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Prathaa’s Focus and Strength

An honest simple, “direct from the heart” revelation of the most commonly asked question - “Why Bindi?”. It is not a mere design element for us but goes much deeper down to establish our very existence.

The Big Round red Bindi has become the closest identity of Prathaa over the years, which tracks us back to where it all started. More importantly, “Why” Prathaa started in the first place?

Our Founder has narrated the story of Prathaa’s inception, on multiple forums which weaves in the conviction in the “Why” of Prathaa. Prathaa was conceived as a creative platform to be able to provide sustainable livelihood to their family of weavers and artisans, the talents behind the heritage art and weaves of India. Along with this, Prathaa’s attempt is also to evolve a community of #prathaawoman who loves and understands, respect, and love Indian heritage art/weaves and are mindful and conscious about their purchase.

“It is generally a very tough and confusing scenario when we believe in the “Why”, the purpose of the work we want to do (sometimes more than our own selves), with blurry lines of how and what, when we decide to proceed with the same.” - Sukanya , our Founder thinks aloud about her feelings in the initial days when the idea of Prathaa was giving her sleepless nights..

The deeper we dived, the more lost the feeling was …. And scribbling mindlessly has always been a stressbuster. In one such moment, the Founder of Prathaa experienced a certain moment of absolute solace while again getting back to mindless scribbling which gradually took the form of various shapes. Among the many shapes, the round brought in immense focus which her fidgety brain was missing since the idea set into her being. This followed by coloring and filling it with the Red felt very empowering and immersed her into an innate strength of faith of never giving up on anything, especially this dream she believed in.

A dream which had already started giving her sleepless nights.

“Focus and Strength are all I needed to take the first step to create something out of the small yet powerful idea seed which was planted in my mind and heart to be able to take the leap of faith and give it a structure called Prathaa.”, she says. The dots and lines(ref. the existing Bindi)  came in gradually to bring in the aesthetic element into it and also detail and formalize the lines and dots(the logistics, processes, what, and how) of the Prathaa system, to be able to ensure seamless functioning of the idea. 

“The Red Bindi became a part of the brand and the dream, even before the name Prathaa was coined”, our Founder says. This along with the fact that she has passively grown up seeing the Red Bindi enhance the personalities of the women in and around her life and imbibed it into her aesthetic sensibilities too. Also, the historical significance of the red bindi through generations resonated wonderfully with the core value system and brand language of Prathaa. 

From this point, one after the other, the process started falling in place like a jigsaw puzzle. There was clarity in what needed to happen in order to give a form to the idea and finally when it was time to graphically represent the brand …. The Red round bindi from where it all blossomed had to be the foundation to continue providing the team focus and strength, to keep serving the very purpose of our existence, and providing solutions to our community of #prathaawoman and family of weavers/artisans.

The Bindi, along with all its traditional interpretations had a very new meaning in our lives.

So, every year around our anniversary month, it is a tribute to ourselves and everyone who has been a part of our journey. Re-creating the Bindi in various artistic or woven forms, to celebrate our journey. It is also a beautiful grounding exercise for our Founder, Sukanya Bhattacharya, and Team Prathaa, with the pledge to keep learning (un-learning/re-learning), creating, growing in our Conscious Fashion Space, in the process nurturing our community of weavers/artisans and # prathaawoman , without ever swaying from the core “Why” of Prathaa. 

What do we create now?

This is how this slow commitment to a consciously mindful lifestyle leads to the creation of an eco-friendly, ethical sustainable fashion brand. 

Prathaa’s range of sustainable clothing started with women’s clothing, which includes handloom cotton dresses (casual/semi-formal/formal midi and maxi dresses for women), tunics, and tops for women. There are interesting handloom cotton jackets also created for women to assist them in versatile styling and layering. These jackets include long coats for women, ladies' formal blazers, and casual jackets. Not to forget the comfortable and chic handloom cotton bottomwear from Prathaa like skirts, formal ankle-length pencil pants, casual and exploratory designs in pants for women like palazzos, balloon, layered, drop-crotch,dhoti pants, and many other fun designs 

The quintessential six yards “sarees” and blouses are definitely not to be missed. Our exclusive readymade handloom cotton printed, woven, and plain sarees along with the lovingly designed handloom cotton saree blouses, most of which are versatile enough to be styled as crop tops or jackets too. These pay utmost attention to simplicity, comfort without compromising on the design detail, and fit.

Sustainable ethically made Kids Clothing from Prathaa was launched around November 2020 which includes kids clothing for girls and boys. The idea behind this category was to introduce them to a conscious lifestyle at an early age, keeping their comfort and safety to the skin in mind, not compromising on the fun and playful element.

All of this are available through online shopping on Prathaa's website . Let's bring about small shifts and commit to the conscious sustainable lifestyle today .

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