Our new metallic friend

So the past few months, we've been slowly growing our team and office-space as we work with a steadily growing list of clients (yay!)

The most visible change, if you came to visit our studio, would be a re-purposed shipping container sitting next to our office space. Take a peek:

The container in its new avatar as our studio annexe.

Here's why we did it:
• We needed more storage space.
• We had no time to make a new building.
• We did not want to disrupt the land and trees by new construction.
• We wanted a cost-effective and eco-friendly option
• The new space had to be airtight and waterproof to protect our fabrics. 

Since Kochi is a port city, we met with some folks who were repurposing shipping containers and this seemed to be an obvious solution. They cut out a window on one side for ventilation, fitted some metal shelves in it, painted it all over and voila: Instant-office!

Here is the container before it got glammed-up:

Here it is in the shipyard, waiting to be adopted!

This is our container's birth-certificate of sorts. Excited to see its path to our doorstep!

Two weeks ago, a big ol' truck showed up with our freshly repainted container atop it. A tough little crane was waiting to pick it up and drop it off next to our office.

I think they're pondering how this is going to work. Can you see the hook of the crane on top left of this photo?

Here's the big-little crane that picked it off the truck and put it in our yard.

Here's a cellphone-video that my dad took, of this whole process. The scary parts of a suspended container in mid-air are at the end of the video :)

It was plenty of drama, plenty of excitement, but everything worked out and now we've got an amazing new annexe to our studio.

Yay for more shelves!

Here is a view of its back window as it rests on cinder-blocks next to the studio.

I'm deciding what to paint on it, maybe our fabric patterns? Let us know if you have any fun ideas for this blank canvas. xo, Chitra.

All things Fair

Detail of a new drawing "One Billion Waiting and Watching" by Chitra

Today is known the world over as the International Women's Day. Historically its the day when garment workers in New York city in 1857 took to the streets to demand better working conditions and pay. In some parts of the world an equal rights issue is a thing of the past, in others its very much a current issue, if not a distant dream.

We, at Kara, are not specifically a women's organization (a number of our team and co-op members are men too), but we are definitely an organization that understands the challenges women face as they manage work and their families. This Women's Day we are thinking about the rights we all enjoy as humans. And to not forget those who are denied the basic respect, equality and dignity simply on the basis of gender.

This is one of the reasons why we feel today is an important day to share this milestone with you:

Our letter of acceptance to be a member of FTF India

The Fair Trade certification is more to us than a letter and a stamp; its a visible platform where we let our collaborators know that our fabrics are not only designed with lots of care but are created ethically and respectfully. We are so proud to be a part of this group and are inspired to see how good design and fair trade practices can revive an ancient artform!

Signing off with some images from Indu's latest visit to our weaving and tailoring co-ops. Have a wonderful day!

Indu with a couple of the co-op members

Indu at the tailoring co-op with its President (right) and team member (left)

The pre-looming team at work in the co-op.

A peaceful afternoon as the yarn hangs to dry (foreground) and the pre-looming goes on (background)

NY and the GF debut

Here are some updates from our first ever trade fair in NYC this past weekend:

This was our entire luggage for our booth set up, products and our clothes for the week!

The time is 6 am, I'm a bundle of nerves, Prashant is probably looking through our latest planning updates

Our booth, as we found it 2 days before the event. So much work, so much potential (and so much stress!)

Here I'm stringing up the hand-lettered signage, Prashant is making hooks to hang them: DIY + improv!

This was the messiest it looked, before it all got better!

This view helped as we worked non-stop to get the space lookin spiffy!

Day 1: hello New York, all bright and sunny!

The newspaper-head wearing the hair towel added a lot of quirkiness to our install, hehe!

Super happy with the way our fabric and re-purposed cardboard signs turned out!

We got a lot of compliments for using the yarn as a simple and fun way to hang up our fabrics :)

These dudes looked ridiculously tropical in the sunlight!

Cardboard, white markers and twine = friendly handmade signs

The daylight at the Javits center did a lot to promote the outdoor and comfy nature of these fabrics!

This little Ganesha kept an eye on our stuff for us; thank you sir!  ♥

We also had a bunch of friends stop by our space too: thanks Shivangi, Brookes and Nupur for all the fun conversation and help with everything! Carli came by with her team to do a little interview about our work for Quirky; here's the article, yay!

So grateful that our little debut was so warmly recieved, cant wait for what's next! xo, Chitra.

2013 reasons to get excited!

Its three months since my last post here and what a busy time it's been! Firstly a very Happy New Year to all of you :)

Here at Kara we've been frantically working on some great new wholesale orders as well as gearing up for our debut at the New York Gift Fair in the juried Global Handmade section!

We've divided up the work pretty evenly: Indu has been handling the production and follow up of all the weaving work in Kerala and I am working on all the trade fair set up details here in Boston. As I sit here going over my million checklists and looking at the busy few weeks ahead, I'm also giddy with excitement for all the wonderful people we'll have a chance to meet!

