Chhail Khalsa is a Textile Designer and the founder of Anuvad Innovation Studio – an initiative to bridge futuristic e-textiles with traditional craft techniques. Anuvad, which means ‘Translation’ in Sanskrit, is her brainchild, with its conception post her graduation from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad.

She is an alumina and ex-research associate of Hochschule Luzern, Switzerland and the National Institute of Design (NID). Through Anuvad, Chhail confluences the competencies of a technical expert and a craftsperson to ideate, innovate and produce e-textiles.

She is the creator of the ‘Craft Collaboration Toolkit’ – an ingenious toolkit that helps amalgamate the expertise of design researchers, designers, and craftspeople to enable effective collaboration. Through this project, she created a novel woven circuit that currently has a patent pending.

Chhail has also received awards and grants from various institutions, including Förderpreis Master Design (awarded by Luzern Design and Hochschule Luzern), IKEA Foundation Switzerland, Creative Hub Switzerland and Pro Helvetia, among others.

Her work has been showcased on multiple international platforms, including the Dutch Design Week, Vienna Design Week, WearIt Berlin and others. Her work has been covered by the Hochparterre, Luzerner Zeitung, Die Presse, Pool Magazine and others. Chhail’s vision is for her work to decolonize, humanize e-textiles and support the evolution of traditional crafts.