Bohemian elements have made their presence felt in the recent years thanks to its cool and breezy aesthetic. One of the signature trademarks of bohemian décor is macrame. Macrame is a technique or method of crafting a textile that uses several knots to form the basic shape and function of the piece. Each knot can be created with your hands, and there are no other tools required other than a mounting stand to keep the item in place while you work. 

Giving Macrame a Modern Twist

Capitalizing on this recent trend, Shashirekha decided to incorporate these bohemian elements in the home décor segment. 

In 2017 after spending 17 years in Telecom sector Shashirekha decided to quit her successful Corporate career  and give her creativity a physical outlet by launching Crafts & Drapes. It was also the time when her little one needed her the most. After exploring a number of varied crafts, she chanced upon the art of macramé and needless to say, she was hooked. 

“As a fiber artist, I explored with all different types of yarns available in the market. At that time, supply in India was short so it almost took 6-8 months to hunt for the right yarn. However, once I found it, I took lots of creative liberties and began creating different products. Macrame is an intricate art that requires the right kind of material to give it an appealing look.” reveals Shashirekha. 

The Indian market was still new to this unusual art form and thus Shashirekha identified the gap in the home décor market & launched Crafts & Drapes. Introducing this new product was a tough challenge in domestic market but who could resist something so beautiful? “I created my online marketplace on Etsy which is an international platform known for handmade products. This helped me gain good traction from various countries like US, Canada, UK, Australia, Germany, UAE and India of course. I serviced almost 500+ clients across the globe.” 

Macrame at the Movies

Another avenue for revenue is movie production sets. Crafts & Drapes has created customized props for several movies and ad films. She says, “I have been approached by many production designers wanting to use my products in their shoots. I have executed several of these and I must say, it feels great to see my work appearing on celluloid. It is my dream to someday have my own studio where I can collaborate with bigger interior designing brands and create fiber art installations.” 

When Shashirekha started out, she got a good response from the International market compared to that in India. However, in the year 2019-2020, the brand Crafts & Drapes saw a sudden spike in domestic orders. As the awareness of macramé products increased in India, more and more people were interested in learning about this unique art. It also saw a significant increase in online orders as people began spending more and more time at home due to the global pandemic. This helped Shashirekha gain popularity among the Indian market too.

Instagram link:- https://www.instagram.com/craftsndrapes/

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Amalfiee Ceramics is an inspirational tale of its founder Praneeti Guha, discovering two new facets about her own personality. One is the Artist and the other is the Entrepreneur within herself. Quitting a high profile corporate career in HR, she launched this venture in 2018 as a mark of taking forward the legacy of her father-in-law Amal Guha, who was responsible for her introduction to ceramic art.

She also travelled across the country to spend time with pottery artisans to acquire firsthand knowledge of their work and also a deeper understanding of their business challenges.

Says Praneeti, “Amalfiee was created as a genuine platform to provide artisans with easy access to modern technology, essential resources and most importantly a direct connect with markets and customers”.

Participating in more than 200 exhibitions at star hotels and even at popular malls to showcase its range, Amalfiee slowly yet steadily, gained recognition and bagged orders from prestigious clients like Taj Group of Hotels and other star properties.

Following its tagline “Moulding Earth into Art” in spirit and in deed, Amalfiee is investing its creative energies into creating a growing network of artisans and expanding its portfolio of exquisite crockery and gifting products.  The intention being to compete with the best across the globe in the category, by providing genuinely fascinating and completely handmade products, that can easily find a place in everyone’s home

The Focus is Artist, Art and the Customer

Every creation at Amalfiee, is a silent yet evocative salute to the skilled artisans who really put their heart and soul into every single piece. As a business, Amalfiee started with a focus on Terracotta. Today it has evolved to include creations in glazed stone ceramics too.

Completely ecofriendly and handmade, not the slightest quantity of lead or bone ash is used in the ceramic products. Everything including the colour, is completely natural and handmade. The only time a machine is used is for baking.  

