Made in India

Growing up on a farm in Hunter Valley amidst corn and watermelons in New South Wales, Julie Lantry would watch her mother, grandmother and aunt sew, knit and crochet. She would sit beside them and sew her doll’s clothes and paint bedspreads. Her love for textiles and design was instilled at an early age.

She was introduced to Ayurveda by her beautician and naturopath who used Ayurvedic creams and herbs. Lantry graduated in fashion design from the Sydney Institute of Technology, which boasts leading fashion designers such as Akira Isogawa, Nicole Zimmermann and Lisa Ho as its alumni. She worked with small and medium designers, and learnt to evolve a product from the drawing board to the retail shelves.

She launched Bulb — a range of sleep, loungewear and lingerie in 2001. “It was a day-to-play-to-bed range in sheer fabrics and silk adorned with handcrafted embellishments,” says Lantry. A passionate advocate of local craftsmanship, she had intended to produce her collections entirely in Australia, but it proved difficult as she worked in a shrinking local manufacturing industry.

A chance meeting with British designer Niki Groom saw her make a trip to India, where she was introduced to the artisans and ethical cooperatives, some of whom she continues to work with. In September 2014, she launched Soulmate Intimates, an Australian-designed, Indian-made ‘Ayurvedic’ lingerie label.

“Underwear was the obvious thing to do. I wanted to create a commercial product that raises awareness and income for traditional artisans and also offered customers the opportunity to care for their body and environment. In standard chemical dyes there are toxins which many people with sensitive skin were finding uncomfortable and irritable to wear. So I decided to use natural tulsi, neem and aloe vera plant dyes for their antioxidant, antibacterial and antiseptic properties. It took four years of research to launch the product I have today,” says Lantry who called it Soulmate Intimates as it is a natural partnership between traditional crafts and modern technology.

“Our organic cotton, certified by the Global Organic Textile Standard, is bought from a farmer in Tirupur in Tamil Nadu and loomed into fabric and dyed with Ayurvedic herbs and plants at AyurTex, Tirupur. The fabric is then tested for colour fastness and shrinkage before it is sent to Bangalore for manufacturing. Our factory partner, certified by Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production, uses the latest Swiss technology in underwear and employs mostly women to make our garments. The lingerie is then hand block printed at Tharangini Studios and embellished at Studio Calantha by traditional artisans in Bangalore. It is then packaged in recycled material in Delhi and sold online from Australia,” says Lantry.

About half a dozen different dyeing processes are used. “For ecru whites, natural minerals and salts are used. The fabric is then dried in the sun for three weeks to naturally bleach. For blue and pink pastel shades, we use neem, tulsi and soup nut with Indian Madder and indigo. The cloth is then softened with aloe vera and dried in the sun. Fine latex free elastic is used to create a smooth silhouette, whilst subtle panelling and extended side seams provide gentle layers of support,” explains Lantry.

Many designers use organic cotton, but she claims to be amongst the very few making ‘Ayurvedic’ lingerie. “It is a niche product,” says Lantry. She has evolved comfortable yet chic designs by incorporating responses from her customers over 25 years in the industry. Her products sell mostly through the gift and health markets and the business currently has a turnover of under AUS $500,000 (₹2.5 crore approximately). But Soulmate Intimates has come with its own set of challenges. “The initial programme started in Tirupur with traditional dye artisans working with Ayurvastra (now AyurTex). They worked very hard to deliver international quality standard and meet realistic deadlines, however, circumstances made it difficult for them. Through group discussions with our manufacturing partners in Bangalore we got there in the end,” says Lantry who is doing a master’s degree (Research) at University of Technology, Sydney (UTS).

She has been organising textile tours to India since 2010 to help Australian fashion students collaborate with Indian artisans and build long-term artisan networks. Since 2012, she has conducted five tours for UTS and two for Technical and Further Education (TAFE), Ultimo in Sydney.

Mandish Kalsi, a UTS student who has been on two tours with Lantry, says, “I am really keen on embroidery and that’s the reason I joined Lantry’s Textile Tour to Vrindavan, where we collaborated with artisans at Ashok Ladiwal’s studio. The second tour was to The Stitching Project in Pushkar, where we learnt traditional block printing. Both experiences helped me realise my design aesthetic.” After graduating, Kalsi would like to spend an extended period in India, learning different art and textiles techniques and collaborating with more artisans.

Lantry is conducting an embroidery tour to Delhi next month and a weaving tour to Kullu in Himachal Pradesh in November. In 2016, she is hoping to take students to work with Studio Calantha and Tharangini Studios. Studio Calantha’s co-director, Sudhir Swain says, “We have traditional artisans from Bengal who embellish the block print on Lantry’s range with delicate threadwork, beadwork and sequins, adding flair to the garments.”

The custom block designs are hand-carved by Tharangini’s team of skilled traditional woodblock makers.

“We were happy to work with Lantry as her brand stands for similar values. We make custom eco-colours to complement her range of garments. The printing and finishing involves a team effort between our studio and women from the many non-profit organisations we support, including MITU (Multiple Initiatives Towards Upliftment), a self-help group for underprivileged women”, says Padmini Govind of Tharangini studio.

At present, Soulmate Intimates only has lingerie and women’s sleepwear, but Lantry wants to extend the range to include children’s and men’s wear; along with an online sales partner with an Indian retailer for the India market.

(Neena Bhandari is a Sydney-based journalist)