Mumbai cabbies to get a style check

While commuting daily in the city via taxis most of us are oblivious to our surroundings. However, Sanket Avlani, an art director for a leading advertising agency plans to open our eyes to taxi seat designs. He has started an online community — Taxi Fabric — that aims to not only make people aware of the various taxi fabrics that we see on a regular basis, but also desires to give the seats a makeover. Like many Mumbaikars, Sanket travels by cab daily to work
and back, and that’s where it all started. “At the moment, it’s in a nascent stage.

I started the community after being prompted by friends to see if we could redesign taxi seat covers. Along with five to six other designers (from the advertising field), we’re finishing the first set of designs, which will be converted into sample prints and then presented in the form of a promo film,” he explains.

The Facebook and Tumblr pages of the community feature at least 30 photographs of various taxi seat designs, some clicked by Sanket and others that people sent in after hearing about the blog. “People have slowly started noticing the artwork in their cabs. Going ahead, I would like to make this into a community that churns out designs for taxis on a regular basis.

In fact, my dream would be to get leading fashion designers to contribute their ideas too,” he says, adding that there are certain guidelines for those interested in developing designs for Mumbai cabs. They have to consist of an Indian motif or inspiration, the style should be the designer’s own but at the same time modern and unique. While it’s only been a few months, Sanket has already received inquiries from as far as London.

Find out more: https://www.facebook.com/TaxiFabric