We are a brand born during the pandemic year. An year when times seemed so uncertain and the outcomes unpredictable. However, one thing was very clear - the voice in my head , that this is the journey I want to embark on - a journey of self discovery , learning and making a small yet sustainable difference to the weavers and artisans of India.
I am Swetha, a hard-core techie who worked in the technology space for 17+ years spanning across legacy technologies, domains and over the last decade focused on Analytics and AI led digital transformation. I am one of those who wore sarees during my B-school days @ Indian School Of Business and was very comfortable draping my cottons during client presentations at work. It just felt right and I struggled to understand why our own sarees had become such a rarity in our own daily spaces and wardrobes! I am delighted that I could finally turn my passion for handwoven textiles into a full-time engagement as an entrepreneur, and hence came alive "The Indian Motif” in Aug 2020.
The vision of "The Indian Motif '' is to bring in sustained demand/income for handloom weavers and textile handicraft artisans thereby encouraging and rewarding for them to continue their craft. Our mission is to create an exquisite and accessible collection of sarees and clothing, that represents the best of Indian textile handcrafts and make it available to craft connoisseurs globally.
We source our products ethically from 40+ handweaving and textile handicraft artisan clusters across India , including 20+ GI tagged textile crafts. All products in our collection are purely handwoven or hand crafted and made from pure fabrics only - i.e. either pure cotton, silk, linen or silk cotton fabric. No poly-based fibres or commoditized machine-made products are a part of our collection.
Our curated collection includes a beautiful collection of sarees (pure cotton, pure silk and pure silk cotton, linens), a collection of handcrafted stoles and dupattas for women and handcrafted blouses. We do have our signature collection, in which we try a fusion of multiple crafts to create an exquisite experiential product for the customer. In addition to the above, we are passionate about supporting the textile crafts that are being forgotten and lost - and consciously work with artisans to make such weaves a part of our collection. For instance - kaikattu sungudi, Udupi, kunbi sarees etc. Apart from sarees, we also have a small clothing collection for men and kids made of pure handcrafted fabrics.
While we started as a pure online brand due to the pandemic, we expanded to having our first experience store in Bengaluru in June 2022. The store is a space where one can experience, understand and appreciate the diversity and stories of Indian handcrafted textiles.
In the last 3+ years of operations, our focus has been on creating awareness about our native handcrafted textiles rather than selling them as a commodity. We think of ourselves as a bridge between the magicians of the loom and the connoisseurs of loom-craft!
Hope you find our space enjoyable and exciting !
You could write to us at swetha@theindianmotif.com or theindianmotif@gmail.com with your thoughts and feedback.
Love Always,
Swetha
Our Contact Address:
Ragi To Raga,
Shankaraa Foundation,
Doddakalasandra, Kanakapura Road
Bengaluru - 560062
+918296240103