SIKKIM : Chimi Ongmu Bhutia pursued fashion designing by choice, but creating a world from the natural wealth of her home state, Sikkim, had always been her larger vision. Barely ten years after leaving a job in the fashion industry, she has, through entrepreneurship rooted in conservation, demonstrated that environmental stewardship and economic growth can go hand in hand.
Today, she runs three enterprises specialising in handmade products. Born in Gangtok, Chimi is a National Institute of Fashion Technology graduate. During her four-year (2012–15) stint with the Ministry of Textiles, Government of India, where she was part of a team working on a technical design development programme, she witnessed firsthand how richly endowed Sikkim is with natural resources.
Earlier, she worked in the fashion industry in Kolkata, but her heart remained in Sikkim. She had long wanted to travel across the state, explore its culture, and transform its traditional knowledge into meaningful creations. While in a government programme, she met thousands of artisans across Sikkim.
Their craftsmanship inspired her to venture into entrepreneurship in 2016, working with naturally available raw materials. In 2020, she founded Lagstal Design Studio and later established Lagstal Living and Argelee Sustainable Innovation Pvt. Ltd. She is also the co-founder of CAS Collective LLP.
At Lagstal Design Studio and Lagstal Living, Chimi and her team create sustainable lifestyle products, interior design solutions, and handcrafted items using bamboo, natural fibres, recycled wood, handmade paper, and other eco-friendly materials.
Their interiors are modern, comfortable, functional, and environmentally responsible. The team aims to preserve traditional craftsmanship while offering alternatives to plastic and creating healthier living spaces with fewer synthetic and chemical-based materials.
Through Argelee Sustainable Innovation Pvt. Ltd., the team develops innovative plant-based materials from Himalayan natural fibres, creating sustainable alternatives while generating new opportunities for local communities, artisans, and women entrepreneurs.
Chimi’s home décor and utility items include handcrafted bamboo laundry baskets, trays, bottle holders, lampshades, bamboo furniture, and decorative wooden boxes. Her products also include bamboo toothbrushes, wooden brushes with pumice stones, other zero-waste personal care items, modern accessories, eco-friendly apparel that fuses traditional Sikkimese and Northeast Indian handloom techniques, handmade paintings, floor coverings, and other local heritage-based crafts.
“Growing up in the Himalayas, I learned that forests are much more than just trees. They provide clean air, water, food, medicine, and cultural identity. Most importantly, they teach us respect—for nature and for future generations,” Chimi tells this newspaper. As her venture expanded, she realised that sustainability also means ensuring that nothing goes to waste. This inspired the creation of CAS Collective LLP, where bamboo waste is transformed into valuable products such as bamboo charcoal and raw materials for incense sticks and furniture. “What others consider waste, we see as an opportunity. My journey has always been guided by the belief that nature is our greatest teacher,” Chimi says.