WHO: Growing up in Minnesota, Sheena Sood always had a longing to feel connected to different cultures. “It took me a while to reconcile my place in the world, being brown in the US and being American in India,” she says.
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But, her heritage became an inspiration for her as she went on to study Comparative Literature and Visual Art at Brown University, pursued textile design at Rhode Island School of Design and travelled to places as far and wide as Rajasthan and Brazil. “You can see the influences of my culture along with places that have touched my life, like South America. This is why my work resonates most with people who are multicultural; we are all hybrids of some sort, quite literally,” she muses.
WHAT: Sood’s label abacaxi (pronounced uh-bah-ka-shee), named after the Portuguese word for pineapple, employs vivid colours, myriad textiles and tropical prints: think smocked shorts in candy colours, tie-dye dresses, leggings that look like churidars, crochet tops and tasseled accessories made out of seashells.
“I’m inspired by the ways my mom brought hints of our Indian culture into her style by embellishing our everyday outfits—wearing Indian jewellery or parandas with her western outfits,” she says.
NEXT UP: As far as the future is concerned, she’s excited to be a part an industry that is, “Shifting away from mass production and tons of waste to a new model that is conscious about the urgency of the global climate.”
