Introducing new talent….

‘A Sacred Wrap’ from Adiv Pure Nature by @victoriakrundysheva

Themes | 20.03.26

Setting the table.

Aesthetics develop relative to, and in conversation with, the conditions in which they are produced. It’s for that reason that 1800s realism is studied in the context of the industrial revolution, pop art in modern consumerism, and the explosion of Japanese denim in the country’s post-war occupation period.

Creatives cannot avoid putting a bit of themselves and the means by which they make into the work they produce. So as the styles that emerge from our modern corporate culture are stamped with corporate priorities, artisans make in styles and techniques that speak to their own.

Nowhere can you find a more varied gamut of fashion styles and aesthetics than in the artisan traditions strung across the world. And nowhere else can you see them all together: than in artisan gatherings, however few there may be.

Photos and video can’t really capture the experience at XTANT, and explanations in text can only sketch out its structure. The event floor itself, its colours, sounds, conversations, contrasts, and unexpected similarities are the product of the artists themselves.

Around half of this year’s artists making the journey to Mallorca are entirely new to the fair all together, something we couldn’t be happier about. And so, in preparation for the year’s festivities, and to give a brief glimpse of the event we thought it important to highlight a couple of new artists coming this year.

Shelter Jacket by GARUDA

Nearing the northern corner of the Indian subcontinent lies Panchkula, a medium sized city (By asian standards. It would be a big city here.) nestled between the heartlands of Punjab, Kashmir, and the great Himalayas. It’s there that, in the midst of the international resurgence and press attention currently being given to Indian fashion, Garuda’s workshop has carved a space for itself.

Designs effortlessly glide between austere, ornate, and unorthodox. Their cloth shaping the silhouettes, grooves and texture of each piece with a sense of weight that is apparent at a glance.

Craft, often thought of only in traditional or cultural contexts, shows here in modernist aesthetics and deconstructed but still practical forms.

And in their website between details of each kind of fabric used in their collections, their specifications and how best to care for them, are charmingly candid descriptions:

“Long coats do not sell amazingly, but I will never stop making them. […] This years coat (as usual) is one of the three items from the collection that I've made an extra one for myself. [..]” or:

“No one actually mentioned how many buttons so we've decided to interpret it our own way. […] This entire brand is just a big pun, a never ending bit. A 10 year bit.”

Only for the next line to easily glide fall back to a simple explanation of the thought process behind each piece.

We were introduced to them by Shamji Bhai, long time member of the community and pillar of his own studio which we’ve spoken so much about. When we say that these smaller, makers-and-material-first forms of production have the capacity to experiment far more, to really create something new, something special: this is what we mean.

Crying oxford Shirt in Black by GARUDA

Photos from KOROB KOROB

As part of the many sections of the event floor, NOMAD 2026 will also, for the first time, be curating a room for menswear. And within it, next to some of GARUDA’s own work, will be KOROB KOROB.

An internationally recognized menswear project created by Ilya Varegin in Serbia, KOROB KOROB meshes together the aesthetics, hand-craft and materials of antique eastern European fibres with shapes and styles that would look right at home in the Victorian era.

Shaped herringbone jackets, colourful woollen vests, fully handcrafted hats, and 19th century shirt designs adorned with antique buttons made from mother of pearl, silver, and horn.

Collections are small in number and replenished as soon as they are bought out with new and different fibres from all over the continent. As the old stock of previous collections crowds their long archive.

Kavita has known Ilya for going on half a decade. And while many circumstances have never allowed us to have him at XTANT before. We are glad to finally be able to showcase his work.

Photo from KOROB KOROB

Craft is a word that evokes a very specific, and pernicious image in people’s minds. Conversations about it from outside the field are usually bracketed in condescending questions like: “How do we modernise craft?” or, and this one is real: “How can we (Referring to designers) save craft.”

It is presupposed, as a matter of course, that craft is a kind of genre. Traditional, looks a certain way, is practiced by a certain kind of people. And while those stereotypes can sometimes refer to real tendencies they cannot and never do capture the complexity of the field.

Artisan practices, natural dying, and locally sourced materials contracted for de-constructed, modernist shapes, or deep investigations into the cultural traditions, shapes and materials of the past carefully curated to appeal to modern sensibilities.

Neither fits neatly into the stereotype people hold of the industry, but both owe their distinct characteristics to the methods, mentality, and structure that they are produced with.

You can tattoo this on your arm:

There is no fast fashion like KOROB KOROB and no fast fashion like GARUDA.

So come to XTANT if you want to see what other wonderful artists we’ve had the chance to host this year.

Stay safe. Avoid flying through the gulf.

PILWA knit: Practice and object with Eugenia Ibarra

€150.00

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