Departures
Go East Young Man

John Robshaw started out as a painter (and an assistant to Julian Schnabel). That sensibility, along with a devotion to South Asian design, is the gist of his approach to fabric. His interest in textiles began when he studied wood-block printing in China after graduating from Pratt Institute; he now spends half the year in India, Indonesia, and Thailand, learning artisanal methods of indigo dying and block printing. The results are a unique mix: Indian silks with elaborate embroidery and studded with antique French beads; Indonesian batiks and Thai ikats, with traditional designs made bolder. The mark of Robshaw's success? He has designed home collection prints for Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, and Giorgio Armani.