The Essence
Home - a sanctuary where love resides, memories are created, friends gather, and laughter never ends. Our homes are an extension of who we are, a special place we hold close to our hearts. Our story begins here - at home. We are a Brooklyn based textile design studio and we love creating slow textiles that add warmth, softness and bring a quiet luxury to our homes. Textiles that are handwoven on traditional looms using natural fibers so our homes can feel as close to nature as possible. We also make everything by hand; the old fashioned way.
The Making
“The soul of India lives in its villages,” said Mahatma Gandhi. At Soil to Studio, we strive to offer the world a window into India’s rich culture and access to its skilled artisans through our textiles and weaves that are an intrinsic part of India’s heritage. These gifted artisans, who live in India’s numerous little villages, are known to create masterpieces by their hands. We collaborate with them in integrating their time-honored techniques with our modern design to create simple handcrafted goods for everyday living. Every piece crafted at our studio is a labor of love and a story of the perfect imperfections of human hand. It takes a few months of planning, designing, yarn dyeing, weaving, printing, hand detailing and stitching before it travels to the other side of the world a.k.a our studio, for the final step - finishing and packaging. This very journey is also embedded in our name - Soil to Studio; where soil signifies the land to which our weavers belong, to which they owe their craft and livelihood and to the organic, natural ethos that we have built our products on.
The Artisans
Our artisans are our soul - our inspiration. Away from the hustle and bustle of city lives, they live a life of unadulterated simplicity. Our products are a manifestation of their workmanship, skill, knowledge and way of living. We see our approach to production as a direct investment in the lives of the artisans we work with. At Soil to Studio, our mission is to empower the families behind the craft, preserve local craftsmanship and continue to create sustainable livelihoods. The artisans set their own wages and we are committed to following fair trade practices in all aspects of our business.
Blurring boundaries and exploring the realm of art together, we truly are one big family. We look forward to you joining us on this journey.
The Founder
Soil to Studio, established in late 2019, is an expression of my passion and creativity. Born and raised in a small town of Udaipur in India, I was exposed to various crafts by my mother and grandmother. My summer vacations were spent drawing, painting and embroidering bedspreads. Though I chose finance as my career and became a banker, the need to express myself through handmade textiles, paper etc. did not ever leave me. I was always drawn to nature and spaces with beautiful aesthetics and found inspiration in those.
After more than a decade of corporate job, I now follow my passion and fully dedicate myself to working with the craft communities in India, learning about various weaving and printing techniques and applying those to my creations. Through them, I want to give a glimpse of modern and urban India to the world and make handmade luxury accessible to all.
Soil to Studio is and will remain a journey – for me as an artist and designer, for the craftsmen it seeks to celebrate and for the products that we seek to bring to our customers. Xo Swati