High Fashion Meets Tradition

Designer Maheen Khan, an innovator in the design industry of Bangladesh, is a self-proclaimed “revivalist” working to repopularize running stitch embroidery, kantha quilting, and black and white geometric patterns, all once widespread traditions of Bangladesh.

As the founder and director of Studio Mayasir, Maheen’s talent is generational. Her father was one of the few to embrace textiles as a career in the 1950s in India and her mother worked for local weavers in Bangladesh. Working with women artisans and handweavers throughout surrounding remote villages, Mayasir is known for its use of khadi, cotton, silk, and muslin. These very fine handwoven fabrics are not only soft to the touch but are designed with purely poetic stitches and folkloric detail. 

Maheen shares “Studio Mayasir is influenced by close cooperation with artisan communities across Bangladesh and the wish to preserve traditional craftsmanship techniques inspired by the uniqueness of nature.” It is only through close and respectful collaboration with artisan communities across the world that folk art traditions like Kantha, one of the oldest forms of embroidery, will continue to exist as a highly sought-after art form.