CMF Design serves as the visual foundation of products that we use in our daily life such as automotives, home appliances, apparel and many more!
Sanchari Mahapatra, our next pathbreaker, Materials Designer at Nike (Oregon, United States), talks to Shyam Krishnamurthy from The Interview Portal about her journey and work as a Textile and Color & Trim Designer from handicrafts & handlooms to the automotive industry with global brands, in India and the U.S before moving into footwear design.
For students, CMF design in today’s world is all about pushing the boundaries of innovation in materials, color design, and research.
Sanchari, can you talk about your growing up years?
I grew up in Rourkela, Orissa, and completed high school with a focus on science. My parents always encouraged me to participate in co-curricular activities and pursue my hobbies. I often took part in extracurricular activities after school, such as dance, singing, debate, sports, and photography, among others, frequently earning honors that eventually led to me becoming the school captain. Due to my passion, I was trained in Kathak dance, drawing, and painting, completing degrees in each discipline. Coming from a sports-oriented family, I also trained in short-distance running and won several awards in athletics. I was often inspired by my mother’s appreciation for nature’s beauty in the most mundane places. Sharing that same fascination, I developed a deep interest in colors, materials, and creating things out of discarded or found objects.
Like many children, my career aspirations evolved as I grew up. At one point, I wanted to become a detective, inspired by the character Dana Scully, played by Gillian Anderson, in the TV show The X-Files. I admired the way she solved mysteries and was drawn to her calm yet strong and confident demeanor. To me, she embodied a blend of scientific thinking and creative problem-solving, which I believe deepened my childhood interest in looking for clues to solve mysteries. During that time, I would often draw and design my own clothes with the help of our local tailor, fondly known as Masterjee. I was very inspired by my mother’s humble saree collection, and it was through this that my curiosity about colors, materials, and textiles began to grow.
One of my favorite times of the year was Durga Puja, when I would search for unique textiles and have my designs stitched by Masterjee, who took my sketches seriously and brought them to life. As a child, I was thrilled to have the freedom to design my own clothes. I believe this contributed to my comfort with ambiguity and my ability to find solutions—skills I now use daily as a design professional, identifying myself as a Cultural Detective.
What did you do for graduation/ post-graduation?
I completed my Bachelor’s degree in Textile Design from the National Institute of Design (NID) in Ahmedabad, India. Later, I joined the inaugural Master’s program in Color & Materials Design at the College for Creative Studies (CCS) in Detroit, U.S., where I graduated with the Excellence Award—an honor given to one graduating student in each Master of Fine Arts program. Afterward, I pursued a second Master’s degree in Business Administration in San Diego, graduating with honors in Strategy.
What were some of the key influences that led you to such an offbeat, unconventional and rare career in CMF/Textile Design?
My family played a key role in helping me realize that there was a field of study called design where my natural talents could find a better fit. Along with the dedicated guidance of Mrs. Sarah Kurian during high school, I was able to focus my energy on studying design and preparing for competitive exams. Growing up, I was deeply influenced by the remarkable work of Swami Vivekananda. His travels and contributions around the world left a lasting impression on me and continue to inspire both my thinking and my work. My education at NID laid the foundation for my understanding of design. The curriculum encouraged experimentation and allowed for early failure, fostering a mindset of growth. The teachers instilled independence in decision-making and helped us see that design is not a separate entity but an integral part of our daily lives.
How did you plan the steps to get into the career you wanted? Or how did you make a transition to a new career? Tell us about your career path.
As a Textile Design graduate, one can pursue various avenues such as home furnishings, accessories, the handloom and handicraft sector, ready-to-wear fashion, haute couture, research, or higher education. Based on my final thesis project, I wanted to start in a space where I could engage directly with hands-on material explorations. Thus, my professional journey began with textile and fashion design firms, where I worked on designing textiles for home furnishings, accessories, ready-to-wear garments, and haute couture.
Through my work with weavers, dyers, and embroiderers in these firms, my curiosity about people and culture grew, leading me to the handloom and handicraft sector, both textiles and non-textiles. As an independent lead designer working on the design development projects with various Handloom & Handicraft organizations, I spent five years working across various Indian states with over 20 different craft-based communities, whose primary livelihood was their handmade crafts. My focus was to expand the market for these communities, increasing their source of income. These projects were rigorous, lasting from six months to a year, and I lived and worked in villages across India, helping artisans re-contextualize their craft.
During my grassroots work, my mentor and dear friend Immanuel Suresh encouraged me to teach a course on color and textiles at a design school. That rewarding experience inspired me to stay connected with the academic world, sometimes as a teacher and other times as a critic, to share my learnings and engage with young minds while continuing my village-based work.
My curiosity about materials and colors eventually led me to explore the role of textile design in the automotive sector. For the next five years, I worked as a Color & Trim (or Color, Material, Finish) designer in the automotive industry, both in India and the U.S. I was responsible for designing colors and materials for interior and exterior components like seats, trims, and exterior body colors. This experience required me to apply my research and design skills from grassroots work, but through a different lens. Understanding consumer mindsets, benchmarking, and creating new strategies with cross-functional teams enabled me to design innovative colors and materials for automotive use. I worked on both production and concept cars, as well as new mobility solutions like autonomous vehicles. The automotive space offered a blend of analytical and creative thinking, which I greatly enjoyed.
