Tag: Bridge & Bloom

  • The Hidden Cost of Cheap Clothes: What Your Fabric Really Tells You

    The Hidden Cost of Cheap Clothes: What Your Fabric Really Tells You

    The Kora Edit is a textile art project shaped by slowness, soil, and story. Each piece begins with nature, and ends in personal meaning.

    The Cost of Cloth Tells a Story

    The cost of a piece of cloth says a lot—about its origins, the energies it holds from its making, and yes, perhaps something about you. I’ll leave that last part for your reflection, and focus on the first two.

    Recently, while budgeting for The Kora Edit, I was content with the numbers. They felt fair. But something tugged at me—how were the clothes I usually buy so cheap in comparison?

    That’s when I remembered my visit to Sanganer, a town near Jaipur known for its exquisite block printing. Two things from that trip stayed with me:

    • The Making of Handblocks
    • The Paint Shops

    Handblocks: Skill and Time in Every Inch

    The handblocks in Sanganer are carved using traditional chisels by skilled artisans in small workshops. These blocks start at ₹100—but prices rise quickly based on the complexity of the design, the type of wood, and the mastery of the karigar. Commissioning a block is a costly affair.

    In Old Jaipur, we visited an antique shop. It had old, damaged, beautiful blocks made of strong wood, starting at ₹250. As we were leaving, the shopkeeper offered to show us ₹30 blocks—these were machine-made, carved from mango wood, designed to mimic craft without carrying its soul.

    Note: Weaker wood for blocks also means it is not meant/planned intentionally to last for longer lengths of printing, which means early discard and waste. Imagine how the wood demand changes just because fast fashion and ‘choice’ influenced the process of manufacturing the clothes.

    Paint Shops: Colour at a Cost

    The paint shops looked more like chemistry labs—only messier, scarier, and clearly harmful. Workers used gloves and makeshift tools to mix pigments. In one unit, I noticed how some of the workers had uneven skin tones on their hands—likely due to prolonged contact with chemical dyes.

    The printed cloth is then steamed to fix the colour and washed thoroughly. But let’s be honest—what you may be wearing right now could carry this exact story. And the cheaper the fabric, the more invisible (and likely unsafe) that process has been.

    And we haven’t even begun to speak about what happens to the discarded dye water or the harsh detergents used in washing.

    The Real Price of Mass Manufacturing

    Yes, mass manufacturing brings macroeconomic benefits. But it also causes macro damage—to workers, to water, to the very soil we stand on.

    Let me leave you with a question:
    If the full story of what went into your clothes was laid out before you—would you still choose to wear them?

    This question has shifted something in me. I want to wear what I own for longer, repurpose what I can, and now—through The Kora Edit—create pieces that hold story, craft, and intention from the very start.

    If this reflection stirred something in you, I invite you to stay connected:
    📩 Subscribe to the blog
    📷 Follow @bridgeandbloom.in on Instagram
    💌 Want to contribute or support the project? Write to us at info@bridgeandbloom.in

    I would love to reimagine how you and me touch and wear cloth.

  • Why I’m Creating a Textile Art Project (Not a Fashion Brand) with Natural Dyes and Rural Women

    Why I’m Creating a Textile Art Project (Not a Fashion Brand) with Natural Dyes and Rural Women

    Let’s get one thing out of the way:
    The Kora Edit is not a fashion project.

    It’s a textile art collaboration. A slow experiment. A process of remembering.

    And it began, quite unexpectedly — with a scroll.

    🌿 Where It All Started

    I’ve never been drawn to fashion in the conventional sense.
    For most of my life, “fashion” meant birthday gifts, maybe the odd saree from a family wedding. I didn’t grow up studying silhouettes or following seasonal trends.

    But I’ve always been curious about alternatives — alternate paths, places, philosophies.
    Bridge & Bloom, after all, was built around the idea of figuring things out — sometimes without a map.

    One day, while scrolling Instagram, I stumbled upon a beautiful couple living in the middle of nowhere. One of them worked with natural dyes and eco-printing. Their process was quiet, raw, real.

    And then I saw something that made me pause.

    A cloth that could be re-dyed by the wearer.
    Not discarded. Not replaced. Just… renewed.

    That single act — re-dyeing as renewal — struck a chord.

    Cloth As a Language of Self

    I started thinking about the freedom of cloth — especially in Indian tradition:
    Dhotis. Veshtis. Sarees. Angavastrams.
    Lengths of fabric that invite interpretation. That carry meaning. That express self — without being cut into a shape too soon.

    What if a garment didn’t have to be static?
    What if it could be a mirror? A canvas? A story in motion?

    The Making of The Kora Edit

    Soon, I found myself in conversation with a conscious designer from the city who runs a studio called Our Feets Can Cuddle — someone who has worked with natural dyes, prints, and thoughtful processes.

    We partnered with Rangrez, a rural skill centre outside Jaipur that empowers women through stitching and craft.

    Together, we decided to create 18 pieces — all free-size, re-dyeable, and rooted in story.
    Not fashion. Not trend.
    Just cloth, soil, and self — stitched slowly.

    What This Project Means (To Me and to Bridge & Bloom)

    As someone who’s been working in systems thinking, storytelling, and business design, entering the world of textiles was both humbling and exciting.

    It taught me new materials.
    New vocabularies.
    New ways of seeing beauty in the unfinished.

    But more importantly, it aligned with what Bridge & Bloom has always stood for:

    🌀 The joy of figuring things out
    🧭 The courage to walk an alternate path
    🤝 The beauty of co-creating with care

    This project isn’t about establishing a new vertical or entering the “fashion space.”
    It’s about doing one meaningful thing and letting it teach me something.

