Tag: textile

  • 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.

  • The Vocabulary of Cloth: Words That Weave Elegance Into Textile Design

    The Vocabulary of Cloth: Words That Weave Elegance Into Textile Design

    Every industry has its own language. But in textiles, that language is tactile.
    It doesn’t just describe function — it describes feel.
    To know the right word for something is to know how to work with it, tend to it, elevate it.

    A fabric isn’t just “shiny” — it has luster.
    A raw cloth isn’t just “unfinished” — it’s greige.
    A good cotton doesn’t just feel soft — it is supple, breathable, long-stapled.

    The language of textiles is a mirror of the elegance embedded in the craft.

    🌾 Words That Shape the World of Fabric

    Here are just a few of the words that live inside the world of cloth — words we return to again and again as we create:

    Greige

    /gray·zh/
    Raw, untreated fabric straight from the loom or knitting machine — unbleached, undyed, full of potential.

    Skein

    A loosely coiled length of yarn or thread. A word that feels like a whisper, often used in dyeing and handwork.

    Luster

    The soft, light-reflective quality of a fabric’s surface. Silk has it. So does sateen. It’s what makes fabric glow without glitter.

    Supple

    The gentle drape and flexibility of a fabric — often used to describe high-quality, wearable cloth that moves with the body.

    Sheen

    Like luster, but subtler. It’s the gleam on the surface of a well-finished fabric, often created through weave or finishing processes.

    Scouring

    The process of cleansing fabric of oils, waxes, or impurities before dyeing — essential for even colour absorption, especially in natural dyes.

    Selvage

    The clean, finished edge of woven fabric. In high-end design, selvage can be a mark of intention — respected, not trimmed.

    Warp & Weft

    The foundational axes of woven cloth. The warp is the vertical thread held under tension; the weft is what moves across it — like the past and present weaving a future.

    🪡 The Elegance of Technicality

    In the hands of artisans, technical terms become tools of reverence.

    Knowing how a fabric moves, breathes, takes dye, or frays — is as much about vocabulary as it is about instinct.
    Language gives clarity. And clarity allows respect.

    To say “This fabric has memory” or “This weave resists drape” is to enter a conversation not just with material — but with history, with ecology, with emotion.

    🌿 Language as Legacy

    At The Kora Edit, we hold these words with care.
    Because this is a project not just about making garments — but about remembering. Remembering the depth of the cloth, the lineage of the process, the intimacy of creation.

    Whether it’s a white greige gown waiting to be dyed, or a skein of yarn soaking in indigo, each part of the journey has a name — and that name holds power.

    ✍🏽 Let’s Keep Naming

    This blog is an invitation to slow down — not just in making, but in naming.

    To replace “rough” with “raw.”
    “Nice” with “supple.”
    “Unfinished” with “greige.”
    “Beautiful” with “well-made.”
    “Fashion” with “textile art.”

    Because how we speak about cloth is how we speak about care.

  • 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.

  • The Kora Edit: A Textile Art Project Rooted in Slow Cloth, Story, and Self

    The Kora Edit: A Textile Art Project Rooted in Slow Cloth, Story, and Self

    Some projects don’t begin with a design brief.
    They begin with a feeling.

    The Kora Edit is one such project — a collaborative textile art offering shaped by slow processes, lived memory, and the gentle dignity of handmade cloth.

    This is not fashion. This is not a launch.
    This is a question wrapped in fabric:
    What might happen if what we wore carried not just style, but story? Not just form, but feeling?

    Over the next three months, we will co-create a series of 18 free-size garments — made to be kept, dyed, redyed, touched, re-touched — and loved for longer than trend allows.

    🌿 What is The Kora Edit?

    ‘Kora’ means raw, blank, untouched. It is where the story begins — a metaphor for memory waiting to take form.

    The Kora Edit brings together 18 free-size garments that are:

    • Hand-treated with eco-printing, natural dyeing, and block techniques
    • Stitched by the women of Rangrez, a rural skill centre
    • Designed to be re-dyed and revived over time, so they grow with the wearer

    Each piece carries its own evolution — like the person who wears it.

    🧶 Why This Is Not Fashion

    Because we’re not trying to disrupt fashion.
    We’re trying to remember something older than it.

    We are not here to be another label that “thinks differently”.
    We are here to co-create a slower loop — where what we wear becomes an archive of who we are becoming.

    This is not a product launch. It’s a quiet experiment in textile and time.

    🪡 The Collection

    We are crafting 18 pieces — all adjustable-size, and all offered in three tiers of presence:

    1. Everyday Rituals

    Soft tops, dhotis, and wraps designed for daily rhythm

    2. Slow Statements

    Longer silhouettes and sculptural forms — garments that hold pause

    3. Living Heirlooms

    One-of-a-kind textiles to pass on or revive across time

    Each piece will carry a story tag — naming its process, place, and season.

    🤍 The White Cloth: A Symbol, Not a Blank

    Some garments will be shown undone — undyed — on purpose.
    They are symbolic. A quiet gesture toward possibility.
    They will also be available for purchase — with the invitation to re-dye later, as an act of becoming.

    🌾 Who’s Behind This Project

    • Bridge & Bloom – creative direction, project curation, and storytelling
    • Our Feets Can Cuddle – fabric and dye studio leading print, material sourcing, and technical development
    • Rangrez Skill Centre – rural women-led stitching and production
    • Vinyasa Earth – host of the final ramp walk at Zariya, their annual art festival

    This is a conversation between land, labour, and legacy.

    ✨ Support the Thread

    We’re opening this circle gently — to funders, patrons, and early collectors.

    You can:

    • Support a tier of creation (₹25K–1L) as a patron or brand
    • Pre-order a piece (₹10K–₹30K) to be delivered after the ramp
    • Offer any amount in support of textile art, rural women, and slowness

    [🧵 Read our pitch deck or funding appeal → link]

    🧭 Why The Kora Edit?

    Because cloth can be more than clothing.
    Because the hands that stitch deserve to walk beside what they make.
    Because stories can be dyed into fabric — and revived across lifetimes.

    This isn’t about owning more. It’s about owning slower.
    Not consumption — companionship.

    We’re not building a brand.
    We’re tending to a thread of thought.