My interest in innovation and material design eventually brought me to the sportswear industry, where I currently work as a Material Designer. Across these diverse fields, I have continued to refine my skills in design, particularly in color, materials, textiles, and research. While the pace and scale of products (ranging from cushions to sarees to bamboo baskets to cars to shoes) may differ, the core design process remains the same. It’s a joy to approach challenges with a childlike curiosity and collaborate with teams to iterate on multiple solutions. I often refer to my role as that of a Cultural Detective—connecting seemingly unrelated topics, uncovering user needs and desires, and working with experts across functions to piece the puzzle together.
How did you get your first break?
There have been many firsts throughout my journey. After graduating and working in textile and fashion design firms for two years, I began my work in the Handloom & Handicraft sector in a small tribal village in Malkangiri, Orissa. There, I collaborated with a community of 50 bamboo artisans whose primary livelihood was creating bamboo and cane crafts. Their products, such as bamboo baskets for prayers and fishing tools, were sold in local and regional markets known as Haats, which limited their market reach. As a part of Handloom & Handicraft design development projects, I was engaged as a designer to diversify their product range and expand their market potential. Together with the bamboo masters and artisans, we designed a collection of contemporary products, utilizing traditional techniques like coiling, to honor their craftsmanship in a modern context. These products were later showcased at a handicraft fair, and the community was able to establish new market connections that ensured a steady demand for their bamboo and cane crafts.
Following this, I worked in several villages across Orissa, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, and Gujarat, engaging with both textile and non-textile crafts. These experiences were eye-opening, revealing the significant role design can play in improving the economic conditions of craft communities. They were real-life projects that demonstrated how fundamental design elements—such as color, composition, balance, rhythm, and proportion—when applied with a deep understanding of materials, can transform the perception of everyday objects and, in turn, alter both physical and emotional experiences.
I consider my first grassroots experience as the foundation of my design journey. It allowed me to engage with real-world situations, where I learned to lead and grow alongside the community, navigating both successes and failures. In addition to enhancing my design skills, these experiences taught me essential soft skills like effective communication, teamwork, crisis management, and the ability to bring clarity in ambiguous situations. These lessons continue to guide me when making critical design decisions, factoring in considerations such as cost, performance, craftsmanship, and aesthetics.
What were some of the challenges you faced? How did you address them?
Working at the grassroots level prepared me to embrace ambiguity and constraints related to design, budget, manpower, and resources. Most importantly, it made me sensitive to people’s circumstances and varying working styles. I developed a keen sense of observation and an ability to recognize individual strengths, which helped me lead and build effective teams during these projects. I’ve been fortunate to work with incredible teams that helped navigate and overcome challenges.
One memorable experience took place in a beautiful village in Imphal, Manipur. I was leading a team of 50 women weavers to create a collection of sixty handwoven textiles for a handloom exhibition, with a tight deadline of fifteen days. My goal was not only to complete the project but also to conduct the design training in a way that would empower the women to continue problem-solving creatively after the training ended. I wanted them to feel engaged and motivated, capable of introducing innovation into their craft.
The team consisted of elderly women, young mothers, and single young women at various skill levels of handloom weaving. Many of them were the primary earners for their families and also responsible for household chores, which limited the hours they could dedicate to weaving. Unlike a corporate setting, the work hours were flexible and varied. Some were expert weavers, while others were beginners. Weaving was deeply integrated into their lives, and most used fly shuttle looms, some in their homes and others at a community center where I conducted the training. However, some looms were non-functional, and the village only received a few hours of electricity each day, limiting our working hours, especially as the center had only natural light. With limited yarns, colors, tools, and just fifteen days to create sixty products, we were racing against time.
Despite these challenges, we were all excited about the opportunity to showcase the women’s talents, and I knew that the first step was to establish a shared goal. Over the first two days, we reviewed their existing work, imagining ourselves as customers evaluating their designs. This exercise sparked a group discussion about what worked and what didn’t in their current products. The collaborative feedback helped us curate motifs, colors, and materials, creating a toolbox of design elements for the new collection. I organized the women into smaller groups, pairing beginners with expert weavers who acted as mentors. This maximized involvement, accommodated their individual schedules, and distributed the workload more effectively.