    As a byproduct, yes — it might open doors for new kinds of clients or collaborations.
    But that’s never the point.
    The point is the process.

    In Closing

    The Kora Edit is a gentle rebellion.
    It’s about slow making instead of fast trends, about collaborating instead of controlling.
    If you’re someone who loves material, memory, or making things with intention — follow along.
    We’re not here to sell a lifestyle.
    We’re here to remember something we already knew.

  • Choosing Passion Over Paychecks: Why I Started Bridge & Bloom

    A few years ago, I had a stable 9–5.
    Career-wise, things looked good on paper. But personally, I was going through a breakup that never really found closure. (Honestly, it probably still hasn’t.)

    That’s not the point, though. The point is: when I look back at that time, I realise something very clearly — it’s impossible to live in a constant state of bliss or comfort. Life moves. It shifts. And so, we end up choosing our discomforts.

    Bridge & Bloom is the discomfort I chose.
    Instead of the predictable security of a six-digit salary landing in my bank account every month, I chose to walk into the unknown — with purpose.

    I’m 27. The “marriage” question doesn’t haunt me because I’ve already married myself to this question:
    How can I help someone grow something that truly matters to them?

    🔥 The Struggle We Choose

    Struggle — or let’s call it hustle — is more integral to life than comfort.
    Comfort has an expiration date. Eventually, you’ll outgrow it. Even on your best days, if things are too still for too long, your mind will go looking for problems to solve.

    So, if struggle is inevitable… why not choose the kind that leads somewhere?

    For me, running Bridge & Bloom means helping people walk into the struggle they have chosen — building something of their own, something meaningful. It’s not easy. But the small wins along the way? They’re deeply satisfying.

    They remind me that we don’t need one big, lasting moment of satisfaction.
    We need many small ones — sparks, milestones, reminders. And every time that happens for a client, I know: they’ve moved one step closer to a dream they can’t let go of.
    What a beautiful equation to be part of.

    🌱 Growth Isn’t a Checklist — It’s a Relationship

    The best part? The growth is never one-sided.

    My clients aren’t just “clients.” They become collaborators, friends, and co-creators in this ongoing experiment of meaningful work. Working with them doesn’t just grow their business — it grows me, too.

    Like the home I’ve found in Jaipur through Vinyasa Earth.

    Like the quiet peace I now carry, thanks to the bamboo flute gifted by Raman — whose website I’m building for two of his music collectives.

    Like the wisdom of Prabhajit from Ampera Energy, who reminds me what it means to build something truly future-forward.

    Bridge & Bloom was never meant to be me doing something for someone else.
    It’s us doing something together. Always.

    ✨ If This Resonates, Let’s Talk

    If any of this feels familiar — the idea that won’t go away, the inertia that feels too heavy to move through, the confusion of where to start — I’d love to hear from you.

    I meet a lot of people who feel stuck.
    They’re not lazy. They’re not clueless. They’re just overwhelmed. Or tired. Or unsure if their idea really matters.

    People often say that talking to me brings them clarity.
    But here’s the secret: I don’t give people plans.
    They already have them — buried under fear or fatigue. I just ask the right questions. The kind that make growth feel possible again.

    So if this resonated, don’t hesitate.

    📩 Drop a note to info@bridgeandbloom.in
    Let’s begin with a conversation.

  • 🌱 One Idea is Enough: Why Your Passion Deserves a Place in Your Life

    🌱 One Idea is Enough: Why Your Passion Deserves a Place in Your Life

    You know that idea you keep coming back to?

    The one that hits you in the shower, or at 2AM, or mid-scroll when you’re supposed to be doing something else?
    The one you’ve talked yourself out of more times than you can count?

    That’s not noise.
    That’s a signal.

    You Don’t Need More Ideas

    Most people aren’t short on inspiration.
    They’re short on space—mental, emotional, practical.

    So we carry these ideas around like unsent messages. We think about them, tweak them in our heads, imagine how good they could be—if we ever started. But then… life.

    Work. Family. Guilt. Overwhelm.
    A weird pressure to “do it properly” or not at all.

    Start Small. Start Real.

    Here’s the truth: your passion doesn’t need to be a business right away.
    It doesn’t even need to make money, go viral, or become your “main thing.”

    But it does deserve your attention.
    Because when we ignore what excites us, we end up feeling stuck—even if everything else is “fine.”

    You don’t need to quit your job.
    You don’t need a five-year plan.
    You just need to start exploring the thing that already lives inside you.

    One Idea is Enough

    At Bridge and Bloom, we see this all the time—people with a hundred ideas and a head full of tabs, but no clear starting point. That’s exactly why we made a workbook. Not to push productivity, but to offer something simple:

    🟢 A place to sort through your thoughts
    💛 A process to find one idea that resonates
    🌿 A gentle nudge to begin

    We called the first chapter Seed because that’s all it takes.
    Just one.
    Planted with intention.

    Let That Idea Grow

    If you’ve been holding something in your head for too long, this is your sign to give it a little sunlight.
    Open a notebook. Write it down. Say it out loud.
    Let it move from thought to possibility.

    And if you’d like a place to explore it more deeply, we made one for you.

    👉 Start with Chapter 1 – SEED

    Chapter 1 SEED v1.2Download

    It’s free, it’s printable, and it’s yours.

    Because your passion deserves a place in your life.
    And one idea is enough to begin.

    If you have reached till here, i suggest you subscribe to the newsletter below. I will send you gentle nudges to work on your idea.