. I’ve had many requests for this line over the years and hope to fit it into our production schedule soon.

Shari's Notes From Jaipur

Shari Keller, the Designer and Creative Director for Mehera Shaw, writes from our production studio in Jaipur, India:

Deepali, our shop lady, quality control checker and computer person, Vijay, and Rajan, our manager for everything at our Jaipur Store

I have been in Jaipur for the past 10 days working out new designs and sourcing fabrics for future collections. I work at our Mehera Shaw production studio in which is located in an affluent neighborhood in Jaipur. I’ve had a rather strong desire to try out some Chinese influenced designs lately, so I’ve sketched out a tunic style with Mandarin collar, quilted front and back insets, and beautifully hand-done, Chinese buttons. I’ve added to that a style of traditional Ladakh pants and hopefully we’ll make a Ladakhi quilted vest as well. In general, my imagination has been leading me along the Silk Road for inspiration, so I also have some richly quilted long coats, trimmed in velvet with Chinese/Russian buttons. Before my trip to Jaipur, we shot some fashion photos of our upcoming fall collection and kept our model going with images of yak herding Mongolian princesses. My fictional muse is now named “Yasminka” and is able to lead large herds across the Mongolian plains while looking gorgeous in multiple turbans, a quilted jacket, Ladakhi pants, and perhaps a saber at her side. What does all this have to do with you and me and a stylish urban fashionista? The challenge I suppose, is to bring all my imaginative wanderings into focus in a very wearable, comfortable, yet richly intoned and decidedly feminine style. Hints from my style muses filter down into something urban, stylish, unique. I love the hint of the Orient and the wearability of the West.

My desk, before it got too messy

On this trip, we also searched for and found a new block printer. We are always on the lookout for new artisans to work with and this was a particularly good discovery. He specializes in the vegetable dyes of Bagru village, a centuries old tradition that has been developed to the point of true artistry. The printing techniques are dependent on the weather, quality of the water, drying times, and absorption of the fabric. All these elements influence the colors, so the mixers and printers are truly master artisans at work. I always find myself lost in the beauty of a print, noting how it changes characteristics when done in different color schemes. It is usually difficult to limit myself in choice of prints. Often, as I work, I choose a print and develop it into new and slightly modified color schemes. On this trip, the vegetable dye colors were so lovely and earthy, I decided to go ahead and use them as is since they brought the richness of my oriental inspirations to light.

Madanji, our pattern master, putting a new sample on the dress form

I am also developing a few original prints, blending the characteristics of the traditional block print motifs with stylized floral patterns and contrasting shades of intense jewel tones and muted pastels. There is almost limitless possibility in this realm. I love the freedom of imagination reigned in by my guiding principles: beauty, femininity, and wearability.

Ramuji, our cutter, Hanumanji, our sample maker, and Madanji, our pattern master

I have come to have great respect for those who are working here in our studio now. Our pattern master is brilliant at making lovely clothes from my sketches. Our cutter is equally as talented in making sure the patterns and prints are cut just so. They take the care that few people even consider doing. Each day, at our shop in the states, I hear people comment on the quality of the cuts, the stitching. Praise for this goes to our stitchers: a small group of men (yes, in India the men are typically the stitchers, pattern masters, and cutters). Day after day, they carefully make beautiful clothes. They are all ordinary people; but they are doing their best. All these bits and pieces, on a human scale, are felt in our clothing.

So, needless to say, I love every minute of the whole process—from sourcing and developing beautiful fabrics to working out the designs with our staff.