Artisans
Our passion lies in preserving and reviving the rich heritage of Indian craftsmanship while infusing it with modern silhouettes and designs. We take pride in our dedication to working hand-in-hand with skilled artisans, cherishing their unique perspectives and celebrating their unrivaled craftsmanship. There is a deep appreciation for the age-old techniques and artistry that have been passed down through generations. We seek out talented artisans from different corners of India, valuing their expertise and understanding of traditional crafts.
Through a harmonious partnership, we seamlessly blend their time-honored techniques with contemporary aesthetics, creating a striking fusion that finds its place on the global design landscape.
Each piece we craft becomes a testament to the artistry of our skilled artisans and a reflection of the cultural diversity that defines India. Our designs showcase the beauty of Indian textiles, intricate embroideries, handwoven fabrics, and artistic embellishments.
Block Printing
The exact origins of Indian block printing remain shrouded in mystery, but historical evidence points to pieces of fabric discovered during 19th-century excavations in Fostat, Cairo, as the earliest examples of Indian printed cloth. The art of block printing was traditionally practiced by a closely-knit village community consisting of chhippas (printers), rangrez (dyers), and dhobis (washers) who worked together harmoniously to create intricately printed fabrics. This invaluable knowledge was passed down through generations, with each new cohort learning the craft from their parents, reaching back at least three centuries.
Within the confines of tiny open studios, hereditary carvers, predominantly fathers and sons, diligently squat as they chisel intricate designs onto teak blocks. Meanwhile, chhippas and rangrez expertly stand before long tables, skillfully dipping blocks into vibrant colors and imprinting the fabric, ensuring a bold and distinct print. They employ a mixture of clay, lime, and fermented wheat to create a special mud, which is sifted with their bare feet through muslin for their wives and perhaps even their children to use in printing patterns onto fabric. The printed fabrics then find their way to indigo vats, managed by yet another historical caste of skilled artisans. In the water baths, dhobis stand tirelessly, waist-deep, performing their essential role in the intricate process. All these activities, each an integral part of the multi-step process, revolve around a vast field where fabrics—vibrant hues of indigo, madder, saffron, and hot pink—bask in the sun, laid out to dry or suspended gracefully from the rooftops of surrounding buildings.
India’s diverse array of indigenous communities, tribes, and external influences have given rise to some of the most awe-inspiring patterns and designs in the world. Despite its magnificence, the industry has faced the threat of extinction for the past two centuries, partly due to its own popularity that once propelled its growth. The advent of technological advancements and the allure of greater income opportunities in India’s urban centers have further added to the challenges faced by this traditional craft, casting a shadow of uncertainty over its future.
Ajrakh
In 2001, a devastating earthquake struck the Kutch region, leaving villages and towns, including Dhamaka, the ancestral home of the khatri printing community, in ruins. Despite the tragedy, the craftspeople displayed remarkable resilience, coming together to rebuild their lives in the newly established town of Ajrakhpura.
Creating the intricate ajrakh pattern demands extraordinary skill and precision, a task undertaken only by the most adept block carvers. Using compasses and rulers, these artisans meticulously craft the designs. Authentic ajrakh blocks are perfectly square and align seamlessly on all four sides. Even a slight error of a few millimeters from one corner to another can lead to a mismatched print, often radiating from a central star. The textiles are treated with natural vegetable and mineral colors, and the fabric undergoes an extensive washing cycle, typically around eight times. This laborious process ensures the brilliant and enduring hues of the final product.
Despite its worldwide acclaim and desirability, the production of ajrakh fabric remains limited to a few specific regions: Kutch in Gujarat, Barmer in Rajasthan, and Sindh in Pakistan.
Handloom
Weaving, one of the oldest and most widely practiced methods of fabric creation, has been honed and refined over thousands of years. Throughout this extensive history, both the process and the equipment utilized in weaving have evolved, becoming more intricate and efficient.
Handloom, on the other hand, refers to various wooden frames used by skilled artisans to weave fabrics, typically from natural fibers like Cotton, Silk, Wool, Jute, and others. It operates as a cottage industry where entire families are involved in the cloth production process. From spinning the yarn to coloring and weaving on the loom, all tasks are often undertaken by the artisans themselves. The fabric produced from these looms is commonly referred to as Handloom.
The origins of Indian Handloom can be traced back to the Indus Valley civilization. Even in ancient times, Indian fabrics were highly sought after and exported to regions like Rome, Egypt, and China.
During British rule, India’s textile industry suffered a setback, as the country became primarily an exporter of raw cotton, with machine-made imported yarn flooding the market. In response to this, Mahatma Gandhi initiated the Swadeshi Movement, advocating for the use of hand spinning and promoting Khadi, a term denoting hand-spun and hand-woven fabric. This movement urged every Indian to spin yarn using Charkhas and wear Khadi. Consequently, it led to the decline of mills in Manchester and marked a significant turning point in the Indian independence movement.
One of the distinctive qualities of handloom fabrics is that no two pieces are alike. Even if two weavers with similar skills weave the same fabric, it will exhibit subtle differences, making each creation truly unique.
Ikat Weaving
Ikat, derived from an Indonesian word, is a remarkable textile-patterning technique characterized by binding yarns to resist dye before weaving, resulting in exquisite fabrics showcasing the tied-yarn dye-resist patterns.
