Jebin Johny Interview
I’m not chasing trends; I’m chasing honesty—climate-conscious clothes that honour Kerala’s weavers, my family, and the imperfect, human stories stitched into every piece.
Q. Your work blends hand-painted prints with handloom Kuthampully cotton, a marriage of craft and emotion. How do you decide which feeling or story deserves to become wearable art?
Well I do paintings, a lot of paintings to be honest. Then its a pretty difficult process to choose the best between all the paintings. I use my imagination rather than illustrations and instincts to finalise the paintings for every collection.
Q. You describe your pieces as 'emotionally handmade.' Can a fabric carry memory or mood, and if so, how do you translate that into design?
Our garments are made with emotions. It starts from the yarn to the customer. When the weaver makes the handmade fabric by hand he/she might be going through a lot of emotions. They weave for their livelihood, they weave for the children's education all for the bread and butter and greener pastures.
My paintings are about my personal life. They have my emotions of childhood, memory, family, unconditional love, safety, love of fraternity, sustainable life etcetera. Different moods, happiness, excitement, mixed emotions.
Q. Kerala’s traditional textiles are centuries old. How do you balance honoring that history while injecting your own contemporary vision?
I wanted the new Kerala kuthampully cotton. The first thing that comes to your mind when you say Kerala handloom is the Kerala golden kasavu saree. Its so basic and I wanted to show the world that there is a new Kerala handloom saree and garments. And I did. We have our 'The New Kerala Jebsispar Cotton Handmade saree" worn by Sonam Kapoor, The New Skirt Worn by Karisma Kapoor.
Q. TED speaker and climate warrior are titles few designers carry. How does sustainability shape your creative process, beyond just materials?
I have lived a sustainable life since my childhood. If you are a Malayali living in Kerala then definitely you would have experienced a little bit of sustainable life. We make our own organic food at home, we walk a lot and are emotionally connected to nature. I walk to the courier office rather than using my car.
If I use it I make sure that I use it for multiple purposes. I don't use plastic not just in business, at my home and my day to day life as well. I don't buy new clothes. I still use 15 year old jeans and 10+ year old shirts.
Q. Many designers follow trends, but you seem to follow intuition. Has there ever been a moment where intuition clashed with expectation, and what did it teach you?
Intuition clashing with expectation- well I don't think so. Its just that I make designs and clothes. I take risks. Some of my designs are not massy enough and people in the industry told me that they won't sell and I need to make more commercially likable prints.
When Sonam wore one of the unconventional printed Big Ben saree, which was said to be very risky, it became our best seller. It's still selling like hot cake.
Q. If a piece of clothing could 'speak' the journey it’s been on, from cotton field to finished design, what would your favorite piece say?
Painstakingly Handmade with a lot of emotions. Please take good care of your clothes.
Q. Handcraft implies imperfection, yet people often chase perfection. How do you embrace flaws in your work, and how have those 'imperfections' shaped your most memorable creations?
Life is never perfect, so am I and my designs. My life is imperfectly perfect and I find happiness and satisfaction in it. I have my goods and bad, I am likable and unlikable depending on people's perception and their experience with me.
Nobody decides our worth, its all psychological. Just do your work, be good to your loved ones, take care of them and be happy. Make mistakes and grow. I tell my daughter to cry whenever she needs to and when she makes mistakes, I tell her its okay to and that's how we learn and grow. I tell her that we all are not perfect even though my 2 year old doesn't understand.
Q. You work at the intersection of art, fashion, and activism. If you could design one garment that could change how people think about climate, what would it look like?
Wow. I don't know, I am working on a collection on what you have said. I am excited.
Q. A playful one. If your collection could have a soundtrack, which song or type of music would define it, and why?
Kannan Thumbi Poramo- A Malayalam song. The song reminds me of my childhood. All my collections have a childhood connection.
Bio:
Jebin Johny is the Founder and CEO of award-winning sustainable luxury womenswear label Jebsispar, an unconventional handloom-based brand launched at Lakme Fashion Week in 2015. A TEDx speaker, artist, fashion designer, climate warrior, and British Council Science and Sustainability Alumni Award finalist (2024), he is known for whimsical, emotion-led designs that merge art and fashion through hand-painted, block and digitally printed Kuthampully cotton using eco-friendly dyes.
Rooted in his Kerala upbringing and MA Design from the University of Northampton (UK), Jebin champions “buy less, choose well,” slow fashion, fair wages for weavers, and climate-conscious production, with celebrity clients including Sonam Kapoor, Vidya Balan, Karishma Kapoor, Kalki Koechlin, and Irene Azuela. A former fashion faculty member and a passionate traveller, polyglot, and tree-planter, he uses his work and voice to spark conversations around sustainability, psychology, philosophy, and the future of ethical fashion.
Interviewed by - Divya Darshni
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