THE CHIDAMBARAM COLLECTIONABOUTFAQ
ABOUT THE CAMPAIGN


The root of Nrtta: Dancing the Void begins at Chidambaram. To capture the vital final sequences of the film, our community is mobilizing to independently fund the production team’s travel and filming logistics.

Because these pieces are entirely unique, items are claimed on a first-come, first-secured basis. 


Enter the Collection



ABOUT THE ARTISANS





Alexandra Hoàng Gilbert Co-Designer & Creative Collaborator


Timothée Geny La Rocca
Co-Designer & Creative CollaboratorAlexandra is a dedicated student and teacher of the Shadow Yoga school, operating the Dragon Yoga Shala in Paris, France. She has life experience in costume making for dance and theatre.

Her work on the Chidambaram collection is a continuous exploration of energetics and iconography, inspired by the discipline of Nrtta Sadhana.

In collaborating with Timothée and benefitting from his tailoring sharpness, Alexandra expands her field of research in up-cycling high-end or folk items with stretch and denim. Each piece is hand-deconstructed, dyed and re-shaped, transmuting Asian traditional garment to streetwear and potential practice wear.Trained in fashion design and shaped by the plastic arts, Timothée brings to the Chidambaram Collection a precise expertise for shapes, textures and colors.

Practitioner and student of Alexandra's for over a decade, their shared creative vision and taste for avant-garde design naturally brought them to create together.

Working with tie and dye techniques, Timothée developed patchwork pieces where fabric combinations, structure and movement are considered with intention, ensuring every garment breathes and flows with the same care the practice requires.
ABOUT THE PROCESS
Every piece in the Chidambaram Collection is conceived and carefully handcrafted by Alexandra Hoàng Gilbert and Timothée Geny La Rocca in the heart of Paris.

The collection is built through an intimate process of upcycling. Pieces are sourced from personal wardrobes, research material, streetwear, traditional Asian textiles and embroideries, alongside Shadow Yoga garments from previous collections.

It unfolds through constant dialogue. Alexandra and Timothée work side by side, moving between sewing machines, exchanging ideas, solving one another's questions. Two people. Four hands. One gaze. 

Each fragment carries its own memory. Each piece, slowly sculpted and reconstructed, becomes its continuation.
Garments individually hand tie-dyed reveal colours that exist only once.

The process leaves room for intuition, accident, and discovery.

With the symbol of the Nataraja, Ardhanarishwara dancing form of Shiva initiated by Sundernāth and Emma Balnaves many years ago, the collection reflects creation, destruction and renewal of the endless rhythm through which all things transform.

We’re infinitely grateful for the loving extra hands of Nermin and Nesrin Salepci, Heleen Van Gigch, Fabien Almakiewicz, Juliette Sales, Pascaline Barbaud, Mari Suwa, Mohamed Saidi, Anais Duran, Renald and Valérie Sanzey, Andrea Szakáll, Cole Hoover and Judy Yu, without whom none of this would get to the world.
ABOUT NRTTA : DANCING THE VOID

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For inquiries regarding the Chidambaram Collection, contact the atelier here.
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