Founder and Designer, CALICO, Nara and New Delhi
Born in 1973, Kobayashi Fumie is the founder and designer of CALICO LLC / CALICO: The Art Of Indian Village Fabrics, Japan. A graduate of Sophia University, Tokyo, with an MA in Journalism, she formerly worked in the media and at a consultancy firm, where she was in charge of Social Development in India. Since settling in Delhi in 2010, she has been researching textile design and history as well as current social movements. She promotes the arts and crafts of village fabrics by conveying the narrative stories behind these designs and products at workshops held in Japan and in other countries. This year she helped organise and invite master artisans and NGO staff to the Kutch Crafts and Textiles Show at Hankyu Department Store in Osaka, Japan. As both a design studio and a connection between artisans and NGOs, CALICO supports various other design activities, and also acts as an agent for selected designers and organisations, such as MAKU Textiles and LIVING BLUE.