Five Indian craft brands bringing handloom and artisan-made products to a global audience
From Gaatha and Balwaar to Porgai, Ura Maku and Metaphor Racha, these enterprises are using digital platforms, design and artisan-led models to revive traditional crafts and create sustainable markets for makers
Gaatha.
From digital marketplaces to artisan-run collectives, these new-age enterprises are reaching a wider audience while ensuring makers remain at the centre of the story.
GAATHA
Gaatha has been working in the craft sector for over 15 years, actively supporting Indian artisans by providing a unique online platform for their products and voices. Co-founders Shivani Dhar and Sumiran Pandya’s passion for handicrafts took root during our academic journey at Ahmedabad’s National Institute of Design (NID). It started as a blog in 2009 documenting crafts and heritage, which were fading away. Then, they launched an online platform in 2013, displaying not only handcrafted products but also the makers behind them. In 2019, they began Gaatha Research and Archive Portal — a comprehensive digital documentation of Indian handicrafts and handlooms. It’s now grown to a community of over 2,000 artisans, who directly connect with a global audience.
Balwaar
BALWAAR
Named after the village, Balwar Kalan in Sangrur district of Punjab, Kiran R Singh started Balwaar Rural India. Kiran’s husband was in the Navy, and as a part of the Naval Wives Welfare Association, she taught women to crochet, stitch and embroider. She moved back to her husband’s ancestral village in 1999, and in 2004 she continued her teaching endeavour with the women of the village. Today, her brand celebrates the heritage of Punjab through handwoven textiles like khes, durries, charpois and embroidered pieces, all crafted by women. The khes was traditionally woven in Punjabi kumbal, a hand-thrown shuttle known as a pit loom. But to make the production easier, Kiran introduced the fly shuttle loom, which makes the process faster due to a wider weave. Their durries are woven on fixed-frame looms called atta. Balwaar designs its durries using Punjab’s iconography, most of them inspired by the weavers’ surroundings.
Porgai Textile Art
PORGAI
Porgai Artisans Association was started by Neela and Gammi, natives of Tamil Nadu’s Sittilingi village, almost 21 years ago when they decided to bring back Lambadi embroidery into their tribal community. Porgai translates to ‘pride’ in the Lambadi dialect. But the association came into being through Dr Lalitha Regi. Lambadi embroidery originates from the nomadic Banjara/ Lambani tribe, who were travelling traders and transporters. Their embroidery reflects their cultural journeys, using vibrant threads, mirrors, coins and shells. During the 19th century, Lambani communities settled in southern India, where their embroidery evolved into a distinctive folk tradition known for bold colours and dense patterns. Porgai, an artisan-owned and artisan-run organisation, comprises over 70 members, all local women from the Lambadi community. They make a variety of items including saris, blouses, kurtas, set mundu, shirts and conceptualised textile works.
Ura Maku
URA MAKU
In Assamese, Ura means to fly and Maku is the shuttle in weaving. Hailing from the upper valleys of Assam, Manjushree Saikia grew up with Assam Textiles and folk cultures, translated into love for fashion. She graduated as a Textile designer from NIFT in 2016 and proceeded to start her clothing line two years later. Having launched nine collections till now, her designs are timeless and classic. After her graduation, when she started travelling to craft clusters across India, she realised the responsibility a designer holds towards Indian artisans and society. Her apparel is a product of that realisation; hence, using fabrics that are handwoven by artisans. Reviving local crafts from northeast India and some parts of central and western India, she now specialises in tailored suits and indigo dyes.
Metaphorracha Kowdhis
METAPHOR RACHA
Ravi Kiran, a B.Sc (electronics) graduate, always had an inkling to work with textiles. He worked in a few garment factories for four years and realised his true calling was more towards handcrafted textiles and made-ups. In 2011, he formed Metaphor Racha to work with local and rural craftspersons, be it spinners, weavers, dyers, printers and tailors, and bring the deserving to the forefront, while providing them a global platform. Metaphor Racha is a dedicated Khadi brand authentic to Karnataka. From khadi tops, trousers and dressed for women to shirts for men and home essentials such as hand-quilted bedspreads, they go by the motto: rural hands, global spirit. Kiran’s wife, Brinda, handles the financial aspects, while he focuses on connecting with the weavers, making the designs, and marketing of the products.
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