Vino Supraja
Craft-led cultural fashion practice · Dubai
A Practice at the Intersection of Craft, Culture, and Couture
Vino Supraja is a Dubai-based craft-led sustainable and ethical fashion designer working at the intersection of craft, culture, and contemporary fashion.
Her work engages directly with heritage textile practices and performance traditions, translating them into contemporary couture and red-carpet presentations. The practice is not based on reinterpretation alone, but on sustained interaction with the systems of making that shape these forms.
Operating across the UAE, India, and international platforms, the studio develops limited works that move between cultural documentation and global presentation.
From Structure to Form
With an early background in architecture, her approach to fashion is shaped by structure, proportion, and construction.
Textiles are not treated as a surface, but as systems.
This perspective informs the way materials are engaged, whether through the linear rhythm of Bhavani Jamakkalam or the embodied logic of Therukoothu performance. The work extends these systems into form, allowing them to exist within a contemporary fashion context without separation from their origins.
Engagement with Craft and Performance
The practice is grounded in direct engagement with artisans and cultural practitioners.
This includes working with:
- Bhavani Jamakkalam weavers in Bavani, Tamil Nadu, India
- Therukoothu artists from the Purisai lineage
- weaving communities in regions such as Chennimalai
Through observation, documentation, and collaboration, the studio develops an understanding of material, process, and performance as interconnected systems.
On the Global Stage
Her work has been presented internationally, beginning with Shanghai Fashion Week, where she received the Golden Laureate Award.
Subsequent presentations at Brooklyn and New York Fashion Weeks expanded the practice into global fashion platforms.
At London Fashion Week, the work took on a more defined cultural direction.
In 2023, the Purisai collection incorporated a live Therukoothu performance, bringing a traditional Tamil theatre form into the context of contemporary fashion.
In 2025, WEAVE: A Bhavani Tribute presented Bhavani Jamakkalam in couture, with a senior weaver on the runway. This moment extended the textile's narrative from regional practice to global visibility.
Practice Beyond the Runway
The work extends beyond collections into writing, research, and public engagement.
She is the author of What is Sustainable Fashion: An Antidote to Fashion Pollution, and has addressed the House of Commons, British Parliament, on issues relating to garment workers and fashion systems.
Through talks, workshops, and conversations, the practice continues to engage with broader questions around craft, labour, and the future of fashion.
Positioning Craft in Contemporary Fashion
The studio’s work contributes to repositioning heritage practices within contemporary fashion.
This is not framed solely as preservation, but as continuation through context, where textiles and performance traditions are placed within new systems of visibility, including couture and red-carpet presentations.
Recognition
Her work has been recognised across cultural and fashion platforms, including:
- Golden Laureate Award
- Presentations at Shanghai, Brooklyn, New York, and London Fashion Weeks
- Global Sustainable Fashion Trailblazer Award, UK
- Recognition by the House of Commons, British Parliament
- Felicitation by the Governor of Tamil Nadu, India
About the Studio
Vino Supraja is a Dubai-based craft-led, sustainable, and ethical fashion designer known for couture and red-carpet work rooted in heritage textiles. The studio works at the intersection of craft, culture, and contemporary fashion, engaging directly with artisan communities and cultural practitioners.