Devi Vallabhaneni
Devi Vallabhaneni is an Indian artist and designer working out of Paris, Los Angeles, and Columbus. Devi creates unique bespoke designs in handmade Haute Couture sequins and Japanese pearls. Each creation is infused with texture, color and volume, in the form of flowerings and parterres, mini gardens, and sculpture-tableaux. Pulling inspiration from the Sari, Horticulture, and mathematics, every abstract, handmade piece is complex and unique.
Hubert de Givenchy loved gardens as much as Haute Couture. Gabrielle Chanel started with camellias. Dior loved roses as much as he loved dressing women. Flowers and fashion are at the heart of any couturier, and Devi uses both as inspiration for her intricate 3D hand-sculptured embroideries using the finest materials sourced from France and Japan.
Devi’s artworks are exhibited in galleries and showrooms in Paris and Los Angeles and in private collections around the world. In addition to creating her own collections, Devi works with interior designers and luxury houses on bespoke projects and commissions.
AVAILABLE WORK:
Yellow Dahlias; 7x9 (16x18 framed), ~7,500 sequins. $7,000
Abstract Couture: A Rare Gem; 8x12 (14x18.5 framed), ~4,500 sequins. $6,000
Full Biography
Devi Vallabhaneni, born in Southern India, moved at the age of three to the shores of Lake Michigan where she developed a gift for mathematics. After graduating Harvard Business School, Devi’s mathematical skills allowed her to conceptualize complex embroidery creations. “I never set out to be an artist,” Devi often says. Her path to art creation and design was born of her life experience and influences, resulting in a constant experiment in creativity and personal growth.
As a child and young teenager, Devi traveled every summer back to Hyderabad, India, to spend time with her grandparents. In their Indo-European mansion, she dreamed of princesses in saris, played hide and seek in the garden’s fragrant bushes, and practiced her budding embroidery skills with local artisans. Later, needlepoint became synonymous with peace and quiet, a respite from the pressure of a business career.
In 2011, she created her first embroidery pieces, experimenting with sequins and beads. As her enthusiasm grew, she decided to take courses in fashion design in Chicago, followed by textile classes at the famed Central Saint Martins, London. In 2016, she studied the craft of ‘crochet de Lunéville’ at Hand & Lock, winning first place at the annual embroidery competition. Transatlantic consecration of her talents came in 2018 when Neiman Marcus Beverly Hills commissioned three panels.
Early in her career, when Devi started traveling around the world, she discovered Paris where she fell in love with French artistry and style. She returned often, spending many a birthday on the Rive Gauche where she further immersed herself in France’s heritage and lifestyle. Many years later, she devoted a private study trip to visiting such legendary savoir-faire maisons as Lesage or Legeron.
It was also in Paris that she found the first gallery to exhibit her works in 2017, at Galerie Bettina on the rue Bonaparte, close to the Ecole des Beaux Arts. In 2019, she joined Mayaro, a gallery and showroom dedicated to living heritage and craftsmanship. In 2021, she consolidated her network with a second gallery in Paris : Odile Texier on the Palais Royal, as well as a renowned textile showroom in Los Angeles.
Devi’s works are featured in private collections in Paris, London, Florence, Chicago, Los Angeles, Houston, Washington DC and Doha.