So if you're there, stop by booth #532 to meet us!

September at the Studio

Photo-updates on our activities in and outside the studio, over the past few weeks:

We were finally all at the same place to get a team snap: (l-r) Chitra, Indu, Sreedevi, Sandhya, Revathy, Annu

This month was also when Indu and I made a quick trip to Singapore and Australia for some work and family visits:

A Koala-bum and us at the lovely Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary near Brisbane :)

The Singapore trip was to meet some family, and we loved the busy and charming city!

After the brief trip, we got back to the studio to resume work for all our lovely buyers:

Bathrobes getting packaged for the Good Earth stores.

Sandhya and Annu waterproofing a shipment for CGH Earth's Swaswara resort in Goa.

Table napkins awaiting packaging, for Terrain in the USA.

Meanwhile, our experiments in new weaves continues, as we broaden our wholesale portfolio:

Corded yarn bunches interwoven with the fine yarn.

Our brand new kitchen towels and napkins in jewel tones.

Combination of thick yarn cords and fine weave for table mats.

Thoughts for this week

What we've learnt about handloom is that the cotton threads at the start are really weak, but when they come together, the fabric is unbelievably strong.

As we celebrate the Pakistani and Indian Independence days this week (August 14 and 15 respectively), we'd like to get inspired by this process. Here's to working together to grow stronger and better :)

Summer 2012 Updates

• Our first ever Free product giveaway (yes, its all free!) contest on Facebook has just started! All you have to do is upload a favorite summer picnic photo to win free fabrics! More details here.

• Indu was interviewed by the Women's Web Magazine, here's the read.

• Unbelievably successful Annual Clearance Sale of our previous collections. It ends on August 15 2012, so you've still got a few days to get the best deals!

• Guest blogging at Yours Sustainably, thanks Jessica!

• Our fabrics are now available at the Good Earth stores in India and Terrain (Anthropologie's sister concern) in the United States.

• We worked with Wendell Rodricks to create this custom threaded shawl based on his design. So pumped to see it on the runway at the Lakme India Fashion Week in Mumbai this past week!

• Our Fair Trade certification process made some headway as we were visited by the Fair Trade Forum India's team to verify details of our team and collaborators (including the weaving co-operatives). As we hope to hear back from them, we're keeping our fingers crossed for the green signal :)

• We experimented with some thicker weave techniques, with some lovely results.

• Sarah Lin of Ellie Fun Day visited our studio and wrote up a sweet article on her blog with some nice photos!

•  Lakshmi Rammohan, the director of Dreamweaver Weddings commissioned us to create some custom giveaways and bride+groom sets for some upcoming events for Fall 2012. This is still in underway, but we're so excited to work with this incredibly talented event manager!

Wendell Rodricks and India Fashion Week 2012

Wendell Rodricks (image courtesy WendellRodricks.com)

A few months ago we got in touch with the Indian fashion designer Wendell Rodricks after Revathy (our project partner) mentioned our work to him. He had an idea to do a custom weave for his runway show at the Lakme India Fashion Week 2012 in Mumbai that concluded this past week ("Omg, for real?!!"-- was my reaction when Indu told me). To say that we were over-the-moon was quite an understatement, as we've been fans of this talented designer's work for ages!

Based out of Goa, Wendell's works a lot of structure and form into his design, and the hallmark of his creations have always been the way he works with white and off-white to make the garment's cut and construction stand out. In so many ways, his work fit our portfolio of fabrics so effortlessly!

What he wanted was a woven shawl with loose yarn detailing in White, Black and Brown shades. He sent us a detailed drawing and images of how he wanted this piece to work. We set about working with our weavers and here is the finished piece in our studio and on the runway at the LFW2012 (Show images courtesy The Times of India, Rediff.com)

Quick grainy shot of the piece in our studio, before we sent it over to Wendell.

The Times of India coverage of the show (images from TOI)

Another image of the runway event at LFW 2012 (via rediff.com)

As this collaboration draws to a close, we're so utterly thrilled to check this item off our dream-wishlist, and are overjoyed about getting the humble Kerala thorthu on the fashion runway! Wendell, we're so thrilled & proud to work with you and look forward to many such opportunities! xoxo, Indu & Chitra.

(ps: If you're a fashion designer and reading this, yes, email us about working together!)

That time of the year..

We are re-organizing our inventory and making room for the new collections. So, we've decided to give our US-based shoppers a discount on the previous collections with a blowout sale. (International shoppers, we love you too, and are putting up a bigger storewide sale very soon!)

Bath towels, Picnic mats, Wraps or a Table cloth: now at $10 per color!

Things are selling faster than I can share this update, so I'd suggest you make your way over here to see if there's something you like. Happy Summer!

Set of ten table napkins for $30, only till these stocks last!