How does the slogan ‘Creativity empowers us together’ resonate with you?

In a world that currently echoes centuries of oppression across various classes and demographics, ‘Creativity empowers us together’, to me, seems like an incredibly significant message. As we try to navigate massive change in the world, simple, honest acts of creativity are building newer communities and helping us formulate new codes as a global society. 

Gaurav Jagtiani

Can creativity help shape a world where everyone feels included and valued, regardless of background or identity?

The most powerful aspect of empowerment through creativity is that as we go forward, creative thought and processes in general will give individuals agency to function in spaces that are built to foster equality and inclusion. To me, creativity is the new social capital and as we move away from older systems that were based on watertight divisions, this new way of thinking and functioning ensure real progress. 

Gaurav Jagtiani

How do you see your creative work contributing to political and social change?

As a creative entrepreneur myself, with my clothing brand ‘Linetribe’, I have been through the struggle of balancing commerce and emotion, whilst nurturing my own small community of creators. Over time I have come to believe that coexistence and mindful business are inherent for the future. 

At our workplace we ensure secure, non-hierarchical functioning which is harder to do put into place in the Indian context. Our studio is transparent and each member of the team has access to help and assistance whenever they need it. Functioning in a fragmented society, based on deep social divides, putting clear directives towards equality and inclusion are challenging. As a queer person myself, I’m very aware of how these unspoken codes work and through the medium of creative entrepreneurship I’m trying to craft an effective, efficient and safe space for my team.

From the start, the Linetribe aesthetic has been one of gender neutral clothing and is tied deeply to identity and individual expression. In perpetuating and normalising voices out of the mainstream, in a small but important way, we are establishing that a successful business can be built whilst protecting and nurturing the workforce. There are of course times where one feels overwhelmed and disappointed especially in the volatile world of today, but I also truly feel that its times such as this that one can hope to make real impact and keep chiselling away towards a better future.

This has been the most amazing realization eventually, that even through a medium considered largely superficial, with the right mind-set you can build something truly special and be a part of larger social shift!