Rashmi Varma works at the intersection of garments, textiles, and objects.
Her practice is centred around cloth as second skin, the performative act of wearing, the corporeal space, the sculptural form of drape, the hands for thinking, and material truth. These inquiries are woven into a larger narrative that reframes the cultural and political legacies of fashion, textiles, design, craft, and identity.
Varma’s work negotiates aesthetic hybrids and contemporary perspectives rooted in South Asian sartorial and craft practices. She creates with karigars-craftspeople throughout India, prioritising skill-sharing and experimentation with fibre, form and technique.
Her interdisciplinary studio practice encompasses design commissions, curatorial projects, hand-craft advisory, costume design, and fibre arts. Varma’s notable projects include Infinite Drape, Serendipity Arts Festival (Curator 2025, Goa), and The Offbeat Sari, Design Museum (Associate Curator 2023, London). She is the co-author of Sar: The Essence of Indian Design (Phaidon Press 2016).
Varma’s works have been exhibited at the Victoria & Albert Museum (London), Wereldmuseum (Amsterdam), Design Museum (London), Museum of Contemporary Art (Toronto), Textile Museum of Canada (Toronto), among others.
Rashmi Varma lives and works between Canada and India.
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