The elderly weavers educated us about the symbolic meanings of their woven designs, while the younger women contributed insights from their exposure to contemporary styles. Together, we created design concepts that honored their traditional heritage while incorporating color schemes and compositions that resonated with modern aesthetics. At the time, the village weavers had begun using acrylic yarn, which had gradually replaced natural fibers in most of their products. By involving the senior weavers in the program, I was able to reintroduce natural fibers like cotton, silk, and wool, as the years of working with synthetic yarns had dulled the delicate touch needed for handling natural fibers. Given that natural fibers were more expensive, we strategically diversified their product line by creating smaller items, such as scarves instead of shawls, cushion covers, and kitchen napkins, thus broadening their market reach. As we relied on candlelight to work in the evenings, we dedicated daylight hours to tasks like color selection and loom setting. Our choice of yarn count and strategic use of weaves allowed us to complete products more quickly. Despite the constraints, the women’s local knowledge helped us strategize effectively, resulting in a collection that was deeply rooted in their heritage but relevant to contemporary users.
Three years later, when I visited the village again, I was pleasantly surprised to hear that the designs we created were still being produced in new colorways. Even more rewarding was learning that the women continued to evolve their designs, building upon the foundation we had laid together.
Where do you work now? What problems do you solve?
I currently work as a Material Designer for footwear at Nike, a sportswear company. My role involves collaborating with cross-functional teams, including marketing, design (footwear, color, and material), product management, engineers, factory partners, and external suppliers. Together, we strive to develop the best materials for footwear, ensuring athletes can perform at their peak while also considering environmental impact.
What skills are needed in your role? How did you acquire the skills?
A deep understanding of materials, colors, scale, proportion, and balance is essential. These skills are fundamental in design education or can be gained through industry experience in design-related roles. A significant part of my work involves partnering with internal teams and external manufacturers and suppliers to ensure the accuracy of design intent and material execution. Familiarity with software tools like Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign is also beneficial.
What’s a typical day like?
On a typical day, I review marketing briefs, identify athletes’ key needs, conduct trend research, and create material directions and palettes. I assess material performance, work with cross-functional teams to ensure alignment with the overall vision and collaborate with suppliers to create new materials. Early mockup samples are crucial for evaluating the form, materials, and how they interact.
I truly enjoy working in this field and value the opportunity to push boundaries for scalable material innovation.
How does your work benefit society?
Whether working on grassroots craft projects, textiles for home, apparel, automotive, CMF, or footwear, every product I’ve helped create has been the result of teamwork. I approach each project with the excitement of identifying a problem and finding a solution for the user—much like a detective. These solutions range from enabling craft communities to modernize age-old techniques and expand their markets, to designing innovative colors and materials for vehicles that enhance the driving or ride-sharing experience or providing performance benefits through footwear.
For example, while working at an automotive seating supplier, I led the design of a cost-effective, performance-driven textile seating solution for one of the leading truck brands. Collaborating closely with cross-functional experts from engineering, sales, automotive design, and suppliers, we created a unique textile for seats and wall coverings. This design was awarded the contract for mass production, offering long-distance truck drivers’ comfort, durability, and low-maintenance elegance for years to come.
Tell us an example of a specific memorable work you did that is very close to you!
One specific project that stands out is my final-year Master’s thesis at CCS, Detroit. Growing up in India, I often heard about the concepts of reincarnation and rebirth. As a child, I was naturally drawn to finding new purposes for discarded materials and giving them new life. In 2015, during my thesis, I channeled my passion for discovering the afterlife of materials and finding meaningful uses for them. My goal was to explore whether what we discard or no longer love in one industry could become a resource for another context or industry. As I delved deeper, I realized that my project was focused on circular sustainability.
I experimented with discarded leather remnants from the Detroit automotive leather industry and created a family of materials that could be applied in other industries, specifically in sports equipment. The project, titled “All Play,” resulted in a range of material solutions with various characteristics and affordances. These materials could be used to create playful balls, bats, floor tiles, footwear soles, and more. As part of the inaugural class of the program, we had very limited resources, so my dormitory became a storehouse for discarded materials—almost like a science lab. I was growing things, baking, cutting, cooking, and drying—all in an effort to invent something new. I immensely enjoyed that process, where the lines between science and art began to blur. I was surprised to see that the new materials bounced! I was excited to develop them as cricket balls and leaned into science to understand what made the material bounce. And tested the balls with a young cricket player in Detroit which helped me to improvise. Ultimately, I designed and developed a range of playful balls made from different materials such as leather, sawdust, and even paper, designed to be used as cricket balls for children.
Your advice to students based on your experience?
Design offers a space where imagination can inspire and shape the future. The world of design encompasses various specialties, including film, photography, animation, graphics, UX/UI, illustration, textiles, fashion, furniture, ceramics, and product design, among others. Today, many resources are available to help aspiring designers. Visiting a design college in person can be incredibly beneficial, and online research can further enhance understanding. Engaging with artists and design professionals can also provide valuable insights into this vibrant field.
Sketching and storytelling are important tools for communicating ideas, and these skills can be learned. I believe that a creative person with empathy can offer deeper insights into problem-solving. In day-to-day design practice, one often wears many hats, and it takes a team to bring a shared vision to life. The most successful design examples I admire are those created with care. Lastly, for a curious mind, the world is truly an oyster.
Future Plans?
I aim to continue pushing the boundaries of innovation in materials, color design, and research, while also engaging with design academia to help young designers understand the scope and impact of design.