Great Companies: Please tell me something about the business and how did you come up with such an idea?
Bhargavi Shailesh Desai: After I left my job as a project manager in new york and shifted back to India I was looking for a purpose and in the lieu I had a few ideas which i pursued and also failed at a few of them and finally decided to pursue my long term dream of learning about fashion and joined NIFT Gandhinagar from where this idea was seeded. I had a chance to work with a womens cooperative in Ahmedabad who worked with rural women artisans and had strong urge / idea of starting a brand where we can leverage rural based artisans and use our versatile indian fabrics and textiles in accessories for the modern women, also keeping design and functionality the key aspect and sustainability as the backbone to the idea.
As people are becoming more and more aware of the global warming , harms of using plastic and other disasters caused due synthetically produced materials ,the idea to replace them with homegrown cotton material was the base of the idea.
Since we know India is one of the largest producers of cotton in the world, and another strong belief about not using anything made out of leather /animal based products and hence vegan leather and Cotton fabric based handbags is where all this started.
Great Companies: What are the various services and products provided by your company? Bhargavi Shailesh Desai: We exclusively design only Handbags at the moment. Handmade and Handpainted made with 100% cotton canvas with quirky and modern designs. Great Companies: Why should one choose you over others in this field? Bhargavi Shailesh Desai: We are a sustainable initiative. Our Raw material is high quality 100% is sourced from India . We believe in providing jobs and imparting skills to local artisans. Our products are not only great in the way they look they have exceptional functionality.
Great Companies: What are the struggles and challenges you face?
Bhargavi Shailesh Desai: Skilled Artisans are huge challenge and we are tackling it by tieing up with local NGOS and vocation training schools in helping them learn about these skills and providing them the necessary education.
Great Companies: What do you think are the few main things which are most important for a successful business?
Bhargavi Shailesh Desai: Good Intentions for everybody involved. Everyone involved should be profited from what you do. Building a great network around your business because everyone needs support. As John Donne said "No man is an Island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the Continent, a part of the main".
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