The Amalfiee range offers innovative and luxurious Artware, Dinnerware, Drinkware, Serveware and Barware in terracotta and stone ceramics. The unique shapes, gorgeous color combinations and the superb finishing is what keeps binging back customers. Complete customization according to customer demands is also possible. Platters is also a category where Amalfiee is very popular.

Amalfiee has serviced more than 10k customers across India. In such a short span of time, they are already associated with more than 50 retail chains.

Amalfiee – Crafting the future

The 5 year plan is to cross a figure of 150 outlets in the coming five years by ramping up the E-commerce platform. They have also planned to launch retail outlets in Bangalore and start a Franchise model. Another important plan is to have their own galleries in important metros across India. The idea being to give local art and artisans more exposure to markets, plus encouraging clients to invest in art that is local.

Says Praneeti Guha.  “The long term vision of Amalfiee is to preserve the beautiful heritage of Handmade Indian Pottery and to showcase the fabulous design and craft of Indian pottery to a global audience and create vibrant new markets for talented Indian artisans“.

Instagram link :- https://www.instagram.com/amalfiee_ceramics/

Website link :- https://www.amalfieeceramics.com/

To read more Startup Stories on The Business Press, visit :- https://www.thebusinesspress.in/category/startup-stories/

An engineer by qualification, footwear designer by profession and now a business owner, Aparna Sudhakaran’s journey as an entrepreneur has been quite unusual. Having a predisposition towards art, Aparna was always interested in sketching and drawing; but it was the pandemic that encouraged her to truly bring out her inner artist.

Her venture, Karkhaana focuses on mainly mandalas and the intricate artwork that goes into creating these unique art pieces. These designs adorn various merchandise such as trays, coasters, posters and paintings. What sets Karkhaana apart from other players in the market is that every product is 100% handmade and one of its kind.

Creativity At Its Best

Since the past 4 years Aparna has been studying the intricate art of mandala. After years of research and practice, she decided to start her business of selling mandala products to consumers during the lockdown. Driven by her passion for art, she works up to 8 hours a day painstakingly hand drawing these designs which are later shaped into various products.

“I wanted to create something meaningful that holds value in the customer’s life. This need to create something meaningful is what has kept me going. During the pandemic, I was overworked and wanted to break free from the rut. There was so much uncertainty so I thought that this is a now or never opportunity for me. So, I took the plunge and decided to be my own boss,” shares Aparna.

Positive feedback from clients has been one of the main pillars of Karkhaana, helping the brand immensely in driving sales.

“I interact a lot with my clients and their feedback is very valuable to me. They often ask me to make customized pieces for them which depicts their personalities or their preferences. I have made several pieces for pooja rooms, Diwali gifting and other special occasions,” says the founder.

Riding the Digital Wave

Aparna ships her products across the country and uses social media platforms like Instagram to promote her products. Since art is a visual medium, it is important to display her creativity to her audience. Maintaining a social media presence is a full-time job in itself; but Karkhaana is a one woman show.

Aparna says “Since I am both the creator as well as the promoter, I have to ensure that my social media pages are always updated. Every day there is a new trend on social media so it sometimes becomes tough to keep up.”

Her outlook towards the future of Karkhaana is very positive. Since the world is going digital, the next step in the journey would be to venture into the world of digital art. So far, Aparna has been concentrating on handmade designs, but if she were to truly scale her brand, digital is the way to go.

“I still believe in the purity of handmade products, but things are shifting towards digital and I would not want to miss out on the wave by refusing to adapt,” concludes Aparna. 

Instagram link :- https://www.instagram.com/thekarkhaana/?utm_medium=copy_link

Facebook link :- https://www.facebook.com/thekarkhaana/

To read more startup stories in The Business Press, visit :- https://www.thebusinesspress.in/category/startup-stories/