\n<\/p>\n
After graduating in interior design, Shipa Patel was visiting her village in Gujarat, and was on the lookout for a creative activity. \u201cI have always loved anything handmade, which has a raw feeling,\u201d she tells\u00a0The Better India<\/strong>.<\/p>\n In Deesa, a small village near her hometown, she came across artisans practising hand block art printing, and was fascinated by the process. \u201cIt was like love at first sight for me. I fell in love with the raw texture of the wooden blocks and the technique.\u201d She started designing hand block clothes for herself as a hobby, falling in love with the entire process.<\/p>\n In 2013, she decided to launch the sustainable clothing brand Chhapa \u2014 the Gujarati word for imprint or stamp \u2014 with a focus on reviving and popularising hand block printing.<\/p>\n Today, with an online store that ships worldwide – to countries like Singapore, US, UAE , and more – and a retail store in Ahmedabad, the brand clocks in an annual revenue of close to Rs 1.5 crore, with 25 per cent of their earnings going to the roughly 25 artisans they employ.<\/p>\n \u201cSustainability is at the core of what we do,\u201d says co-founder Hardik Patel, Shipa\u2019s husband, who handles business development and IT for the company.<\/p>\n Chhapa works with sustainable fabrics like cotton and khadi, employing weavers and directly giving them orders for material. For their prints, they only use natural or azo-free dyes, which are eco friendly and don\u2019t eliminate harmful toxins, meaning that artisans can touch them without causing harm to their skin.<\/p>\n Artisans practicing hand block printing for Chhapa. All photos courtesy Hardik<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n While the venture can\u2019t cut out waste 100 per cent, they try to reduce it as much as possible, upcycling where they can. For instance, any leftover fabric is used to create accessories like camera belts, pouches, iPad sleeves, bags, and more.<\/p>\n Chappa\u2019s USP is their unique designs. Instead of going the traditional route, they design their own motifs \u2014 elephants, sunglasses, planets, birds, rickshaws, and more \u2014 which are then carved onto wood blocks for hand printing. Essentially, they\u2019re amalgamating the traditional technique with quirky, fun designs, to appeal to a younger audience.<\/p>\n After discussing ideas among themselves, the four member family team \u2014 Shipa, Hardik, Bimal, and Sheetal \u2014 at Chhapa agrees upon a theme for a collection. Shipa, who manages the design and creative aspects of the business, then creates a mood board and colour scheme. The next step is entering a collaborative process with the artisans, agreeing upon colours and designs, and a collection is readied.<\/p>\n \u201cTheir colours and designs are unique. You won\u2019t find such designs anywhere else in the market,\u201d asserts Geeta Tondria, one of the artisans working with Chhapa since 2016.<\/p>\n While they\u2019re focused on offering consumers something new and different, Chhapa\u2019s primary focus is supporting artisans. \u201cOur driving force is to give work to the artisans because we realised that they struggle to get work,\u201d says Hardik. Because of this, they were ready to experiment on a small scale with the startup.<\/p>\n A 300-year-old technique, hand block printing is slowly dying, primarily because of the evolution of fast fashion and changing consumer demands. The method involves a carved, wooden block being dipped in dye and then pressed onto the material by hand, involving a great degree of precision and focus.<\/p>\n \u201cArtisans were quitting the art form because they weren\u2019t getting any work,\u201d says Hardik.<\/p>\n It is Chhapa\u2019s endeavour to popularise the art again and bring it back into public consciousness. \u201cNow, not only are the artisans practising the art, but they\u2019re also passing it on to the next generation,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n \u201cEarlier, no one from the younger generation wanted to do block printing, preferring to find jobs in the government or private sector,\u201d says Geeta. \u201cNow, after completing their courses, they\u2019ve started learning block printing. Young kids are doing the work, especially during the holiday season.\u201d<\/p>\n Geeta handles the entire process, from making natural dyes using flour to coordinating with other artisans and setting and printing the designs onto the garments. After printing, the garments are soaked in hot water for a couple hours so the print will set.<\/p>\n \u201cBlock printing has been around in Bagru (Jaipur, Rajasthan) for generations. It\u2019s a family business for many, carried on from one generation to the next. Before, it was hard to find work, it was mostly seasonal. But since Chhapa came, we\u2019ve had a constant flow of work, and it has only increased over the past few months.\u201d<\/p>\n Chappa helps their artisans in other ways \u2014 providing free health check-ups and good quality shoes to work in.<\/p>\n Through their website and social media, Chhapa also focuses on communicating the artisans\u2019 story and work to consumers. \u201cAnyone can put up a product. But if you don\u2019t explain the story behind it, then it doesn\u2019t have value. You have to constantly communicate about your work, challenges, and what goes on behind the scenes.\u201d<\/p>\n This continuous communication is a way for customers to learn the entire process of how their garments are being made. In the competition against fast fashion and big brands, it\u2019s this transparency that helps them stand out. \u201cOnce you educate them about the work that goes into a product, they become a loyal customer,\u201d says Hardik.