Before the weaving process, either the warp (lengthwise yarn) or the weft (crosswise thread), and sometimes both, are meticulously tied off with fiber knots that prevent them from absorbing the dye. These tied sections are then dyed in specific colors. To facilitate the pattern tying, the threads are arranged on a frame, grouped into bunches to be tied simultaneously, forming knot units that build the overall pattern. For each color, resist ties are either removed or added, creating the intricate design. Once the dyeing is complete, all the resists are opened, and the patterned yarns are woven into the fabric. Although all ikat techniques are complex, involving the tying, dyeing, untying, re-tying, and dyeing again of threads in precise colors and positions, they can be categorized into three distinct types: warp ikat, weft ikat, and double ikat.
Warp ikat is the simplest of the three techniques, focusing on dyeing the warp threads, while the weft threads remain a single, solid color.
Weft ikat is a more sophisticated process, concentrating on dyeing the weft threads, which must then be meticulously woven in the correct order through the single-colored warp.
Double ikat stands as the most prestigious and expensive method, as both the warp and weft threads are tied and dyed, then painstakingly aligned on the loom. This intricate process requires immense patience and is only woven in India, Bali, and Japan.
Ikat is a labor-intensive process that demands exceptional skill, patience, organization, and precision. However, its beauty lies paradoxically in the impossibility of achieving perfect execution, resulting in hazy, slightly blurred edges of the motifs. This distinctive haziness defines the captivating heritage of Ikat textiles.
Eco – Printing
Eco-printing, a type of contact printing, involves bundling plant material inside fabric and subjecting it to steaming or boiling. As a result, the natural dyes from the plants are released onto the fabric, leaving behind beautifully imprinted shapes. Each piece created through this technique is entirely unique, with no two pieces looking alike.
The process of eco-printing can present challenges, particularly because the colors obtained may vary depending on the changing seasons.
In recent years, eco-printing has garnered significant attention for its environmentally friendly and sustainable nature. Embracing this innovative technique allows for the creation of exquisite textiles while reducing the environmental impact, making it an increasingly popular choice for conscious consumers and artisans alike.
Embroidery – Kantha
The term “Kantha” encompasses both the style of the running stitch used and the finished cloth itself. This craft flourished mainly in the regions of east Bengal (present-day Bangladesh) and west Bengal, where resourceful women of all ages creatively repurposed discarded clothing, embracing the softness and worn texture, and adorned them with simple running stitches. The motifs incorporated in Kantha include flowers, vines, mangoes, swastika, and Tree of Life symbols. While the running stitch remains the fundamental element in most designs, the influence of the changing textile market during colonial rule introduced other stitches like cross-stitch, satin stitch, backstitch, and herringbone stitch.
A completed Kantha piece typically displays a slightly wrinkled and wavy appearance due to the multiple lines of running stitches. The original Kantha was double-faced, with the design mirrored on both sides. As time passed, nakshi kantha, characterized by more intricately embroidered patterns, including large throws, emerged.
Traditionally, Kantha was a household tradition in rural Bengal, with the textiles often given as gifts or used within the embroiderer’s family. However, in recent years, the art form has garnered a significant market, gaining appreciation beyond its traditional roots and attracting a wider audience.
Embroidery – Chikankari
During the nineteenth century, chikan work, a craft known for intricate needlework, emerged as material evidence, with its main production centers located in Calcutta (now Kolkata), Dacca (now Dhaka), Peshawar (now in Pakistan), and Madras (now Chennai). Around the same period, it gained popularity in Lucknow under the patronage of nawab Nazir Ud Din Haidar. The skilled artisans of Lucknow embraced and further refined the art.
Traditionally, chikan work employs white thread on white cloth, showcasing a variety of stitches. It is similar to European whitework embroidery, but has recently started incorporating coloured and silk threads. These stitches can be broadly classified into three groups: flat stitches, raised or embossed stitches, and jaali work.
Becoming proficient in chikan work requires significant dedication, as an artisan typically needs to master four to five stitches out of the thirty available. They must undergo at least fifteen years of training before achieving expertise in this technique. The craftsmanship is truly labor-intensive, with a single chikan-work garment often taking ten to fifteen days to complete.
Embroidery – Banjara
Banjara embroidery, an art form hailing from the banjaras (also known as Lambanis or Lambadis), showcases a distinct craft cultivated by a semi-nomadic community living across central, western, and southern India, particularly in Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Karnataka. The embroidery’s hallmark lies in its vibrant colors and geometric stitches, beautifully enhanced with a variety of visually striking materials, including bells, beads, cowries, shishas, metal bits, coins, and tassels. These elements are expertly incorporated into the embroidery patterns, often covering the entire cotton base fabric, which is typically dyed in rich red hues.
Traditionally, this embroidery technique has been exclusively passed down through generations of skilled women artisans. They frequently collaborate and undergo training from experienced members within their community. The embroidery work is skillfully executed freehand, resulting in subtly wavy lines that lend an artistic touch to the designs, as opposed to rigid, straight lines. A set of fourteen classic stitches is commonly used, encompassing running stitches for creating simple patchwork designs on the chatta, along with chain stitches, herringbone stitches, bargello stitches, and smock stitches.
Despite adopting a more settled lifestyle and engaging in agriculture since the nineteenth century, the Banjara community has diligently preserved their traditional craft. They continue to practice this art both for personal use and for commercial purposes. As a result of their dedication, an impressive range of embroidered products has emerged, including bedsheets, cushion covers, wall hangings, and various other goods, catering to both local needs and the wider commercial market.
