Laura Halliwell was brought up in rural England. She grew up around a mother who studied textile design and reupholstered antique furniture and a father who worked as an agriculturalist. Halliwell spent ten years in London doing brand design, but after an inspiring backpacking trip through India and a tarot card reading she realised her true calling: designing with natural textiles. Today, she is the founder of Fool Dost, a Goa-based apparel brand that uses traditional Indian textile to create modern silhouettes. From design to manufacturing, she has learnt everything on the job.

Fool Dost works with artisan communities from Gujarat, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh, using indigenous traditional weaves and playing off of the artisanal aesthetic to create minimalist designs with textured, crisp and breathable fabrics. The idea is to create style-led pieces that appeal to the same customer who’s buying from bigger fashion brands with questionable policies and working conditions. With Fool Dost, Halliwell creates pieces that have a similar yet distinctive stylistic appeal but with more authentic social impact and practices that lead to lesser environmental damage.