<\/p>\n For more information, you can visit their website<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n Edited by Divya Sethu<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Originally reported and written in July 2022, this story has been republished as part of our archival content. After graduating in interior design, Shipa Patel was visiting her village in Gujarat, and was on the lookout for a creative activity. \u201cI have always loved anything handmade, which has a raw feeling,\u201d she tells\u00a0The Better India. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":35259,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/img-cdn.publive.online\/fit-in\/1200x675\/english-betterindia\/media\/media_files\/uploads\/2022\/07\/1-1657701109.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10662],"tags":[25172,230,25176,25174,18904,5275,25175,605,1250,25170,2161,25168,25177,25173,16195,22544,25169,25171,11155,1610],"class_list":["post-35258","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-indian-food-news","tag-artisan-livelihoods","tag-block","tag-chhapa","tag-chhapa-ahmedabad","tag-croreyear","tag-earns","tag-empowering-artisans","tag-family","tag-global","tag-gujarat-artisans","tag-hand","tag-hand-block-printing","tag-handmade-garments","tag-indian-handicrafts","tag-natural-dyes","tag-printing","tag-shipa-patel","tag-sustainable-clothing","tag-sustainable-fashion","tag-takes"],"rttpg_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/img-cdn.publive.online\/fit-in\/1200x675\/english-betterindia\/media\/media_files\/uploads\/2022\/07\/1-1657701109.jpg",0,0,false],"landscape":["https:\/\/img-cdn.publive.online\/fit-in\/1200x675\/english-betterindia\/media\/media_files\/uploads\/2022\/07\/1-1657701109.jpg",0,0,false],"portraits":["https:\/\/img-cdn.publive.online\/fit-in\/1200x675\/english-betterindia\/media\/media_files\/uploads\/2022\/07\/1-1657701109.jpg",0,0,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/img-cdn.publive.online\/fit-in\/1200x675\/english-betterindia\/media\/media_files\/uploads\/2022\/07\/1-1657701109.jpg",150,150,false],"medium":["https:\/\/img-cdn.publive.online\/fit-in\/1200x675\/english-betterindia\/media\/media_files\/uploads\/2022\/07\/1-1657701109.jpg",300,300,false],"large":["https:\/\/img-cdn.publive.online\/fit-in\/1200x675\/english-betterindia\/media\/media_files\/uploads\/2022\/07\/1-1657701109.jpg",1024,1024,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/img-cdn.publive.online\/fit-in\/1200x675\/english-betterindia\/media\/media_files\/uploads\/2022\/07\/1-1657701109.jpg",1536,1536,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/img-cdn.publive.online\/fit-in\/1200x675\/english-betterindia\/media\/media_files\/uploads\/2022\/07\/1-1657701109.jpg",2048,2048,false],"post-thumbnail":["https:\/\/img-cdn.publive.online\/fit-in\/1200x675\/english-betterindia\/media\/media_files\/uploads\/2022\/07\/1-1657701109.jpg",370,265,false],"kava-thumb-s":["https:\/\/img-cdn.publive.online\/fit-in\/1200x675\/english-betterindia\/media\/media_files\/uploads\/2022\/07\/1-1657701109.jpg",150,85,false],"kava-thumb-s-2":["https:\/\/img-cdn.publive.online\/fit-in\/1200x675\/english-betterindia\/media\/media_files\/uploads\/2022\/07\/1-1657701109.jpg",230,230,false],"kava-thumb-m":["https:\/\/img-cdn.publive.online\/fit-in\/1200x675\/english-betterindia\/media\/media_files\/uploads\/2022\/07\/1-1657701109.jpg",400,400,false],"kava-thumb-m-vertical":["https:\/\/img-cdn.publive.online\/fit-in\/1200x675\/english-betterindia\/media\/media_files\/uploads\/2022\/07\/1-1657701109.jpg",370,500,false],"kava-thumb-m-2":["https:\/\/img-cdn.publive.online\/fit-in\/1200x675\/english-betterindia\/media\/media_files\/uploads\/2022\/07\/1-1657701109.jpg",570,450,false],"kava-thumb-l":["https:\/\/img-cdn.publive.online\/fit-in\/1200x675\/english-betterindia\/media\/media_files\/uploads\/2022\/07\/1-1657701109.jpg",1170,650,false],"kava-thumb-xl":["https:\/\/img-cdn.publive.online\/fit-in\/1200x675\/english-betterindia\/media\/media_files\/uploads\/2022\/07\/1-1657701109.jpg",1920,1080,false],"kava-thumb-masonry":["https:\/\/img-cdn.publive.online\/fit-in\/1200x675\/english-betterindia\/media\/media_files\/uploads\/2022\/07\/1-1657701109.jpg",600,999,false],"kava-thumb-justify":["https:\/\/img-cdn.publive.online\/fit-in\/1200x675\/english-betterindia\/media\/media_files\/uploads\/2022\/07\/1-1657701109.jpg",640,640,false],"kava-thumb-justify-2":["https:\/\/img-cdn.publive.online\/fit-in\/1200x675\/english-betterindia\/media\/media_files\/uploads\/2022\/07\/1-1657701109.jpg",1280,640,false]},"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"#RiseCelestialStudios","author_link":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/author\/ralph-c\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"INDIAN FOOD NEWS<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"Originally reported and written in July 2022, this story has been republished as part of our archival content. After graduating in interior design, Shipa Patel was visiting her village in Gujarat, and was on the lookout for a creative activity. \u201cI have always loved anything handmade, which has a raw feeling,\u201d she tells\u00a0The Better India.…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35258","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35258"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35258\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35260,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35258\/revisions\/35260"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35259"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35258"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35258"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35258"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Sustainability & helping artisans<\/h2>\n