Since being founded in the early 90s, Bandhini has been dedicated to handcrafted products and keeping that skill alive and thriving. Bandhini founder Tai has always described herself as a 'New Age Hippy with an optimistic vision'.
What is incredibly important to us is that our craftspeople are not displaced from their traditional villages as these skills are incredibly regional in India. When the work dries out and the work demand is low these craftspeople are driven to the big cities in search of employment and this is how slums are created.
We keep crafts people in their homes
We want them to remain in their traditional families and community to celebrate their cultural crafts and values as these arts are dying. Driven by the need to feed rather than the need for greed.
Our Artisans are often older as the weavers craft is perfected only be those in middle age, many of the women are home based and there is absolutely no child labour.
We use nature's discards
We use discards from nature; raffia, shells, pods, sticks and stones, all beautiful and unexpected, crazy ideas placed on cushions and art. Our buttons are never plastic but coconut and shell and are carefully hand made.
Our fabrics are all natural
Our fabrics are natural-based from the very sustainable flax plant, cotton, silk and rayon. Rayon is actually man-made from tree bark. We try not to use petrochemical based anything, including dyes and the responsible use of water.
Handmade products that last
Our craft is hand-loomed and hand made and not created by big industrial machinery. We design things that last and can be handed down from one generation to the next. The waste from fast-fashion-interiors is something we avoid.
We recycle and reuse our packaging, our art is boxed in cartons that our cushions arrive in. We strive for a paperless office and any off-cut fabrics are recycled and re-used for things like gift cards and bags.
We wish for our product that after it gives many generations joy and comfort that it gently returns to the earth with our love and gratitude.
