THREE GENERATIONS: THEN & NOW

They say you should never do business with family. But that’s all we’ve ever known. A complete lack of boundaries (we’re learning, slowly), getting into one another’s business (literally), never minding our own business (quite literally) and a fierce, loving loyalty that can only come from spending decades immersed together.

Since our childhood days, our parents have instilled in us the importance of family, tradition, simplicity, work ethic and mischief. They were strict in many ways and in other ways, surprisingly relaxed. Our memories are filled with a wonderfully blended concoction of macaroni and cheese and tikki puri (with ketchup), running free on the beach, jamvanus (family dinners), Indian weddings (it felt like there was one event or another every weekend!) and of course, all your typical American activities like Tennis and game night. Our games might have been slightly different, but the purpose was the same.

This little marketplace, one stop-shop, call it what you will, is a long time in the making. Everytime I step out in an Indian anything (food, clothing, jewelry), I’m immediately bombarded with drooling oooo’s and ahhh’s asking me where I got it and how they could get it. 

I would make some joke about a plane ticket to India and laugh good naturedly, secretly loving the approval from my American friends. They would ask me what a design meant, what inspired it, what certain words meant and I would stand there at a loss. While I was a disciplined student in things like American History, English and SAT Prep, I found I was disturbingly uneducated when it came to my own culture!

TODAY

Now, as a mother, I can’t bear the fact that I can’t even pass on my parent’s culture to my daughter in a real, authentic way. Without effort, she would receive a watered down, filtered version from a first-generation Indian American that was pretty skewed. We’re not going to do that.

In creating this space, it is my intention to capture all the beauty, lessons, inspiration of India to share with not only my daughter, but also myself who never truly took the time to learn and understand and to anyone else who is drawn to our gullies, nooks and crannies. 

The collection you see here today is handpicked, carefully curated and has the stamp of my mother’s approval (which is saying something!). 

This is a lifelong commitment to learn India, inspire women all over the world to see India as we do, create a new line of Indian x English designs, share the essence of India and give back to the women of India to create a flowing circle which never ends. We are learning. We are creating. We are styling. We are designing. 

This is the next chapter.  

MADE IN INDIA

 

This is more than a label. It is an aspiration. “Made in India.” It means something. It is a lifelong mission, an honor to wear a piece made in the gorgeously, one-of-a-kind land known as India. We are not 100% Made in India. We work with designers, small business owners, suppliers and the like from all over the world. Because guess what? India has influenced people all over the world to create gorgeous pieces that align with our aesthetic and we support them. 

What do you think when you hear Made in India? Where does your mind take you? Mine takes me right back to the gully-way in the fashion district of Surat, Gujurat India. Narrow, adventurous little alley-ways with endless fabrics and possibilities beckoning me, gorgeous, regal prints and patterns for my eyes to feast on. I am enlivened with a zest of life, a zing of spice, a touch of wildness as I slip into a Made in India piece and arrange my display to highlight the item bringing me the greatest joy in that moment. 

This space is a carefully curated art collection of India inspired pieces.

We strive to do better business with India and all of our comrades in business each and every day. This means empowering girls and women of India by creating jobs in our industries. We aspire to train craft artisans and provide the facilities and structure to learn crafts like block printing, weaving, pottery and other things native to India. We must pass these down. Or … I don’t even want to think about it. Will these skills die-away to machine driven factories? I hope not. 

We believe giving a dollar wins the day, but teaching a girl the way to make a dollar wins the game. Give a woman a dollar, give her a moment. Teach a woman to earn a dollar, give her the world. 

Okay, enough chit chaat-ing! Let’s browse the bazaar! Got your bag? 

Xx