The new wave of ‘vocal for local’ proved to be a boost for Indian entrepreneurs. It has promoted local businesses during COVID-19 and given customers the ability and motivation to shop locally with ease. This rebranded version of ‘Made In India’ has our support, and every month, TC46 will spotlight small businesses and ventures you can champion and back easily through online and offline purchases.
Artists, entrepreneurs, visionaries and experts, Indian women are shattering glass ceilings and breaking out of boxes. Success, tied with skills and hard work, is what makes those featured in our list today an inspiration for many. And the journey, for these women of incredible talent, are stories that must be told.
This week, here are some brands we’re cheering on; check them out!
Capsule Notebook Collection by SelfRiotous from Openhouse
SelfRiotous is the brainchild of Openhouse co-founders Alisha Anand and Hetal Desai, in association with Creative Director Shini Shreedharan. Alishka and Hetal’s combined love for stationery led them to break from day-to-day brand work to create a capsule collection of notebooks. When they began, they were clear that they didn’t want to restrict their thoughts to create a ‘pretty’ design; they’d rather give it a meaning and soul that went deeper than visual aesthetic. They started discussing what they felt passionately about — as women, as professionals, a part of society.
What resulted was a lot of conversation around how a person’s merit still largely depends on what society perceives as productive, talented, or successful. It’s 2020 and we continue to be blind to understated personal qualities that deserve as much acceptance as any other. They decidedly wanted to change this lens, and give people something new to chew on. So whether people find their notebooks witty, thought-provoking or relatable, they’re happy as long as it starts a conversation. Since that’s how it began between them, too.
Alishka studied advertising at The New York Institute of Technology before returning to Mumbai to pursue a career in the field. She worked for 11 years at MullenLowe Lintas, where she led the business efforts on a plethora of Unilever brands. Hetal was a chemical engineering student who fell in love with graphic design and architecture. She moved to Raffles Design International to study Visual Communication and went on to work at stalwart advertising agencies like Law & Kenneth and, more recently, at OgilvyOne, the digital arm of Ogilvy & Mather. During her 5 ½ year-stint there, she brought on board her digital-first experience for revered brands like Vodafone and Cadbury.
SelfRiotous is a capsule collection of five notebooks, each of which is emblazoned with a personality trait that customers could relate to. It’s a stationery collection that celebrates personality traits that do not necessarily find social approval but have every right to exist. Imperfectionist, says the cover of one; Audaciously Average, announces another. Similarly, stationery enthusiasts can pick from options such as So Far Slow Good; Publicly Failing; and Single Tasker. Each notebook has 200 pages, either lined, blank, or dotted, except for the Single Tasker notebook, which has 365 pages, allowing users to focus on just one task a day, per page.
The target audience for SelfRiotous is anyone who enjoys good design, loves stationery, and doesn’t take themselves too seriously. The notebooks are priced at Rs 850 (inclusive of taxes) each. The notebooks can be ordered via the brand’s Instagram page.
Handcrafted Ethical Designs by The Hand Made Store
Founded by Ashwini Kurup, The Hand Made Store is a reflection of how we perceive fashion. The brand believes in handmade products that support collaborative and sustainable design. They deeply respect the traditional work techniques of artisans and the time it takes them to make each product by hand. The brand works with indigenous communities in order to promote fair trade and sustainability through original traditional items.
However, work is not the brand’s only concern. As a committed artisan-made online clothing store, the brand goes above and beyond to create strong emotional ties with the communities they work with. The brand strengthens the ties with artisans through integration activities and volunteering initiatives, all while helping them reach economic independence through their craft. They responsibly manufacture products that are good for the body and the planet.
The Hand Made Store sells sustainable apparel, vegan candles, vegan soaps and plantable stationery. The prices of products like soaps and candles start at Rs 200 and apparel at Rs 1,499.
Shop for soaps, shampoos, dresses and kurtis from The Hand Made Store at the Red Dot Shop.
Bespoke Stationery by Kitaab Designs
Founded by sisters Nidhi and Divya Kacholia, Kitaab Designs creates unique stationery products. Nidhi being an architect by profession handles the creative and logistics side, whereas Divya having past experience in Finance and Management heads the business development and client servicing functions.
“For the love of putting pen to paper” is what drives the brand. A passion for design and fondness for stationery lead to the creation of Kitaab Designs. The initial idea was to conceptualise ‘kitaab’ which means ‘book’. However, the brand is always looking to create and add exciting products to the collection for personal, festive, and corporate gifting.
Their list of products includes notebooks and diaries starting at Rs 150, envelopes (set of 10) gift tags (set of 15) at Rs 90, notecards (set of 10) at Rs 150, luggage tags at Rs 125, postcards (set of 10) at Rs 200, box hampers at Rs 800 along with planners and stickers. Their clientele consists of both individuals as well as corporate clients.
The brand’s catalogue consists of over 150 ready designs, and provide full customisation with no minimum order quantity. A client can personalise every aspect of the notebook, starting from the binding style, hard/softcover, size of the notebook, number of internal pages, and style of internal pages. To know more about the brand and take a look at the collection, visit their Instagram or Facebook page.
Want us to be VocalForLocal for your brand or know someone whose work you’d like to cheer on? Drop us an email to be featured on The Channel 46 at partnerships@anvilmedia.in.
