'Deidaa’ offers a range of garments, bags, shawls and scarves. 'We research continuously and travel extensively to create ranges that blend fashion forecasts with artisan crafts. Accent is on natural fabrics, handcrafting and traditional techniques', says Deidaa designer Samita.

An alumnus of National Institute of Fashion Technology, New Delhi, India, Samita has a Masters degree in Fashion with honours from Auckland University of Technology. For her Masters research project, Samita worked closely with Tongan Tapa cloth painters. In a career spanning over almost two decades, Samita has worked closely with buying and fashion houses in the United States of America, Europe, Australasia and the Middle East. She has dressed models, beauty queens and film stars including Sherin Peace, Mrs World, 1st runner up 2005 and Pooja Chitgopekar, Miss Earth Air 2007. Covered widely by print and visual media, Samita has appeared on the Indian national television network and Television New Zealand. She has written fashion columns in India and New Zealand. A finalist at the Style Pasifika Fashion Awards in Auckland for two successive years, Samita is currently the Coordinator of Major Studies  (Fashion), Australian Academy of Design, Port Melbourne. She divides her time between Asia, New Zealand and Australia. 

Daughter Shilpi says ‘I have practically grown up with fashion’. An erstwhile student of Bachelors in Fashion, Shilpi coined the name ‘Deidaa’, an endearment she originally used for her grandmother ‘who started it all’.

With clients in Sydney, Melbourne, Dublin, Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Waikato, Hawkes Bay and Gisborne, Samita and Shilpi work for leading designers and sell through select stores.

Samita and Shilpi work with tribal communities in Eastern India, one of the poorer regions of the country, to produce ‘Deidaa Eco’ – a range of scarves and ties made out of wild silk. Deidaa is about preserving tradition and retaining self respect. Mass production robs artisans of creative satisfaction. Deidaa contributes to artisans' material and emotional wellness by creating a demand for artisan crafts.

' I do not negate the contribution of technology to fashion, but what human hands can achieve has never ceased to surprise me. I channelise the artisans' creativity into fashionable apparel and accessories. I work from within and not from above. I learn from the artisans as much as they learn from me. As a fashion designer, I strive to be the bridge between artisan crafts and contemporary fashion,' says Samita