SVEŽE Craft - The beginning!

SVEŽE Craft, as you know, is our label for premium hand crafted fashion accessories. What most customers however do not know is that SVEŽE Craft is truly the foundation stone for SVEŽE.

Back in 2012, when we started conceptualising our business, our thoughts primarily revolved around creating contemporary products using traditional Indian crafts. As we started to explore the feasibility and practicality of putting it to action, we realised that there were a number of hurdles.

The entire supply chain was rigged with agents, particularly in the tribal heartland, and it was almost impossible for us to get to the artisans directly. We however started the process and shared a few designs with the agents. What came back as super expensive samples was nothing close to what we had envisioned. These pieces of art however had a reflection of the character and skill of the artisans. We realised that our messages (aka specifications) were being lost in translation from series of agents to the artisans and the costs were proving to be too much for us to make any impact in the market. We practically chose to do this another day... when we would have the necessary financial strength and a few more hands.

Time passed... and we setup a more traditional fashion business, designing our products and getting them made through our selected vendors. However, we never missed an opportunity to connect with the artisans and their unique world of crafts. Whether it was fairs such as Surajkund Mela or special events setup by our suppliers, we made sure we were present in all earnest.

As luck would have it, we met an artisan at one of our supplier's workshops. His hands wove magic on the handloom that he was operating and something within us said... this is it. Somehow it all just clicked. The artisan clearly understood what we wanted to create and translated our sketchy representations into fabrics we were left in awe off. Our supplier agreed to have him work with us entirely and also keep him at job in case we did not have sufficient work for him.

Over the next few months what transpired left us spell bound. Some of the products from our very first handwoven collection are still available on our website. Though branded as SVEŽE, it was SVEŽE Craft that was born.

The astounding skill, the commitment and passion of artisans we have been seeing since is unbelievable. It just keeps us going... everyday.